[CAUT] Steinway "sound"

[Ed Sutton]

Fred-
Yes! For example, it is very helpful to have the performer play the piano over the process of voicing, both for the feedback the performer can give, and for the opportunity to see/hear how the performer touches the piano. Voicing is about the relationship between effort and sound.
These experiments were so simple, they could be easily replicated. I wonder what the effect of Stanwood touch design might be. One could also try different hammers with actions of identical geometry.
Ed Sutton
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Fred Sturm 
  To: College & University Technicians 
  Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 9:04 PM
  Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway "sound"


  On Feb 15, 2011, at 8:33 PM, Ed Sutton wrote:


    For those who have not read this paper by Alex Galembo, it may be a bit of a revelation.
    http://www.engineeringandmusic.de/individu/galealex/gaalproc.html
    Ed Sutton


  It is a very interesting paper, a classic. Most people seem to focus on the first parts of the experiment, where the pianists evaluate the pianos by playing and seeing what they are playing, preferring the "name brands," then are unable to distinguish the pianos correctly by listening when screened from the same pianos. The inference many draw is that "the name on the fallboard" is the big factor, and they can't really hear the difference. 
  But, in fact, the article actually concludes something quite different. Certainly the "fallboard prejudice" or suggestibility is a factor, but as the article states, and the second part of the experiment shows, the inability to judge in the blind test was only true when the pianist was listening to isolated excerpts on each piano, but when they played the pianos themselves, blindfolded, they could tell not only when they heard what they were doing, but even if they only felt the action. Very interesting indeed.
  Galembo's conclusion is that the interaction between performance and sound is inextricable for the pianist. Raw sound, "tone," is not so important and not as distinguishable as expected in isolation. What matters is what physical activity produces what tone, and, more importantly, what range of physical activities produces a range of complex tones.
  The tail end of the article, on the physical analysis of how pianists "bring out the melody," seems unrelated, but in fact ties in very well. The ability to "voice" one's playing so that different things played simultaneously can be distinguished from one another, particularly but certainly not only bringing out the top note of a chord, is a hard earned ability, and one that is strongly influenced by the pianos on which one practices, and how they are set up. Partly it is regulation, but once that foundation is laid, it is a question of voicing in conjunction with the responsiveness of the whole belly apparatus, how much and how fast a gradient there is, for increase in power and change of timbre, versus added effort at the key. This is a major factor in how a pianist will judge a piano.
  For the non-performing listener, what they hear in a performance is the result of the interaction of the pianist with the piano, so it affects them, too, though less directly.

  Regards,
  Fred Sturm
  University of New Mexico
  fssturm at unm.edu









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