future of the acoustic piano

[Overs Pianos]

Stephen and list,

Richard Moody wrote;

>  I am watching a Glen Cambell fundraising telecast. . . .The piano player
>  is playing a digital keyboard.  Sounds as good as you can imagine or want.

I have no doubt that it may well sound convincing on TV, but I have 
to agree with Tony Caught, once you get away from the electronic 
speaker cabinet it's pretty easy to hear that fine but essential 
difference which still remains between a well prepared piano and a 
sampled piano sound.

Stephen's excellent post on the future of the acoustic piano concluded;

>. . . . . .  I'm not suggesting to return to the past, rather
>to go forward to the next logical step in the acoustic piano.

Who knows where the future of piano making lies. Many of us are 
probably to close to call.

Michael Jorgensen also raises a good point. There's nothing awe 
inspiring about a keyboard with a block of plastic hanging off the 
back edge, especially when compared to a beautifully finished concert 
piano, tastefully lit on a concert platform.

Glen Grafton wrote of digitals;

>A model that is quite extraordinary is the new Technics SX-PC25, 
>which sells for under $1700. Tone and action are quite good. . . it 
>and compares it to a decent 6' grand. It would be difficult for most 
>people to tell the difference-it's that good.

I remain unconvinced (at this point in time at least) re the 
suitability of the digital alternative for concert use. While the use 
of digitals as part of an orchestra may be tolerable in some 
instances - how could anyone take them seriously as a soloist's 
instrument.

Richard Brekne wrote;

>Todays piano manufacturers have, well simply lost perspective... they
>continually explore the possibilites for making instruments more and more
>explosive in sound.

This may be true of many manufactures Richard, but there will always 
be a small band of fringe dwellers who remain committed to that crazy 
ideal of building a musical instrument.

Del Fandrich wrote;

>If we go the direction you're talking about where would all the 
>modern hammer makers
>be? They would have to start making piano hammers again and they've
>forgotten how.

I obviously cannot speak on behalf of all hammer makers Del, but I 
can say that Norbert and Frank Abel are committed to making piano 
hammers to suit their customers requirements, that is, us the 
technicians and piano makers. In 1996 I was very critical of a couple 
of sets of Abel hammers that I had received. At the (Australian) Gold 
Coast piano technicians convention in '96, Norbert, who had heard on 
the grapevine of my dissatisfaction, approached me to discuss my 
reservations. He said his biggest problem is understanding the 
requirements of each individual customer. We all want something 
different. Some want the hammers very soft so that they can 'juice' 
them up to the required voicing level, while others prefer them just 
a little on the bright side, so that they can voice them down to 
their preferred level with voicing needles. Furthermore, what is the 
ideal voicing level anyhow, everyone has a different opinion, 
primarily I suspect because we all have different levels of hearing 
roll off. While I realise that the question of hammer resilience is a 
much deeper subject than the simplistic description given above, 
Norbert and I had a fruitful discussion regarding our hammer 
requirements. Subsequent to our discussion in '96, Abel has made 
hammer sets for all of our rebuilds and new pianos. To date, we have 
not had a set that was difficult to voice to the levels and 
projection we are seeking.

While it may be true to say that many hammer makers have lost their 
way, there are few universal truths to be had anywhere. Somewhere out 
there, there will always be someone who is having a go.

I think perhaps the way forward for present day piano manufacturers 
and the future of the piano, might be to educate the world towards an 
understanding that there is nothing godlike about any particular 
pianos and their makers (thank you Alfred). People with talent crop 
up from everywhere. All of the intellectual and creative piano making 
capacity, contrary to popular belief, is not housed under the roof of 
a single manufacturer. There remain several individual manufacturers 
and freelance technicians committed to our craft.

Regards to all,

Ron Overs
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Website:  http://www.overspianos.com.au
Email:      mailto:ron@overspianos.com.au
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