[CAUT] Steinway "sound"

[Edward Sambell]

One time when I was tuning for the Stratford Festival, Oscar Shumsky, Glenn 
Gould and Leonard Rose were rehearsing a trio. Leonard Rose told a story of  a 
rehearsal  of a trio consisting of Heifitz, Rubenstein and Piatagorsky. Heifitz 
suddenly stopped and complained, " The balance is all wrong, I can still hear 
the Cello".

Ted Sambell




________________________________
From: Fred Sturm <fssturm at unm.edu>
To: College & University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Fri, February 18, 2011 12:20:25 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway "sound"


On Feb 17, 2011, at 8:25 PM, Ed Sutton wrote:

In a recital hall where I have tuned, all the pianos sound dull. One day I 
listened as a visiting violinist tested the stage, walking around and finally 
finding his performance place at the  edge of the stage, in front of the 
proscenium, where, unfortunately, the pianos can't go. Incredible efforts have 
gone into voicing the pianos, which do have problems, I think, but we won't know 
for sure on that stage.
There are certainly issues with hall acoustics, but typically the violinist or 
singer is looking for the place that will provide ideal feedback. It isn't 
necessarily where the instrument will sound best to the audience, but rather to 
the performer, so the performer can hear what is being produced and adapt. We 
have an odd situation in our hall where there is too high a ceiling on stage (to 
accommodate the built in large pipe organ), and inadequate acoustic adjustment 
(design features that were dropped due to money running out), resulting in 
places in the middle and back of the stage where it is difficult to hear 
ensemble reliably. Very disconcerting to the performer. For chamber groups, a 
portable shell is normally used, and that pretty much solves the problem. In any 
case, the problem is not apparent to the audience, but it is troublesome on 
stage.


And what are the effects of 20% relative humidity on a compression crowned 
soundboard?

I'll let you know when we get up that high <G>. Currently we are in the 10-15% 
range, seeing how often and how far below 10% we'll go this year. Both Ds have 
essentially zero crown, zero DB (I was curious, so got out the Wixey gauge and 
string to remind myself that this is indeed the case today). How do they sound? 
Just fine to me. Maybe my ear isn't educated enough, but I hear more compliments 
than complaints from both local and visiting pianists, and I find the sound 
quite acceptable both from the piano and from the audience.

Regards,
Fred Sturm
fssturm at unm.edu
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." Twain 


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20110218/8cfd537b/attachment.htm>