On Sun, Feb 6, 2011 at 9:57 AM, Terry Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com> wrote: Hi Terry, Interesting post -- thanks for sharing. > The piano sounded to me dull and lifeless. Tone was monotone - not > Kodachrome-tone. ... the piano was very > mellow, if not a bit mushy... and the piano cord struck > was a bit louder for sure, but the tone seemed to stay the same - dull > lifeless, mellow, if not a bit mushy. There are far, far too many possible factors here to even posit a good guess as to what is going on with this "performance" instrument ---- age of piano, its track record of service (hammers or action replaced?), condition of strings and belly relative to bearing (the pluck test is important here). I've read your past posts, so I know that you get all of this. Having said that, and for whatever the unknown reasons might be, and assuming that not only you, but every discerning musician or music lover in the audience would agree with your assessment, then the piano lacks dynamic range, especially the power package part of the range. An excellent class situation would be for us all to surround this piano and dissect what our hearing tells us and then relate the feedback to possible / probable causes and remedies. > > I was wondering if a piano might be purposely voiced in such a manner for a > concert such as this - so that the piano doesn't overpower or take the focus > away from the violist. Never should happen! It is the job of the pianist to not overpower the soloist. But whatever, performance pianos must be, MUST BE (forgive the shouting;-) voiced to give out everything the belly has to offer, as balanced as is reasonable; if not, one can expect, sooner or later, serious complaints for one or another artist. Steinways can be beautifully mellow, melodic and are historically known for an ethereally atmospheric ambiance, more so, in my opinion, than most other excellent pianos. Even if there is little agreement on this, this badge of honor bestowed upon Steinway can also become grounds for a dishonorable discharge. Some techs, reveling in such soothing clouds and Steinway-esque expectations from the faithful chosen fail to bring out the "bang" in the tone that must be there --- that is, the bang you should hear when you see "hair fly up, .. arms flail, and body bounce a bit from the seat" (nice visual BTW). The voicers at the Steinway factory and Hall are human, moods and things can change on a daily basis, especially in Gotham City, and such vicissitudes can wend into the work. Some have publicly confessed to falling prey themselves from time to time to the smooth Steinway cougar waiting in the wings. So can say us all. > Is voicing the piano down ever done for a concert like this? Could that explain > why the piano sounded to me the way it did? It sometimes happens, but should not happen, or even need to happen. Unless the tone is obviously harsh at all levels of play, I would never agree to take a venue piano down to suit one performer. I would sooner walk away. If the voicing, however, is correct and tailored for this instrument (saying a lot, I know) both mellow passages and thundering passages should be available on the same instrument and for all players and compositions. This is a generalization, to be sure; but inside the bell curve of useful tonal service for any and all takers. I have found this to be the case, emphatically so. Some players don't really know what they want. They beg for mellow to characterize the overall voice of the piano, and then cry when they can't play loud, then then opposite. This requires a lot of listening skill and diplomacy, and I have found over the years to ask of the player where they want the overall sense of tone to be --- mellow and have to dig for power (many pianists, especially Steinway types, fit this profile!), or powerful overall and have to pull a punch or two for the sweet stuff. But when it comes to venue pianos, especially the big Ds out there that are going to be played by a variety of pianists, these simply must have a turbo drive somewhere (if it's available), after which the mellow will be easy to pull out. > Or have I just been hearing too > many Yamaha C3s and C7s? Oh yeah, and > too many 1948 Gulbranson spinets and the such? Yeah! So true, assuming the Yamahas are typical, unvoiced and tending towards a linear and laser like tone, all shades of the same color blue. And this happens to players too. Growing up with and growing accustomed to such sounds makes it very difficult to adjust to a piano with true dynamic range. > is such a poor excuse for > a high performance piano like this really ever found acceptable for > musicians like these? Certainly not. Again, assuming your assessment is shared by the pianist. > Do they just bear with it? When they have to, while grinning of course<G> Thanks again. -- Nick Gravagne, RPT AST Mechanical Engineering
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