There can be a good reason for considering foam baffles or a special
blanket to attenuate your piano's loudness, as opposed to your turning
down the DKV's volume control or scaling note velocities. That reason
is to maintain "dynamic range". (I'm assuming that the physical
attenuator you choose is one that reduces all frequencies nearly equally
and will not spoil the sound by filtering (coloring) it.)
By using such a sound attenuator, the loudness relationship between the
loudest part of a piece and its softest part is preserved. That is,
while the overall sound power of what you hear is reduced, the decibel
difference between loud and soft parts will not have changed.
In contrast, reducing the volume control or scaling velocities below
MIDI values of 95 reduces the difference in loudness between loud and
soft passages. In the extreme, loud and soft parts are compressed to
the same level.
If musical expression is important to you, you will want to hear the
dynamic range of the artist's performance, while, understandably,
reducing the volume to a comfortable listening level. In that case, a
baffle or blanket may be appropriate for you.
Many of the rooms in which we listen don't compare in size with a
recital hall that might be appropriate for the piano we own. In our
rooms at home, the sound power per cubic foot--its density--may be too
high for listening comfort. Don't blame the piano for being too loud,
but recognize the need to reduce its sound output for the size of your
room. Baffles or a blanket can accomplish that.
A common way of reducing sound power in a room is by adding absorbing
materials--thick carpet, drapes, etc. The problem with that approach is
that inevitably the treble frequencies will be absorbed much more than
the bass frequencies and your instrument will sound dull.
Ed Spillane wrote:
> Here's my reply in English :) I don't know what
> happened to the last one!
>
> Given the sophistication of the Yamaha Disklavier I
> can understand why foam would seem to be an odd choice
> to mitigate volume but............after adjusting for
> everything else it may be necassary to place foam
> baffles under the instrument....(baffling isn't it?
> 8-) ) In fact it is so common that I'd wager that any
> Disklavier dealer would be able to sell you the
> baffles. Part of the beauty of the solution is that
> they are quick and easy to install/uninstall.
>
> Often people need this modification because they
> actually new to piano ownership and are baselining
> their desired level of control with their stereo.
> Other than playing the piano in silent mode, using the
> sampled piano through the instrument's speaker (or
> your stereo) using something to physically attenuate
> the power of the natural piano is probably the only
> way.
>
> Good Luck,
>
> Ed
>
> --- Ed Spillane <spillaneed@...> wrote:
>
>>--- cuteyngjoc@... wrote:
>>
>>>Foam seems to be a monkey way of getting around
>>
>>the
>>
>>>basics that Yamaha's
>>>player system needs to have the ability to be
>>>calibrated to play at a
>>>whisper. NOT a roar. I have had experience with
>>
>>QRS
>>
>>>and Piano Disc and both
>>>these systems would play softly, even though you
>>>could hear the mechanisms
>>>which I didn't like. There has to be a way to
>>
>>adjust
>>
>>>the strike or velocity
>>>of each note so that it plays just loud enough for
>>>the string to sound.
>>>Anyone?
>>>John
>>>
>>
>>Given the sophistication of the Yamaha Disklavier I
>>can understand why foam would seem to be an odd
>>choice
>>to mitigate volume but............after adjusting
>>for
>>everything else it inecessaryecassary to place foam
>>baffles under the instrument....(baffling isn't it?
>>
>>8-) ) In fact it is so common that I'd wager that
>>any
>>Disklavier dealer would be able to sell you the
>>baffles. Part of the beauty of the solution is that
>>they are quick and easy to install/uninstall.
>>
>>Often people need this modification because they
>>actually new to piano owbase liningd are baselining
>>their desired control level with their stereo.
>>Other
>>than playing the piano in silent mode, using the
>>sampled piano through the instrument's speaker (or
>>your stereo) using someattenuate physically atenuate
>>the power of the natural piano is probably the only
>>way.
>>
>>Good Luck,
>>
>>Ed
>>
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>
>
>
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--
Robert Welcyng
Anchorage, Alaska