[CAUT] 5 Pianos

[Richard Brekne]

Way Cool Kent !!  And I agree entirely with your conclusion in your 
first paragraph. Variety is not only essential... its a fact we all have 
to relate to like it or not, and really should welcome. It also fits 
well with my own recent experience in the reactions to Griegs piano at 
different pitches.  People think, hear, experience and find musical joy 
in very different ways.

I also found it instructive (for me)  to compare my blind test comments 
to what you reveal below.  I was sure the 1st piano was asian, but it 
didnt remind of a CF III.... I had really thought it must have been a 
less expensive make.  That it turns out to be a C7 in the end makes 
perfect sense. These have a much less big and round character then the S 
series instruments Yamaha makes.  Personally I like their C6 better as a 
whole... tho I do know of one very beautiful exceptional C7.  In 
general, tho hard to voice beautiful IMHO without killing the power.

Also really fascinating about number 5.  This is the second time you've 
blind tested us on a Nossaman, and the second time I've come with a 
response going along the <<thinish>> line.  If this is the B he had in 
Rochester... then the recording does not remind me of what I heard 
live.  I really liked his instrument...tho if I had any comment at the 
time I guess it would be that it was almost too fat sounding in the 
lower tenor and bass. Especially at louder volumes.  But the thin sound 
I am picking up.... I wonder if this has to do with this relationship 
between sustain and initial attack power.  If you get longer sustain at 
higher volumes you end up with a total vibrational picture that is quite 
different then an equally powerful attack moment followed by a shorter 
and less powerful sustain period.  Easy to imagine that our subjective 
tastes will differ... both individually and in ourselves over time.

Really cool thread

Cheers
RicB


    Thanks for all the replies, public and private.

    The following links contain a description of the audio recorder I used  
    to record the 5 pianos:
    http://tinyurl.com/2hzedd
    http://tinyurl.com/25242u

    A very interesting thing is that each of the 5 pianos was named as  
    someone's favorite. I take this as evidence that variation in pianos  
    is essential. Different manufacturers should take different approaches  
    to piano sound -- and there is merit to Steinway's traditional  
    approach of letting different pianos coming out of their factories  
    having different characters. (I still hate it when a good pianist has  
    different requirements of a piano than the one in front of him can  
    give.)

    Here are the 5 pianos:

    1. Yamaha C7 voiced to within an inch of its life some years ago for  
    chamber music. This is a fine piano, with a great bass. It now lives  
    in a school lunch room, almost completely unappreciated.

    2. Bosendorfer Imperial, just back from being rebuilt in Vienna. So  
    far, pianists love this piano, although I believe the treble is in  
    desperate need of proper voicing. There is little incentive to do the  
    voicing because pianists like it as is, so far.

    3.  Steinway B recently completely rebuilt by Greg Hulme. The Renner  
    hammers are too bright for me, but the piano sounds good.

    4.  2000 Steinway D. 700-seat hall. I absolutely love this piano.

    5.  Steinway B with belly by Ron Nossaman; I did the action. The piano  
    is both clean- and full-sounding. (The same thing that Ric called  
    "thin" in the sound I would characterize positively as "transparent".)  
    The recordings of the 5 pianos reflect the real volume levels of the  
    pianos; I think that a close listen will reveal that Ron's piano has  
    the most sound; I also think Ron's piano still sounds good when the  
    playback is turned way up; listen close; this piano can bear some  
    scrutiny.  8^)

    Here is a recording on Ron's B of Dave Brubeck's Greensleeves:

    http://tinyurl.com/2obhxn

    Thanks for listening.

    Kent