All great considerations and especially relevant for those who are doing real tone building with soundboard and scale design and accompanying hammer selection. You discover pretty quickly that there are choices to be made and each of those impacts the overall outcome in some way that's not always that obvious. While all pianos can be manipulated somewhat within the scope of the their own designs certain things that you do push you in a direction that is to some degree irrevocable. That's true with hammer selection as well. Even the most skilled voicing can't hide the difference, say, between Premium Blue and a Ronsen Bacon Felt hammer. That's also true with soundboard and scale design (or condition). Trying to define the tonal goal and then decide what components of the design contribute to that goal is very difficult especially when you start looking at more subtle differences. Compounding the problem is that all the work we do is custom work really. We are creating musical instruments that ultimately others will play (not us) and their tastes have to be part of the equation as well. I've certainly liked piano setups that players didn't and vice versa. So while I have to constantly assess my own personal goals it also requires that I keep my own tastes out of it as well. The ideal piano is one that can do everything, produce a dark warm color rich sound as well as a violent crash when needed. It sure is hard to make that happen though. So far, it appears that choices the range of potential is much wider that the range of achievability. But I'm open to how those two might be brought more in line with each other. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Tony Caught Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 5:04 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: [pianotech] Tone building in the modern piano Hi guys, Been back lurking for a while, still working, still trying to learn more. Got that bug again when I followed the thread below to put two fingers to the keypad and labour over typing this query to all and sundry. Somemay think that this is an exersize, others will think nothing can be done. But, there must be an answer, there must be a way. RE: [pianotech] An alternate but not quite parallel universe Ron's answer to this conversation was I think it's right on. Aren't there sounds in your world that speak to your very center? Be it surf, thunder, the screech owl in the distance or the loon on the lake? I'm looking for a piano sound too. It's not defined as loud, or powerful, or any of the standard sales descriptions that prospective customers can hear driving by, and feel somewhat beyond the pain threshold in the piano's presence. It's more like cellos or bassoons, something warmer and richer than strident percussive. Something that speaks to me like surf and thunder, and geese passing overhead in the night, and makes some of the more strident aspects of life recede for a moment. So I concur too. Ron N On reading these words it again reminded me of why I (in general) prefer the sound of the older pianos. Be it the shape of the soundboard, the tension of the string or the hardness of the hammer, the older pianos in my opinion gave a harmonically richer tone with greater sustain than there comparative model it today's stable of pianos. The question I am asking is two fold. What can be done to improve the tone of the modern piano. or, Does the modern piano need to be improved in tone. Personally I find that the majority of modern pianos above C7 totally lacking in any sense of harmonicity and the last 4 top notes have no discernable tone at all. I know I am going deaf but then I tune an older piano that's in good condition (the last one was a Steingraber upright) and I could hear every note with a clarity and harmonicity that I can enjoy. So to the nitty gritty. For the first part of the question. How can you improve the tone of a modern piano in the upper treble region. Tony Caught acaught at internode.on.net
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