Circle of Sound

[Richard Brekne]

Subject:
Re: circle of sound
From:
"Terry" <terry@farrellpiano.com>


I don't know Ric, I'm not sure exactly how applicable it is, but the
preferred material for high-fidelity speaker box or mounting platform is
MDF. Also, while it seems a good idea that every part of the piano should
play its role, I'm not sure that all parts need to be little soundboards.
MDF might not hold a screw well, might fall apart rather quickly in the
water, but as far as just being an immobile hunk of very dense stuff that
doesn't vibrate very well 


    - which, I think, is the basic function of aninner rim -

Remember now Terry... this point is disputed by some... and I dont think its been shown either way by either camp that any particular idea on this point is proven one way or the other. I'm not saying anything in particular about what frequencies should be reacted to in which way... retransmitted back to the board through secondary channels... or any of the other things one hears...  I'm just saying Steinway believes every part of the piano should contribute to the overall sound... in an active vibratory sense.

it think it fits that bill even better than many hardwoods. It's
also dimensionally quite stable (I think).



Hmmmmm, an MDF pre-formed inner rim?

I'm really not suggesting that, but I find it difficult to imagine how it
would be a detriment to the musical properties of a piano when used as a
case material.

Only if it turns out that the rim should play an active (hithertoo not understood by any of us on the list) roll in the pianos sound  --- character, projection, duration, and the rest.  I would think that you just more or less hinted that solid hardwood would be different in some if not all these concerns... so if that difference exists... then we are back to what is best and why.... which always is difficult because to get anywhere you have to rinse the subjective part of "what is best" out and get to more dispassionant specifics.

Terry Farrell

RicB