[pianotech] Tone building in the modern piano

[David Love]

All great considerations and especially relevant for those who are doing
real tone building with soundboard and scale design and accompanying hammer
selection.  You discover pretty quickly that there are choices to be made
and each of those impacts the overall outcome in some way that's not always
that obvious.  While all pianos can be manipulated somewhat within the scope
of the their own designs certain things that you do push you in a direction
that is to some degree irrevocable.  That's true with hammer selection as
well.  Even the most skilled voicing can't hide the difference, say, between
Premium Blue and a Ronsen Bacon Felt hammer.  That's also true with
soundboard and scale design (or condition).  Trying to define the tonal goal
and then decide what components of the design contribute to that goal is
very difficult especially when you start looking at more subtle differences.
Compounding the problem is that all the work we do is custom work really.
We are creating musical instruments that ultimately others will play (not
us) and their tastes have to be part of the equation as well.  I've
certainly liked piano setups that players didn't and vice versa.  So while I
have to constantly assess my own personal goals it also requires that I keep
my own tastes out of it as well.  

The ideal piano is one that can do everything, produce a dark warm color
rich sound as well as a violent crash when needed.  It sure is hard to make
that happen though.  So far, it appears that choices the range of potential
is much wider that the range of achievability.  But I'm open to how those
two might be brought more in line with each other.   

David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com


-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Tony Caught
Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 5:04 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: [pianotech] Tone building in the modern piano

Hi guys,

Been back lurking for a while, still working, still trying to learn more.
Got that bug again when I followed the thread below to put two fingers to
the keypad and labour over typing this query to all and sundry. Somemay
think that this is an exersize, others will think nothing can be done. But,
there must be an answer, there must be a way.

RE: [pianotech] An alternate but not quite parallel universe

Ron's answer to this conversation was

I think it's right on. Aren't there sounds in your world that 
speak to your very center? Be it surf, thunder, the screech 
owl in the distance or the loon on the lake? I'm looking for a 
piano sound too. It's not defined as loud, or powerful, or any 
of the standard sales descriptions that prospective customers 
can hear driving by, and feel somewhat beyond the pain 
threshold in the piano's presence. It's more like cellos or 
bassoons, something warmer and richer than strident 
percussive. Something that speaks to me like surf and thunder, 
and geese passing overhead in the night, and makes some of the 
more strident aspects of life recede for a moment.

So I concur too.
Ron N

On reading these words it again reminded me of why I (in general) prefer the
sound of the older pianos. Be it the shape of the soundboard, the tension of
the string or the hardness of the hammer, the older pianos in my opinion
gave a harmonically richer tone with greater sustain than there comparative
model it today's stable of pianos.

The question I am asking is two fold. What can be done to improve the tone
of the modern piano. or, Does the modern piano need to be improved in tone.

Personally I find that the majority of modern pianos above C7 totally
lacking in any sense of harmonicity and the last 4 top notes have no
discernable tone at all. I know I am going deaf but then I tune an older
piano that's in good condition (the last one was a Steingraber upright) and
I could hear every note with a clarity and harmonicity that I can enjoy.

So to the nitty gritty. For the first part of the question.

How can you improve the tone of a modern piano in the upper treble region.

Tony Caught
acaught at internode.on.net