Disklavier

Hello Spencer :)

> 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.

I guess it depends on what you want from the piano, and the situation you 
have it in. I'm not lucky enough to own a grand piano - I don't have the 
room for one or the money (and with the way things are this side of the 
pond I don't really see that changing), so maybe I get the wrong end of 
the stick here.

I do own a U1 upright disklavier though, which I believe is one of the 
finest upright pianos available today, and a typical small british house. 
The piano is currently at my parents while I renovate my house, but I 
envisage having to employ exactly the same tactics that I suggested in my 
earlier email just to get the piano down to a managable level in the small 
room I have available. By small room I am talking in the region of 18ft x 
9ft. The room at my parents is around 11ft square.

It will be extremely close (a few inches) to my dining area (as it is at 
my parents) in a small room, with carpetted floor. My piano technician is 
good, and has voiced the piano a couple of times, but it is still too loud 
to have playing on the quietest setting while sat at the table. The 
digital piano sound doesn't really cut it.

Moving the piano into a different room isn't an option. My ground floor 
basically consists of a living/dining room and a kitchen, and pianos don't 
work well upstairs, particularly in terraced houses as sound travels 
through into adjoining houses. One day I might be able to afford a bigger 
house that isn't in the middle of a terraced block with near paper-thin 
walls where I don't need to dampen the sound though. I can even dream of 
getting marble floors I suppose.

While I bought my piano to use/play it, not everyone does the same. Some 
want a solenoid piano to provide "real piano" entertainment during dinner 
engagements, and others buy them primarily as furniture. My hifi 
loudspeakers sound best when cranked up quite high in volume, but my 
girlfriend, her dogs, and my neighbours generally don't appreciate it (and 
most of the time I don't either as I get far too much high volume when out 
playing in bands) so most of the time they run at a very low volume.

I appreciate your comments and views on this, but I want a decent, real 
piano to play on now without disturbing the neighbours too much, or being 
deafening if I do decide to have it playing during a meal. The digital 
piano sound is OK for some practicing, but it is not that pleasant to 
listen to, so I intend to do whatever necessary to reduce the volume level 
of the piano, even if that means sacrificing some of the tonal quality of 
the piano.

On a completely unrelated note, it might not be too long before I can 
start working on building my rollscanner! Whoop! :)

Regards,

James