[CAUT] Pianos for piano performance majors

[Jim Busby]

Thanks Fred,

 

I never thought much about the hammers being considered. As a pianist
(leave off your technician hat, if you can) when you sit down to a piano
do you find an immediate difference in expression between the two hammer
types, or is it very subtle?

Would a non-tech pianist be aware of this or are you hypersensitive to
it? I'm trying to get into the performers head, if you will.

 

Jim Busby

________________________________

From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of
Fred Sturm
Sent: Friday, March 31, 2006 8:58 AM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Pianos for piano performance majors

 

Hi Jim,

            I'll respond as the "major in piano performance" you
requested (MM in piano performance, 1979, so long ago, but still
pursuing the piano as a performer with as much passion as ever). My take
is "Vive la difference!" I think that the brand issue is of much lesser
importance than other considerations, and that the most important thing
is that the serious piano student be exposed to well-prepped,
well-voiced "hard-pressed" hammers as well as lacquered. I think there
is a considerable difference in the tonal subtleties available in a
well-needled hard-pressed hammer compared to a well-voiced lacquered
hammer, and that in developing the pianistic art, one should work at
both.

            The argument that, because virtually all concert halls
feature the D, pianists should practice on Steinways is a pretty weak
one IMO. I've got a lot of Steinway grands, and they vary all over the
place, from dull to bright, from light to Mack trucks, from blooming to
pinched. Hammers from Ronson, Renner, Tokiwa, Abel, and Steinway. What
does the brand matter in this context? I guess you could argue that I am
giving my students a taste of the real world <g>, though it is more a
matter of what I can get around to while trying to keep overall function
and pitch within parameters. But our locked practice rooms include
Yamaha, Kawai and Mason BB as well as Steinway, and often the Yamahas
and Mason get preference (the Kawai is a small loaner, and less often in
decent tune as a result, so it tends to get used least).

            One of my favorite things to do at conventions is to play on
all the exhibit pianos. There is such a range of excellence, with all
sorts of different approaches to sound, power, touch, etc. It is a
revelation to me both as a technician and as a pianist to play on such a
variety of well-prepped instruments. BTW, the Steinways in the exhibit
hall are usually pretty low on the totem pole, I think because they just
pull in an instrument off the local dealer's floor and tune it, while
the other exhibitors choose carefully and do meticulous prep.

            All S&S? No thanks. Same argument as others, particularly
not wanting to be tied into the uprights.

Regards,

Fred Sturm

University of New Mexico

fssturm at unm.edu

 





 

On Mar 30, 2006, at 12:39 PM, Jim Busby wrote:





List,

 

I've noticed that several of you have practice rooms "locked" or
reserved for piano performance majors. Many reserve Steinways for those
rooms, but isn't a diversity of brands better? We currently have 6 of
these rooms and have the following breakdown;

 

2 Steinway Ms

1 Yamaha C3

1 M&H A

1 Kawai GS-40

1 Baldwin L

 

All these kept as optimal as possible.

 

Any arguments for going all S&S? I'd especially like to hear from those
of you who majored in piano performance.

 

Thanks.

 

Jim Busby BYU





 

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