Size and Sound

[conrad hoffsommer]

Caleb,
 
At 11:15 9/8/98 EDT, you wrote:
>In a message dated 9/8/98 5:28:09 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
>hoffsoco@luther.edu writes:
>
>> >Which leads to another point.  Wouldn't the lid closed in an upright piano
>>  >act kind of like a stopped organ pipe? 
>>  

Actually Ricoftherunonnames said that, but to relate piano and organ better
in this regard you might think of the lid as a swell shutter, only better. 

Unlike some pipe organs, the pitch of the piano notes isn't generally
affected by whether or not the swell/expression shade is open or shut. Tone
is altered by squelching higher pitches/harmonics when shut, and of course,
general volumne is affected in the obvious ways.

Wouldn't be terribly difficult to add another pedal to do that for an
upright. Some really early pianos had that feature (Nag's head swell), so
it's not exactly breaking new ground.  Unless you install one of those
underlids it wouldn't be as effective for grands, though.

Conradsquintingthroughdilatedpupilsaftereyeexam
 

Conrad Hoffsommer         Office - (319) 387-1204
Luther College            Music Dept Fax - (319) 387-1076
700 College Drive         hoffsoco@luther.edu
Decorah, Iowa 52101-1045

       Certified Calibration Technician (CCT) of
   Digitally Activated Offgrid Tone Generation Systems
"If you have to plug it in, or you can't watch how it works,
                I don't work on it."