Steinway Bashing........

[David Andersen]

on 2/22/03 12:35 PM, Richard Brekne at Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no wrote:

"I also aggree with this point, and without exception recommend rather a C3
or a Sauter or the like. Whatever it is that makes that particular bearing
power the Steinway has... doesnt seem to work well (for me anyways) all
closed in in a small living room. I'd go so far as to say even Studios seem
to have a harder time getting the room acoustics to fit a Steinway then it
does many other pianos.... but then a good recording engineer can record a
Steinway and the result is unmistakable.... that Steinway sound."

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Hello--- A lot has been said on this subject.  Here's my bottom line.

I've been obsessively and passionately listening to music and sounds since I
was a baby, professionally  since I was fourteen.  I've been specifically
listening to pianos as a technician, with a great amount of focus,
precision, 
craft, pleasure, and excitement, for almost 28 years.

There are many pianos that have a voice, a sentience----a soul, to use
someone's earlier word. I've heard this voice singing out of many, many
pianos over the years.  Hand-made grand pianos, to me, have the most
beautiful voices on a consistent basis---the most complex, resonant,
mysterious, heart-breakingly beautiful
sounds.  A feeling of majesty.

As scientists, it's always fascinating to us to try and parse this sound: to
quantify, explain, dissect, examine, measure.  And that's right, and proper,
and good.  Bravo to the piano engineers.

Somehow, in certain pianos, occasionally, an incredibly complex and
un-parseable synergy of perhaps millions of variables come together----and a
truly wonderful piano is produced.

I would say that 70-75% of the truly wonderful pianos I've heard in my life
have been Steinways---mostly New York Steinways, with a liberal sprinkling
of the Hamburg instrument.  There have been 2 Boesendorfers,
many Mason& Hamlins, a Falcone, 2 or 3 Faziolis, a Chickering, one Petrof, a
Schimmel upright, 
a Fandrich upright, a Kawai----and surprisingly, a 6 or 8 Yamahas, mostly C
series pianos.

In these pianos, the craft of the maker was exceptionally strong---a home
run; just like some days, for me,
tuning is really "in the zone---" so easy, so naturally focussed, so precise
& musical.  The makers guessed, crafted, whatever, right on the nose vis a
vis the Strike Weight and the Balance Weight, as all of us Stanwood acolytes
would say. The board is right; the bearing is right; all the elements are at
the top of their game.
With hours of performance tweak---fine, touch-and-tone-based action
regulation; string and hammer voicing;
precise, musical performance tuning---these "truly wonderful" pianos have
the power to move me deeply.
They are the payoff of this business and this craft to me. There are many
frogs, and few princes.  I'll grant you that---but there are some.

Working with the relative handful of human beings in this world who can coax
the best out of these instruments
as musicians, as artists, is a true privilege.  Some of these artists have
surprisingly few relationship skills,
and live with a large amount of pain and fear----that is just how it is. I
serve them, and all, in the best way I can,
with all the skills, personal and technical and musical, at my disposal. I
do this for the chance to stick my head in a piano I've just prepared and
hear it played by a master player-----a tremendous, constant source of
inspiration and joy for me.

I love Steinways---AND, the American factory has produced some truly woeful
and f*%#ed up pianos in the last 50 years. I accept this paradox.

I only know what my ears tell me.  They are my final arbiter.  Some
Steinways are the best; there's no getting around it.

My best to all......David Andersen