Casters

[TCoates]

Conrad & Marcel,

I concur with Conrad about the bass is fuller without the truck.  I'm not
advocating taking pianos off a truck.  The S&SD I service that took a nose dive
was next put on a truck for safety's sake.  The truck they had was old and the
frame had bent enough that the wheels had too much of a "caster" to them.  They
would rub against the arms of the truck during certain turns.  The piano is kept
in a truly climate control room (yes I know it is hard to believe) below the
stage area, so moving is always a distance with an elevator ride (front of
stage).  The truck looked bad for the type of concerts presented, so they went
with the grand transporter from Jannsen.

Right away everyone noticed the piano had a fuller bass.  The flooring is
Georgia Pine, which is softer for dancers.  But one can feel the vibrations from
the piano right under your feet now.  That wasn't happening before.

There was a discussion a few years ago about using caster cups in homes and the
affect on sound.  I remember some of the thought was the cup helped sound
transmit from the leg better.  Without the cup the carpet absorbed energy, thus
robbing energy from the leg.  I think this may be a similar subject.

Tim Coates
University of South Dakota

Conrad Hoffsommer wrote:

> Bonjour Marcel,
>
> At 20:17 03/13/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>
> >At the Orford Art Center, I've had one director a few years back that hated
> >the truck so much that he had us remove it before concerts. The piano was
> >lifted by hands and wood blocks were used under the legs. Painful, but
> >effective. He kept insisting that the piano sounded better without the truck
> >under. I wonder if he was wright or not ???
>
> He could have been right.  The wood floors we have here are "floating" on
> sleepers and rubber mounts.  There IS a certain amount of resonance added
> by the floor.  The stage truck pretty well isolates the piano from the
> floor, whereas the wood blocks would transfer some of the case
> resonance.  I would guess that the bass was "fuller".
>
> Conrad Hoffsommer - Music Technician -mailto:hoffsoco@luther.edu
> Luther College, 700 College Drive, Decorah, Iowa 52101-1045
> Voice-(319)-387-1204  //  Fax (319)-387-1076(Dept.office)
>
> Education is the best defense against the media.