"Silent piano" units

[Kristinn Leifsson]

Hi Matt,



Seiler, in Germany produces pianos with that.
I don´t know much about it really, but in Seiler it works in such a way 
that when one turns a swivel located underneath the keybed, a sensor moves 
to a position so that the hammer SHANKS touch it JJJUUUUUSSSSTTTT before 
the hammers hit the strings, so the touch stays virtually the same.
I believe the Yamaha one had problems with that aspect, and sounded bad.
A processor is placed by the bottom of the sound board and makes the piano 
look really high tech :)
I wouldn´t be surprised that S&S were in the high end, of both quality and 
price.  I believe the Seiler system cost around $2.000, rather more than 
less, I think, but that was in a new piano with the system already installed.

This should definitely not substitute the authentic piano, but can be used 
to practice scales throughout the night.  It has some nice midi effects too 
I think.
The tuning on the Seiler one was sampled.  I found that every G had a 
questionable unison in it, exactly twice as fast every octave up :)

Best regards,

Kristinn Leifsson,
Reykjavík, Iceland



At 18:51 29.8.2000 -0400, you wrote:
>A client of mine recently inquired about "silent piano" units.  She said it
>installs on an acoustic piano and when it is turned on, renders the piano
>completely silent, allowing the user to listen on headphones.  She siad S&S
>would install one on her upright ofr $2700.  Does anyone have any info about
>these units, how they work, how they install, who distributes, wholesale
>pricing, etc. ?
>
>Matt Wynne, NY