[CAUT] Appropriate Piano for Small Recital Hall

[Andrew Anderson]

We have a 9' Everett (original co) concert grand in our much smaller  
living room and it is just fine.  The bigger the better.  Issue is  
will there be enough stage left for the other music events?

Andrew Anderson
On Mar 24, 2010, at 10:53 AM, Paul Milesi, RPT wrote:

> I would appreciate some opinions/input regarding preferred piano  
> size for a
> small recital hall in our music department.
>
> The hall has a wooden stage, wooden walls with soundproofing  
> material behind
> them, 110 upholstered seats, a tile floor slanted toward the stage (I
> believe there's a name for that?), and a short drapery behind the  
> middle
> portion of the stage.  Overall, the room is very "dry" rather than  
> "wet"
> sound-wise.
>
> This recital hall is the only performance space located within our  
> small
> music department.  We do have access to other spaces around campus,  
> but they
> and their pianos are not within our control.  This small hall is our  
> primary
> recital space, and currently has a 15-year-old Yamaha C5 (6'6") as a  
> recital
> piano.
>
> The Yamaha is wearing down a little, and we might have the  
> opportunity to
> reclaim a 1970 Steinway D from another venue that actually belongs  
> to the
> Department of Music.  I put new hammers, shanks & flanges last year,  
> but it
> still needs a lot of work to really be a recital instrument (too  
> much gospel
> music over the years).  Big issue is of course budget, but I feel if  
> we
> don't at leat try to reclaim the D now, it will be lost to us as a
> recondition-able, rather than rebuild-able, instrument.  In other  
> words, I
> want to save it from further abuse in the Chapel, and provide them  
> with a
> more suitable piano in terms of their available storage space  
> (small) and
> uses.  The likelihood of the Department acquiring another concert  
> quality
> piano in my lifetime are virtually non-existent, as I see it.  The  
> C5 is
> currently our ONLY performance piano.
>
> So...what are your thoughts on a D (or any other 9'footer, for that  
> matter)
> in this hall?  I think if voiced to the hall (no lacquer applied to  
> the new
> hammers yet), it would be a wonderful piano -- and world's apart  
> from the C5
> (which is still a nice instrument) -- for student and faculty  
> recitals.
> This assumes I can do sufficiently successful reconditioning  
> (several pulley
> keys, balance rail mortises bushed correctly (big mortises from  
> glisses),
> etc.).  Some faculty have thought this piano would be "too big, too  
> much
> sound."
>
> Thanks for sharing your expertise and experience.  I've already gone  
> out on
> a limb for this.  Now I'm having second thoughts, second-guessing  
> myself, so
> I'm anxious to hear what you think.  :)
> -- 
> Paul Milesi, RPT
> Staff Piano Technician
> Howard University Department of Music
> Washington, DC
>
>