[pianotech] Hailun soundboards

[Horace Greeley]

Hi, Frank,

OK...this is OT:

Though it sounds like something Aubrey Brain might have said, I 
didn't hear about the English French Horn player (there's an 
interesting juxtaposition, in itself).  When I heard this story it 
was from Myron Bloom during a master class he gave some years ago.

Interesting (and, on-point for a piano list), the recording of the 
Brahms Horn Trio made by Bloom with Rudolf Serkin and Michael Tree is 
one of the most revealing ever made in re: the difficulties of 
obtaining good balance, tone, etc between disparate instruments 
recorded in a live setting.  The third movement is an exceptionally 
good example of this.  That said, however, this recording is also an 
example of how musicians, themselves, cope with musically unfriendly 
environments.  I'm not sure if this recording is still available 
commercially or not...possibly on re-release.  (You also get to hear 
Michael Tree as a violinist instead of his customary viola.)

Back to laminated/whatever boards.

Cheers!

Horace


At 10:02 PM 2/8/2011, you wrote:
>No, it is not a translation issue ....well, not Chinese to English 
>translation, rather Marketing-ese to Technician-ese.  The marketing 
>folks wanted to avoid any association with the terms "laminated" or 
>"plywood," so they came up with a term totally irrelevant to the 
>soundboard structure, implying a convex shape, expecting that the 
>consumer would have no idea what it really means, obscuring the 
>reality with fancy rhetoric.
>
>It reminds me of a famous English French horn player.  A group of 
>younger horn player were complaining of the impossible technical 
>difficulty of a ridiculously fast scale run in a classical 
>masterpiece. (Rites of Spring, maybe?)  The Englishman's response 
>was, "Just wiggle your fingers about and dazzle 'me with science, Boys."
>
>Here is the Technician-ese translation:  The Hailun soundboards in 
>uprights and smaller grands is laminated.  They have three plies 
>with a lumber core, and veneer laminations, top and bottom.  Unlike 
>traditional plywood, the surface veneer is at 15 degrees to the core 
>(not 90).  The design intent is to preserve much of the flexibility 
>of a solid panel, with the resistance to cracking of a laminated 
>board, the best of both worlds.
>
>To read what another manufacturer might write to describe the exact 
>same thing might sound like something entirely different, in Marketing-ese.
>
>
>Frank Emerson
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <mailto:jpdraine at gmail.com>J Patrick Draine
>To: <mailto:pianotech at ptg.org>pianotech at ptg.org
>Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2011 9:32 PM
>Subject: Re: [pianotech] Hailun soundboards
>
>It appears to be an inexact translation of a spec list/description. 
>Gimme the original Chinese and I'll see if I can do better.
>Patrick Draine
>
>On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 8:56 PM, Mckeever, James I 
><<mailto:mckeever at uwp.edu>mckeever at uwp.edu> wrote:
>
>
>The soundboard on Hailun uprights and smaller grands is described as follows:
>
>"All mountain spruce with 15 degree spruce meniscus coating for 
>climatic resistance and flexibility."
>
>Never heard of it!  Is it a good thing?  How might it affect the 
>sound?  The Hailun's I have played are surprisingly resonant, with 
>good sustain.
>
>Comments encouraged!
>
>Thanks,
>
>Jim McKeever
>University of Wisconsin-Parkside
>