[CAUT] Steinway "sound"

[Horace Greeley]

Hi, Ted,

At 08:25 PM 2/18/2011, you wrote:
>One time when I was tuning for the Stratford Festival, Oscar 
>Shumsky, Glenn Gould and Leonard Rose were rehearsing a trio. 
>Leonard Rose told a story of  a rehearsal  of a trio consisting of 
>Heifitz, Rubenstein and Piatagorsky. Heifitz suddenly stopped and 
>complained, " The balance is all wrong, I can still hear the Cello".

An interesting addendum to this story is that, if one listens to 
recordings made by Heifetz, Rubinstein and either Feuermann or 
Piatigorsky from the late 30's and early 40's, you find him seeking a 
very different kind of balance that what became his signature SOLO 
VIOLIN!!!!......(....and, everybody else...)....

Best.

Horace



>Ted Sambell
>
>
>From: Fred Sturm <fssturm at unm.edu>
>To: College & University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>
>Sent: Fri, February 18, 2011 12:20:25 PM
>Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway "sound"
>
>On Feb 17, 2011, at 8:25 PM, Ed Sutton wrote:
>
>>In a recital hall where I have tuned, all the pianos sound dull. 
>>One day I listened as a visiting violinist tested the stage, 
>>walking around and finally finding his performance place at 
>>the  edge of the stage, in front of the proscenium, where, 
>>unfortunately, the pianos can't go. Incredible efforts have gone 
>>into voicing the pianos, which do have problems, I think, but we 
>>won't know for sure on that stage.
>
>There are certainly issues with hall acoustics, but typically the 
>violinist or singer is looking for the place that will provide ideal 
>feedback. It isn't necessarily where the instrument will sound best 
>to the audience, but rather to the performer, so the performer can 
>hear what is being produced and adapt. We have an odd situation in 
>our hall where there is too high a ceiling on stage (to accommodate 
>the built in large pipe organ), and inadequate acoustic adjustment 
>(design features that were dropped due to money running out), 
>resulting in places in the middle and back of the stage where it is 
>difficult to hear ensemble reliably. Very disconcerting to the 
>performer. For chamber groups, a portable shell is normally used, 
>and that pretty much solves the problem. In any case, the problem is 
>not apparent to the audience, but it is troublesome on stage.
>
>>And what are the effects of 20% relative humidity on a compression 
>>crowned soundboard?
>
>I'll let you know when we get up that high <G>. Currently we are in 
>the 10-15% range, seeing how often and how far below 10% we'll go 
>this year. Both Ds have essentially zero crown, zero DB (I was 
>curious, so got out the Wixey gauge and string to remind myself that 
>this is indeed the case today). How do they sound? Just fine to me. 
>Maybe my ear isn't educated enough, but I hear more compliments than 
>complaints from both local and visiting pianists, and I find the 
>sound quite acceptable both from the piano and from the audience.
>
>Regards,
>Fred Sturm
><mailto:fssturm at unm.edu>fssturm at unm.edu
>"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." Twain
>