Hi Fred, All, I agree (below) NOT because I want to, but because pianists like you seem to need that. We have 7 nine foot pianos for concert use, all different brands except 2 NY Ds, (which are voiced very differently). The piano that I love to play is never chosen, with pianists saying things like "no power" and "no change of color". One of the NY Ds is so abrasive to my ears that I simply can't play it, but guess what? That piano is chosen over my favorite 100 percent of the time. I am dumbfounded by this! Now remember, we have pianists like Wu Han, Neilita True (sp?), Menahem Presler, etc. Not just faculty and piano majors. After witnessing dozens of fine pianists trying the pianos one begins to see what seems to be preferred. And believe me, I ask them! Should performers rule in how our concert hall pianos sound? Well, as long as they have a choice between more perceived power, control, and timbre change, as you said, then like it or not, they do. (perceived at the bench. Pianists don't seem to care what it might sound like in the hall even if told that it's better out there). After years at the bench this IS their reality) This (performer selection) seems to be what has caused the "homogenized" piano sound Laurence mentioned. One "Steinway artist" tried our Yamaha CF and after playing one (1) chord she exclaimed "Oh my! That simply won't do!" BTW, the Yamaha techs had just visited and prepped the piano, so it wasn't my technical chops that precipitated the "oh my". Except for this example I won't name other brands. Those of you who redesign pianos have a daunting task. How can you bear to risk an "Oh my - that won't do"? When I first changed the title of this thread to "Steinway sound" I didn't realize the chatter, and sometimes rancor, that it would cause. But I've learned a lot. When a 10 or 15 second plop down at a piano is all some pianists take in selecting I can't imagine the pressure of trying to design something to compete with some of the sound canons produced nowadays. Respectfully, Jim Busby <<<<< I guess my point is that the principle that pianos should be made so that it is impossible to hit the keys so hard that they will distort, is not a sound principle. It ends up being counterproductive in other ways. Regards, Fred Sturm fssturm at unm.edu http://www.createculture.org/profile/FredSturm>>>>>
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