Thanks Don!
Yes, this will help, and I will quote out of it. There's a lot there. May I quote you as "the (a?) head tech for Kawai" or what would be a good bang-up name? You may humbly answer this privately... <G> but the bigger /grander the name, the better.
It's your Shigeru EX 9' that I'm really worried about. And while I do give anyone interested a "test drive" I'm fairly protective and proud of it.
I didn't put this in my post but he (the director) said (when told we couldn't keep it in tune as we do now if he did this) "It may just have to be out of tune for a concert, and we'll just have to live with that". Right... but when butt whippings begin you know who will get it first. (ME, and Keith Kopp)
If this happens, anyone interested in working at a large, private university? Conrad and I have some fishing to do...
Best,
Jim
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Don Mannino
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 2:46 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Practicing on concert instruments...again...
Jim,
The old standby of using cars for comparison can help here.
- The best concert pianos are like race cars - they are (or should be) the best piano the piano maker can build, with the highest performance potential in terms of action speed, power, and sensitivity. They also have the biggest potential for volume of tone as well as controlled tone, in order to give the concert pianist the maximum tonal pallet.
Because of this, like a racing automobile, the maintenance demands are very high. Even with only regular concert concert use and the 1 practice session allowed, the pianos already require plenty of maintenance beyond just tuning for the concerts. Regulation must be checked and touched up, voicing must be constantly maintained, and the technician is under pressure to make sure the pianos are in optimum condition for the pianist.
What kind of success would the racing team have if they drove the cars from one city to the next between races? They would not perform well, although the drivers might have a lot of fun! To me this is really a great analogy - of course the pianists would enjoy being able to practice on the concert instruments, but I think it's pretty easy to see that this would not be in the best interest of the music school as a whole.
Lastly, if the quality of the concert instruments for performance is important to the music director, then his budget (both time and money) would go up tremendously. A full day of service each month would be reasonably just to keep the action in regulation, and especially keep the hammers shaped and voiced. This would be in addition to the usual concert preparation detail work that is done for each concert.
- The music schools which I have visited where the concert instruments are used for practicing tend to complain the most about the piano. They start out swooning about this new wonderful piano, it's just the best thing they've ever played, it's a dream, etc. After 5 years of daily practice, well, it's just kind of an OK piano, not bad, but no one loves it any more. After 10 years it's thrashed, and you hear people say things like "why did we ever buy this piano, anyway?"
To maintain the quality of performance for a top level hall, I would suggest (others certainly will chime in with their experiences) that a concert piano that is practiced on for many hours each day should have new hammers in 5 years - maximum. It should possibly also have new strings at the same time. The director of music needs to understand that this is not a trivial matter - our laboratory takes more than a month to settle the strings and bring the tone out of a new set of hammers! This isn't a month of full time labor, but a month of working with the hammers and waiting for the felt to settle, then working with the hammers again and waiting for the felt, then refining the voicing over and over until it's as good as possible. Doing this on a piano while it is in use for concerts means spending time every week on the new strings and hammers until the tone gets to be what it should be after a few months of use and tweaking. This is asking a lot of the technicians, besides the costs involved.
As for the soundboard, I don't see much benefit or drawback of playing on it. Playing doesn't help it at all, but I don't think it hurts it either. I wouldn't stress this point - string tension and environment will take their toll no matter what. While really great concert pianos may be built to very fine tolerances of crown and string bearing, the wood will do what it's going to do over time whether it is being played or not, in my opinion. I don't know if it's true that a concert instrument's soundboard is only good for 12 years, either. I think this is quite variable and depends on the individual piano. I think it COULD start to fade in 10 or 12 years, but some pianos just seem to keep on going.
I'm sure you will politely remind the music director that pianos are about as unlike a violin as can be (as the old saying goes, about the only thing in common is that they both will burn!). Concert pianos are generally built so that the optimum tone comes immediately, not 50 years from now, so there is no purpose in "breaking them in" through practice. And also unlike the violin, the action of a piano is intricate and sensitive to wear, and the acceptable tolerances for keeping it in peak performing condition are very small indeed.
I hope this helps.
Don Mannino
Kawai America
________________________________
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Jim Busby
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 12:29 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: [CAUT] Practicing on concert instruments...again...
All,
I know we've gone over this time and again, but...
The new School of Music director wants students to have access to the concert instruments for practicing. Current policy is that they have access ONE TIME (one rehearsal) before their recital. We will meet with him next week to discuss this. I'm trying to find the "right" catch phrases to convey my ideas.
Would you agree or disagree with the following statements; (Or re-word, etc.)
1. Unlike a violin (his main instrument) pianos do not get "better" the more they are played, but due to string fatigue and soundboard movement, etc., a concert hall instrument is limited in years it will remain in optimal condition. (I didn't mention that hammers/strings may be replaced, etc. I'm talking about mainly about soundboard deterioration)
2. The more such an instrument is played the quicker this "optimal condition" will deteriorate.
3. Most concert hall pianos are good for about 12 years.
Rubish??? Please tear apart these 3 ideas, before he does.
Any help will be greatly appreciated. I will past use statements from some of you, but the basic premise of my argument against his proposed ("let's give students more access to concert hall pianos for practice") is that the more "pounding' the piano gets, the sooner its demise.
Thanks!
Jim Busby BYU
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