Hi, David,
Interesting that the thread is moving in this direction.
The whole concept of how our understanding and appreciation of piano
sound has changed over the years was the topic of one of the classes
I taught at the WESTPAC conference in March.11. Having promised
notes from those classes to a number of people, I have been trying to
finish revising and updating them to post to this list before it's
final demise...which appears to be fast upon us.
The subject is vast, having multiple layers that bridge generations
of recording and "playback" technology, musicology, approaches to
performance, and, importantly, human beings. And, as with so many
other subjects, any three or four people are going to have at least
ten or twenty different perceptions. It's very
fascinating...certainly no one "right" answer, to be sure.
To be more on point to your last question: I think that we're very
much the poorer for the gradual homogenization of piano tone that has
taken place over the last several decades. On the other hand, to
paraphrase your observations, the world has changed a great deal, too.
As I was reminded just today: In terms of things (especially
"Classical" things) struggling, I think it's important to remember
that, writing in the mid-1950's, Arthur Loesser ("Men, Women, and
Pianos: A Social History") noted that the piano is "cold-weather"
entertainment. That is, it was something to do when one really
couldn't spend a good deal of time outside. The relevance is that,
over the last century, a number of other "cold-weather"
entertainments have become important in various cultures. While some
of these are more ancient than others, more latter-day
"entertainments" have been progressively more technologically
enhanced...which is to say that, while the tune has remained largely
the same, the variations have become potentially more complicated over time.
Thinking specifically of music, within just a couple of generations,
we've moved from the hearing of music in performance as a real-time,
live shared experience to where the hearing of music is something
many people do solely within the privacy of their cranial
cavity. With a nod to Anna Russell, these cavities often appear to
be places in which some folks have resonance where their brains ought
to be. One bit of fallout from that condition is that the "actual"
sound of pianos in performance or recording is, in effect, no longer
relevant. Whatever the original instrument may/may not have sounded
like, we can often only faintly imagine (the potential of vacuous
space existing between our ears notwithstanding).
This isn't really a new topic. I remember reading an essay by
Nicholas Slonimsky some years ago that was published in an anthology
of essays (which was published in 1957) about music (especially
piano) performance. In that article, he specifically noted the
negative influence of the recording industry on music...writing that
"it used to be" that artists would learn a more limited repertoire
"to perfection", performing pieces with which they were really
comfortable and over which they had good command; but that, with the
advent of recordings, it seemed that "everyone had to record
everything"...especially all the works of a given performer; and
that, in the process the unique qualities which the artist brought to
specific works became "lost in the forest of having to learn
everything". I had borrowed the anthology, and have looked for it
for years so that I can get that story more accurately. Perhaps
someone on the list recognizes it and would let me know.
Being more realistic about the future, though, it's important to note
that piano sales are effectively flat and have been for several
years. Many people who track these kinds of things think that piano
sales track with those of larger furniture items. I'm not sure
that's accurate. At this point, I think that pianos sales track more
accurately with the sales of other kinds of media and related
devices. The sales of DVDs and CDs, for example, have plummeted in
the last few years. Importantly, this drop in sales has not been
countered by an growth in streaming media...the Netflix nonsense
notwithstanding. Where is the money going? Just as importantly,
where is the time going that might otherwise have been spent doing
things like practicing the piano, watching movies, or listening to
CDs? I suspect that, at least in the SF Bay Area, at least part of
that time is going into online gaming (by people of all ages and
persuasions). While not at all conclusive, I asked about that during
some consulting I was doing with several (smaller) ISPs in various
geographic areas. Each of them reported that they had been
increasing their overall capacity (to provide faster and higher
capacity Internet access) more quickly than they had planned; and
that the rates at which they have had to expand those services cannot
be accounted for by people simply doing streaming audio or video
(Netflix, etc). Rather, their internal statistics support the idea
that, other than clearly business-related traffic, Internet-based
gaming is what it is driving the demand. Although I suspect that
this is going to vary widely by geographic location, I also suspect
that what is happening in more populated areas will be followed elsewhere.
Back to the piano, though, highly recommended reading is: Craig
Roell, "The Piano in America: 1890 - 1940", which is readily
available from places like: www.abebooks.com . In concert with the
Loesser book mentioned above, Roell's treatment of the subject (which
ends just before WWII) lays a foundation which makes understanding
how things have evolved since 1940 much more accessible. At the end
of the day, we are (perhaps at best) curators in a museum...a museum
which has decreasing funding, shorter hours, and fewer visitors every
year. In many ways, we are the sole support of that museum, and our
ability to keep it open (even for our own amusement) is predicated on
our willingness to adapt our skill-sets to provide support for the
piano sound du Jour as it changes and is changed by contemporary
performance and recording practice. It really should not be much of
a surprise that this is exactly what those who have come before us
have had to do, as well.
More later on this...hopefully before the electrons stop flowing from
this address.
Kind regards.
Horace
At 10:12 AM 11/30/2011, you wrote:
>I've given this a new title as it may be going off-topic a bit from
>Upright Price.
>
>Xeno, these are interesting thoguhts you express. I've talked about this
>q bit recently with people of my generation and bit younger. HiFi used to
>be a Big Thing. When we were young, we saved up and bought our first
>"proper" HiFi, and took care to position the speakers nicely, and to sit
>at the apex of the sound so as to get the proper stereo effect. The cost
>of an LP vinyl record was relatively high in relation to a week's wages,
>so they were things to treasure. Turntables were (and still are, in a
>niche market) esoteric things, to be properly balanced and set up.
>
>Over the last few years, I often observed two students sharing one each of
>a pair of earphones, to listen to a song. They often have docking
>stations at home, of course. But just as often they are content to listen
>through tinny PC speakers. The concept of HiFi as a "thing" to be
>enjoyed, has greatly receded.
>
>Where does all this leave recorded piano sound? I don't know. The idea
>of promoting listening to live music is good. But, esopecially for
>"serious" music, it's a small market. And the recorded music industry,
>especially for "Classical" is struggling.
>
>On the other hand, of course, it is much easier than ever before to MAKE
>a high-quality recording (in terms of recording quality anyway).
>
>What do others think, about appreciation of piano sound?
>
>Best regards,
>
>David
>www.davidboyce.co.uk
>
> >Most people don't know what a good piano sounds like. More and more
> >people out there have never heard a good piano, live, in person. Put
> >that together with the rise of Craigs List, and that aged piano sound
> >is becoming the new standard. There's also the change over all in
> >hi-fi sound: people don't go for big speakers anymore, they listen to
> >music on their tinny little computer speakers, or their phone device.
> >The MP3 format also reflects this mass acceptance of lower quality
> >sound.
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC