Disklavier

Greetings James,

What is the point in having a fine grand piano and stuffing it full of
sound absorbing material to make it sound like a stereo with the
volume turned down.

A badly voiced piano or one that is in too reflective a space can
sound terrible but stuffing it up and closing the lid will only make
it worse. It may be quieter but it will sound awful.

Proper voicing and provision of a reasonable acoustic environment are
part of owning a piano. A heavy carpet under the piano will do a lot
reduce the reflected sound from the floor but there may be other
problems with the room and the location of the piano in it. Low
ceilings, small rooms, parallel walls and lack of sound absorbing
materials are some examples. A lot of compensations can be made to
improve any space but deadening the sound at the source is done at the
expense of making the piano sound very unlike a piano.

Most people are not familiar with live piano. They listen to recorded
music as background. It can take a while to learn to appreciate even a
fine piano, especially in a sub-optimal environment. Of course it
makes sense to improve the environment as much as practical and not
just learn to live with something that is really bad. If you need to
piano to be soft enough to converse over, consider talking in another
room. And when you have a crowd over to hear your new impressive toy,
the room full of people will improve the sound greatly.

Anyone who has a fine piano that they think is too loud, is welcome to
give it to me. I'll find a place for another one.


Sunday, April 3, 2005, 5:31:55 PM, you wrote:

> On Sun, 3 Apr 2005 steinbrink@... wrote:
>> I am in your situation with a new Disklavier sitting on a marble floor.
>> There is little adjusting you can do when playing the piano in the acoustic or
>> piano mode.  It is, after all, a percussion instrument, a piano.  I have done a
>> few things.  I had installed Styrofoam sound dampening material under the piano
>> board.  That helps reduce the downward sound.  I keep the top completely
>> closed, which controls the upward sound.  Both techniques help.
>> You can play in the digital mode and control the volume, but it is not the
>> same, natural piano sound.



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