Envelope/sound

[ed440 at mindspring.com]

Julia-
Can you describe the sound of a C major triad for me? 
Almost all sounds are complex, that is, they are produced by the combination and interaction of several simpler sounds.
Some people can hear analytically, that is, they can identify some of the component sounds of the total sound.
You can train yourself to hear this way, and you will become a very good voicer if you do.
One good practice is to imagine sounds played back in your mind right after you hear them.  
Tap on your desk with your and then hear the "tap" in your mind. Now tap with your pencil, hear it in your mind and describe the difference.
Drop a teaspoon on a countertop.  There is the thump of the countertop and the ring of the teaspoon.  Now drop a tablespoon: the thump is the same and the ring is different.  Does the ring last a little longer than the thump? So there are the combined thumps and rings, and more clear ringing between the thumps.
Hold some felt on the piano string while you play the note. Now you hear the hammer impact and action noises in isolation.  Now remove the felt and play the note.  Can you hear the impact and action noises as part of the sound?  Ignore all the first sounds and just hear the sustain sound.  Memorize the sustain sound.
The attack envelope is all the stuff that happens before the tone settles down into sustain.  Hit the string with a stick or table knife to hear different kinds of attack sounds.
With surprisingly little practice you'll get very good at this.
Ed Sutton


-----Original Message-----
>From: KeyKat88 at aol.com
>Sent: Oct 7, 2006 8:08 AM
>To: pianotech at ptg.org
>Subject: Re:Envelope/sound
>
>In a message dated 10/6/2006 10:27:57 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
>sec at overspianos.com.au writes:
>the peak of the attack envelope being too far above the ensuing level of
>>sustain. 
>Greeetings,
>
>    Would you describe the sound of the above verbal description? How does 
>one know where the attack envelope begins and ends? (I have seen a graph of 
>envelope in the Larry Fine Piano Book)  What do you mean by "ensuing" level of 
>sustain? I know this sounds like the Spanish Inquizition of 1550, but I am a 
>rookie at this.
>
>Thanks,
>Julia Gottshall
>Reading, PA