[CAUT] Sustain in modern grands: was S S model M

[David Ilvedson]

I have a fellow tech who picked out a Hamburg D by timing the sustain in killer octave.   I think I would look at a few more things that...

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "Fred Sturm" <fssturm at unm.edu>
To: ed440 at mindspring.com; caut at ptg.org
Received: 12/6/2009 12:39:36 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Sustain in modern grands: was S S model M


>On Dec 6, 2009, at 10:54 AM, Ed Sutton wrote:
>>
>> In my shop I have a rescue piano, on which I have tested several of  
>> the technologies for increasing sustain. They work, and the piano is  
>> no fun to play.
>>
>> Ed S.


>	I would concur in wondering just how much sustain we expect, and what  
>is actually musically useful. I can't say I really understand what  
>standards people are applying, since giving a number of seconds  
>doesn't really tell the story. What happened during those seconds? How  
>fast did it decay? Where did you measure the end? When the sound  
>became utterly imperceptible? When it hid X dB?
>	Until we are all talking the same language with respect to those  
>questions, and looking at the whole decay envelope, we can't really  
>compare notes very well. But in any case, I am not so sure degree of  
>sustain in the killer octave is as important as some of us think. In  
>actual performance, when "singing sustain" is needed it is usually  
>provided by the pedal, which means that you have the reinforcement of  
>the corresponding partials of all the lower notes. So what happens  
>when you play an isolated note doesn't really relate one to one with  
>how it behaves in the piano.
>	I'm not saying sustain in that area isn't important, just questioning  
>how we measure it and what the standard should be. I find that I am  
>perfectly happy with some instruments where that isolated test would  
>probably lead me to say it was pretty lacking, but in performance I  
>don't notice it. I suppose that depends on the repertory being played  
>to some extent as well.
>Regards,
>Fred Sturm
>University of New Mexico
>fssturm at unm.edu