2002-02-18 by Robert E. Welcyng
That is an interesting question whether a larger piano is louder than a smaller
one. (A good salesman could probably justify either choice depending upon what
happens to be in stock.) The energy available to a string is proportional to
the mass of the hammer assembly and to the square of its velocity. The length
of the string and the striking point of the hammer probably influence, somewhat,
the efficiency of transfer from mechanical energy to sound energy. I have a
feeling, however, that the sound energy issuing from a DC3 compared to a DC7 is
probably not much different when notes are struck at the same velocity. (If
someone would lend me a DC7, I'd be happy to measure the difference.) The main
effect of longer strings is that the lower harmonics of notes towards the bass
end of the keyboard are stonger.
The volume of the room (cubic feet) has a big influence on the sound energy
density in the room. The larger the room, the less a problem you will have with
the instrument seeming too loud. A small room with flat highly reflective
surfaces will not diffuse the sound very well, with the result that comb
filtering due to nearby reflections from walls and floor will cause the sound to
vary considerably depending upon your listening position.
You can't really solve the too-loud problem by adding drapes and carpet to a
small room. That will reduce the sound level by absorption all right, but it
also reduces the high frequencies much more than the low ones.
Ideally, you'd like to have a large room with a high ceiling and non-parallel
irregular walls and ceiling. But what are some options if you can't meet the
ideal? There are acoustic blankets that can be installed in the piano. I can't
guarantee this, but they supposedly attenuate all frequencie pretty much
equally. You may be able to add some carpeting to a bare floor. A thin carpet
without backing will not absorb the highs so strongly as the ankle-deep
foam-padded fuzzy stuff. You may also be able promote some sound diffusion by
not placing the axis of a grand's lid hinges parallel to a wall, but rather
bridge a wall-corner so that the hinge axis strikes the two adjacent walls at
about 45-degrees.
robert_swirsky wrote:
>
> I've only used the CD on my C-7 Mark III a couple of times, to play
> with the demo disk that came with it, and later to try a QRS disk to
> see if it worked.
>
> I personally don't find it very useful. The CD audio just doesn't
> mix well with the live piano. It's also not a CD-ROM, so the data
> capability of the disk isn't anymore than the floppy. (The
> Disklavier data is encoded as audio tones on one of the stereo
> channels, while the music is on the other channel.)
>
> However, the older models may not read the 1.44 MB floppies; that's
> a very useful feature to have because the old 720kb floppies are not
> widely used anymore. Yamaha, however, release their music in the
> 720kb format for compatibility with older units.
>
> Also, I've got a 7'6" piano in a room that's less than 16x32 and it
> fits just fine. I'd recommend getting the biggest piano (all other
> things being equal) you can afford.
>
> --
> Robert
> http://www.robert.to/
>
> --- In disklavier@y..., "Kathy Sharp" <ksharp@w...> wrote:
> > I'm seriously shopping for a disklavier and have found a couple
> older ones on the secondary market. They do not have the CD
> technology. I've been leaning toward a new piano so I can get the
> CD drive. Is it worth it to pay a little more and get the CD
> option? Also, I was considering the 6'1" or 6' 7" models, but the
> finish I want is only available in 5'8". The dealer said a 5'8" was
> probably the largest I'd want for a 16' x 32' room anyway. Does
> anyone have the 5'8"? Is it still a pretty nice sized piano?
> > --ks
>
>
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--
Robert Welcyng
Anchorage, Alaska