Hi everyone, this may be a dumb question resulting from my lack of exposure to grand pianos since I started learning on my P155...

I have my P155 hooked up to some external speakers (on the floor, pointing up, behind the DP). As I move up the keyboard from left to right, I hear (louder and louder) a sound artifact that I <think> is the sound of either the key being pressed, or the hammer mechanism physically hitting the strings, when the sounds were recorded off of the Yamaha grand piano. It becomes pretty pronounced in the upper thrid of the keyboard. It seems maybe a little too loud - is this something that's normal when playing a real piano? Would I hear this if I were playing a Yamaha Grand? Maybe this is an indication that I have the volume turned up too loud? I know it's a recorded sound, because it goes away entirely if I turn the volume way down.

I thought I might be able to adjust this particular sound artifact, but I didn't find anything in the manual. I've got it set to Grand Piano 1, "Room" reverb (setting of 2), medium touch.

Thanks for your suggestions, and any educating you want to offer too.

Cheers!
Doug

So you noticed that to!
I have mentioned it in another thread as one of the reason why a returned my piano.
The sound level left to right just didnt seem to be rightly evened thorough out the keys.
I agree that the about 1/3 of the lower keys has to low sound whilest the middle keys are to lound in proportion.
I really needed to slam the lower keys and delicately press the middle key for it to sound good.

I can only say that this was/is not an issue on my old P-85 nor my CP33.

Sadly i dont think you are able to adjust this.
I wonder why other P155 havent noticed this .

It was one of the first thing that bothered me.

// Philip

I haven't noticed any disproportionate volume spread across the keyboard per se. Just the key/hammer thing I mentioned. Otherwise it sounds great.

It turns out that by adjusting the placement of speakers, and the volume and sound settings on the amp (and the volume of the onboard speakers), that sound artifact has been greatly reduced to the point where it's hardly there now.

Still, I'm curious as to how much of that key/hammer noise artifact I'd hear if seated at a real grand piano.

It is a question of perspective. You can listen to an acoustic piano from the bench as you play it or from 20 feet in front, off the players right shoulder as "audience" or you could place you head inside the piano case under the lid. Or you could lay on the floor under the piano and listen. It would sound different in all those locations. So which is correct? OK the last two locations are a bit goofy. But guess what? Many DPs are sampled from the "head in the case under the lid" listening location and I think the P155 is one of them.

So what would a real acoustic grand sound like? First you have to answer "from where". I think they sound more percussive if you are very close the the right side of the piano. The sound that is reflected off the lid is different from the sound reflected off the floor. As you move back the sound blends

Some sample libraries state the mic location because engineers making recording will have preferences, sometime based on the kind of music

But I'm sure the P155 has what they'd call a "very close mic'd sample set".

I was wondering if I'd hear that acoustic artifact if was was seated at and playing a Yamaha grand piano.

From what I can tell, what I'm hearing is often referred to as the "thump tone" of a piano. It's discussed at a number of sites on the web.

I don't know about the Yamaha that was used as the model for the P155. But I think most all acoustic pianos sound very percussive in the upper register, to me it sounds almost as an un-pitched "click" sound. Perhaps my hearing is no longer good up at those high notes and all I hear is the hammer hit. But I think also among acoustic pianos actually hearing the note requires a very good and expensive piano.

Might be worth listening to some classical recordings. But those are most made using very large concer pianos andwith the mic pulled back. It's not what you yourself would hear if seated at a "normal" size piano.

I think most DPs exaggerate this by sampling with the mic un-naturally close.

Listen to some of the MP3 files people are uploading for Dewster's "DP BSD" thread. So far I think the only DP that does not sound as you describe is the Roland v-piano. I think because it is the only non-sampled paino.

Have you tried disabling the key-off samples? Not sure if that's what you're hearing but it might be. Check out page 43 of your P-155 owner's manual.

I have an acoustic upright (albeit a horrible one, which is why I no longer use it) at home as well and it also sounds pretty clicky in the upper range, as in the sounds of the action and hammers etc. are more pronounced than in the mid and lower range. I think it's a pretty normal thing. But if it is bothering you try adjusting the key-off samples on the P-155 and see if that reduces it any. I haven't tried disabling them though so I'm not sure if it will, just something to test.

I don't think it's the key-off sample that I'm hearing. I'm pretty sure that it's the thump tone that the recorded piano generated, and that I had the volume too loud and/or a particular sound setting on my amp that made it more pronounced.

The sound of hammers hitting the strings is pronounced in the upper range on many pianos, so what you're hearing is normal. The strings are much thinner there so they tend to vibrate less, so you hear more of the hammer and less of the string.

That's what I call "hammer knock". It's pretty obnoxious when you walk up the keys on almost any DP, sample, or model.


That's probably true.


Yes, the chromatic walk test that I use to detect note stretching produces all kinds of knocking, particularly in the upper third of the keyboard. It generally sounds fine if you play the DP in a more normal fashion.