This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment I was thinking mostly about the balance between power, sustain and tonal range. The trend seems to be moving in the direction of power, = loudness, attack, whatever you want to call it. For those who wish to move the balance back to one of more sustain with a natural dynamic range = somewhat lower on the scale, that trend=97and what people have gotten used = to=97makes it difficult to put the piano back in pianoforte. Many instruments now are just fortes and if they don=92t produce that kind of sound, many people = are disappointed because that=92s what they=92ve grown accustomed to = hearing. =20 =20 A broader tonal palette might, ironically, mean a reduction in loudness. = =20 David Love davidlovepianos@comcast.net=20 -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On = Behalf Of Bec and John Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 7:34 PM To: Pianotech Subject: Re: Predictability and Change. Was RE: Franz Mohr =20 Hi David, =20 Sorry for the delayed reply. I definitely agree with what you're saying = - more often than not people become comfortable with what they're used to = and resist changing from that - of course that can always work in reverse, = if one is used to the "new" piano designs going back to "old" may just be a simple case of resisting change :-) =20 Though I think many performing pianists are used to a variety of pianos = with differing sounds - good and bad. It's hard to dismiss a pianists' = opinion on a newly designed piano solely on this basis (not that you are). = Personally, had I not known there was anything different about the piano in the = Overs' recording I would have just thought "Oh, what a nice piano", not "Behold = the saviour of stagnant piano design". =20 In the case I was bringing up - my favourite piano recording vs. the = Overs recording - I have had surprisingly little experience with Steinways compared to other pianos and I *loved* the quality of that piano long = before I knew it was a Steinway. I only bought my Steinway a year ago, and previously was practising on mostly Baldwins for 8 years prior. =20 Something occurred to me though today when considering the re-working of instruments to use new designs. Many pianists who own an ageing = instrument or problematic one are delighted when work is done to restore the tone. = Is it not possible that the delight of the customers you guys do work for = are perhaps delighted because of the quality of work you guys to the piano = in general, rather than the changes themselves? Even a properly prepped = piano can have a big impact on someone used to non-prepped or poorly = functioning pianos. Also, plenty of people are ecstatic to get their old Steinway rebuilt from the factory, to probably what is less quality in = workmanship and parts than what their pianos were when new. =20 - John It seems to me that a lot of what we like is what we are used to. The =93whump=94 of a Steinway in the mid tenor we learn to identify as depth = when in reality it may be a belly with ribs that can=92t quite support the crown = or stiffness necessary for that section and a predictable transition from = bass to treble. The pop in the attack that we learn to look for in the = treble may be more to do with the failure of the killer octave region. But = when you are accustomed to hearing such things on a piano that you identify = as the =93cr=E8me de la cr=E8me=94 then when it=92s missing, it seems like = there=92s something wrong. The difficulty is in wiping the slate clean and approaching the instrument without bias. As one pianist said to me the other day (to paraphrase): =93most of what pianists look for is predictability; as long a what comes out of the piano is what the = pianist thinks will comes out before they play a note, then everything else can = be worked out.=94 Well I think that goes for what pianists expect within = an instrument as well as between instruments. And if they are used to = hearing the same things over and over, it=92s very difficult to break that = pattern of predictability even if the heretofore unpredictable piano has better balance, smoother transitions and a better combination of sustain and = power. Change is always an uphill battle.=20 =20 David Love ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/41/9e/c9/b5/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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