Predictability and Change. Was RE: Franz Mohr

[David Love]

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I was thinking mostly about the balance between power, sustain and tonal
range.  The trend seems to be moving in the direction of power, =
loudness,
attack, whatever you want to call it.  For those who wish to move the
balance back to one of more sustain with a natural dynamic range =
somewhat
lower on the scale, that trend=97and what people have gotten used =
to=97makes it
difficult to put the piano back in pianoforte.  Many instruments now are
just fortes and if they don=92t produce that kind of sound, many people =
are
disappointed because that=92s what they=92ve grown accustomed to =
hearing. =20

=20

A broader tonal palette might, ironically, mean a reduction in loudness. =
=20

David Love
davidlovepianos@comcast.net=20

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On =
Behalf
Of Bec and John
Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 7:34 PM
To: Pianotech
Subject: Re: Predictability and Change. Was RE: Franz Mohr

=20

Hi David,

=20

Sorry for the delayed reply. I definitely agree with what you're saying =
-
more often than not people become comfortable with what they're used to =
and
resist changing from that - of course that can always work in reverse, =
if
one is used to the "new" piano designs going back to "old" may just be a
simple case of resisting change :-)

=20

Though I think many performing pianists are used to a variety of pianos =
with
differing sounds - good and bad. It's hard to dismiss a pianists' =
opinion on
a newly designed piano solely on this basis (not that you are). =
Personally,
had I not known there was anything different about the piano in the =
Overs'
recording I would have just thought "Oh, what a nice piano", not "Behold =
the
saviour of stagnant piano design".

=20

In the case I was bringing up - my favourite piano recording vs. the =
Overs
recording - I have had surprisingly little experience with Steinways
compared to other pianos and I *loved* the quality of that piano long =
before
I knew it was a Steinway. I only bought my Steinway a year ago, and
previously was practising on mostly Baldwins for 8 years prior.

=20

Something occurred to me though today when considering the re-working of
instruments to use new designs. Many pianists who own an ageing =
instrument
or problematic one are delighted when work is done to restore the tone. =
Is
it not possible that the delight of the customers you guys do work for =
are
perhaps delighted because of the quality of work you guys to the piano =
in
general, rather than the changes themselves? Even a properly prepped =
piano
can have a big impact on someone used to non-prepped or poorly =
functioning
pianos. Also, plenty of people are ecstatic to get their old Steinway
rebuilt from the factory, to probably what is less quality in =
workmanship
and parts than what their pianos were when new.

=20

- John





It seems to me that a lot of what we like is what we are used to.  The
=93whump=94 of a Steinway in the mid tenor we learn to identify as depth =
when in
reality it may be a belly with ribs that can=92t quite support the crown =
or
stiffness necessary for that section and a predictable transition from =
bass
to treble.  The pop in the attack that we learn to look for in the =
treble
may be more to do with the failure of the killer octave region.  But =
when
you are accustomed to hearing such things on a piano that you identify =
as
the =93cr=E8me de la cr=E8me=94 then when it=92s missing, it seems like =
there=92s
something wrong.  The difficulty is in wiping the slate clean and
approaching the instrument without bias.  As one pianist said to me the
other day (to paraphrase):  =93most of what pianists look for is
predictability; as long a what comes out of the piano is what the =
pianist
thinks will comes out before they play a note, then everything else can =
be
worked out.=94  Well I think that goes for what pianists expect within =
an
instrument as well as between instruments.  And if they are used to =
hearing
the same things over and over, it=92s very difficult to break that =
pattern of
predictability even if the heretofore unpredictable piano has better
balance, smoother transitions and a better combination of sustain and =
power.
Change is always an uphill battle.=20

=20

David Love


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