[CAUT] tone color

[Dale Erwin]

Nicely done Doug. So true
 Good description of the process.

 

Dale S. Erwin
www.Erwinspiano.com
Custom restoration
Ronsen Piano hammers
Join the Weickert felt Revolution
209-577-8397
209-985-0990



 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Douglas Wood <dew2 at u.washington.edu>
To: caut at ptg.org
Sent: Thu, Feb 24, 2011 3:16 pm
Subject: Re: [CAUT] tone color


Back to a different vocabulary. I'd like to suggest that we are not responsible for the color. That's between the player and the piano. Musician's responsibility. I take the position that what I do only makes the player's job easier (or harder, hopefully not--this is where limiting the piano can be so dismaying to some of them). It is NOT my job to "make the tone". I'm maximizing access to the tone. Then the player can find what he/she wants. 
 
So to address the question as it relates to what I do when actually working on the piano technically (as opposed to what happens when the piano is played): I'm thinking, really, about 3 things in the final voicing stages. That is, fitting ("open strings"), lacquer, and needles. 
 
1. Evenness--it's an illusion. But one can generate a pretty fair illusion. One part of the joy of actually working with an artist in final voicing is getting a handle on which part of the sound they want to have be "even". I find it helpful to both listen closely, and watch the pianist. Picking out what he/she is finding even or not even is often not the same thing I'd had in mind when I was there by myself. ! The illusion of evenness is different with different touches. 
 
2. Balance, section to section. E.g. "I need more" usually refers to the first capo section, and is often technically resolved in the tenor. The tenor comes up faster with playing and with increased power input, resulting in an imbalance. The pianist's sensation is that the 5th octave is too weak. Needle the tenor down, and, voila, the 5th octave is so much better. Sometimes, at least. 
 
At most force levels, I try to have the "strength of tone" high at #1 and #88, and lowest near the tenor break. It's really easy to bring out a melody in the tenor, even if it's pretty soft. Right, Fred? (Note: I'm NOT a performer, though I'll admit to a technical competence at "advanced intermediate".) Here's where I wish I could draw a graph in an email... 
 
3. "The Line", or "strength of tone at average playing level. This is where the setting is most important. In a small setting, or for a very STRONG player, "The Line" should be pretty low. For the concert stage, particularly a large one, it should be almost unbearably high. The piano fairly pops, even at mf. Not necessarily noisily. Just strongly. But the shape of the voicing curve from #2 remains more or less the same. If the tenor readily overpowers the melody section (first capo section), the piano is harder to handle. 
 
"Blastissimo" (thanks, Horace!) playing has a nearly straight line in "strength of tone" graphed against note number. Right up across the scale distorting the sound at maximum power. Pianissimo playing brings the whole curve down. How far can you get it, in careful needle work, without reducing the brass band available at the high end?? That's the trick! But the curve remains. The middle of the piano is always somehow "softer" than the ends. The high treble (more or less top capo section) rarely does anything but sparkle in the music. Of course, it is nice if the amount of sparkle can change a bit with volume, but it must sparkle. Even in a very small, very live room, having NO sparkle in the last octave is nearly always a problem. 
 
So I think of evenness, balance, and "strength of tone at average playing level". Then the player can evoke what tone the instrument has in it, if he/she is listening and sufficiently technically competent. I don't have to think too much on what the "color" is. Or more correctly, what the many colors are. 
 
FWIW. Definitely not the only way to approach this, but it seems to work for me. 
 
Doug 
 
********************************* 
Doug Wood 
Piano Technician 
School of Music 
University of Washington 
dew2 at uw.edu 
 
doug at dougwoodpiano.com 
(206) 935-5797 
********************************* 
 
On Feb 23, 2011, at 1:43 PM, Fred Sturm wrote: 
 
> On Feb 23, 2011, at 1:53 PM, rwest1 at unl.edu wrote: 
> 
>> Can anyone define "color" in piano tone?  I've always been a bit >> baffled by the term because I'm not a good enough player to >> appreciate differences in "color."  Is there any way of describing >> it in voicing terms that a piano technician is familiar with and >> could use to guide his work? 
> 
> For music in general it is essentially the proportional strengths of > the partials within the tone. For instance, a clarinet sounds as it > does because even numbered partials are suppressed. For the piano, > the mix of relative strengths is largely influenced by the hammer/> string interaction (in the 1 - 3 millisecond range), where the > prolonged contact of the hammer with the string on a softer blow, or > when the felt is "softer" will damp a percentage of upper partials > and favor the lower ones. SImilarly, a hard blow or harder surface > will accentuate the higher partials, as the hammer will get away > from the string faster and won't damp them as much. There are other > components, particularly attack sounds, and they are also very > important. And various other factors come into play, including the > scale (how the note played will resound/create sympathetic partials > in the other strings, for instance), how resonant the board is and > what pitches and pitch ranges it may accentuate or damp, etc. 
>   In terms of the technician's work, classic needling technique on > "hard-pressed" hammers attempts to create a tension/compression > profile in the hammer that will lead to the result that harder and > harder blows will create more and more higher partials, the voicing > gradient will always rise as the blow becomes harder. An unvoiced > hammer will often (always?) produce a much more limited range of > color. 
> 
>> 
>> In cases where I've heard comments that a particular piano doesn't >> have color, it usually means the action is too light and the tone >> much to bright.  Is this what others have experienced?  Darker >> pianos seem to have lots of color, as long as they aren't too dull/>> dead sounding. 
> 
> I'm not sure that particular use of the word is helpful. Better to > ask what color the piano is. The light, bright piano may have a > shrill, thin color. The darker piano may have a full, deep color. > And from that initial judgment, you might be able to think of things > to do to change it. But I think it is more important that any piano > have a range of color, from the perspective of a technician. That > range of color should be centered on the part of the spectrum the > customer prefers. 
>> 
>> Richard West 
> 
> Regards, 
> Fred Sturm 
> fssturm at unm.edu 
> "Since everything is in our heads, we had better not lose them." > Coco Chanel 
> 
 

 
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