Laminated Soundboards (was Orthotropic Soundboard)

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Phillip L Ford" <fordpiano@lycos.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: February 13, 2002 10:02 PM
Subject: Laminated Soundboards (was Orthotropic Soundboard)


> On Wed, 13 Feb 2002 11:27:57
>  Delwin D Fandrich wrote:
> >
> >There is no rule that requires that a laminated soundboard panel be
> >isotropic. The designer of the laminated soundboard panel has even more
> >options. It can be whatever the designer wants it to be.
>
> True.  What would be the reason that you would want to have a soundboard
> that is anisotropic?  The only one that occurs to me at the moment is that
> you built a number of laminated soundboards of different configurations
and
> empirically determined that an anisotropic soundboard gave the sound that
> you liked.  Do you have other reasons in mind?

That, and the flexibility it gives me as a designer. For me it was somewhat
like the photographer transitioning from black and white to color. (I still
love black & white photography but there is a much larger palette of
possibilities with full color.)

There has long been a perception that soundboards should be uniform in their
physical, mechanical characteristic. Well, with the exception that 'tight
grain' lumber should be used in the treble, of course. (Follow that through
and you'll soon see the fallacy of that idea.) But, in fact, for best
overall performance different parts of the soundboard demand quite different
physical characteristics depending on the frequencies of the energy fed to
them and the mobility requirements needed by the soundboard to convert that
energy into sound energy.

Working with a medium that I can tailor to match those varying
characteristics makes life much easier...and more complicated.



>
> > I remain convinced
> >that ultimately the best sounding pianos will use laminated soundboards
that
> >may or may not be made out of wood or wood products.
> >
> >Del
> >
>
> There are getting to be so many materials available these days (and many
more
> in future) it's hard to imagine that someone wouldn't find the tone
produced by
> an alternative to wood to be more to his/her liking.  I welcome the day
when
> not every piano looks the same with the same list of materials and parts
as
> every other piano.

As do I, Phil.

Del