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Hi All! This is my first post, after lurking here for a month.

This discussion of piano tone is of great interest to me. I think it is most useful to tie discussions of tone to specific recordings which are available to all on the internet. I do think that the quality of the recording is important, but I also think that an mp3 can give a good sense of the tonal quality of a particular piano, even if it is not very high in "fi."

I think it might be interesting to try to develop a more accurate language regarding tonal quality, with perhaps reference to recordings of specific pianos. If we had graphic representations of the overtone series of particular pianos, recorded in a uniform fashion, we might actually be able to do this scientifically. We won't have such graphs, but I think we can refine our vocabulary anyway.

One problem lies, IMHO, in the use of terms such as "bright" or "dark" with regard to piano tone. I think these words are too abstract. I suggest we use terms which are more sound, or hearing-specific, rather than "bright" or "dark" which work better for visual experience. We probably will never agree about which piano is "bright" or "dark" but we probably would agree whether a visual image, or the illumination of the sky at sunset, or a thundercloud, is "bright" or "dark."

So I will stick my neck out here and assert that the tone quality I hear often in European pianos, say Schimmels or Hamburg Steinways, is that of a bell. In listening to the mp3s of the Windham Hill recording, this was clearly evident in #6 (Grotrian) for example.

Not that this quality cannot be found in American pianos with, say, certain hammer, scale and downbearing characteristics. I recall many years ago, when I was an active technician (I have been retired from the trade for 30 years but am still a member of the PTG, a wonderful organization), I tuned a new Baldwin console piano for a dealer which had the wonderful bell-like character I usually associate with a Hamburg Steinway. I happen to love this quality of tone (but I also love the tone quality of many quite-different-sounding pianos); both the dealer and I were quite taken with this little piano and its oddly unBaldwin character.

Now this is much more convincing to me than any of the above clips...Nice work Del.

The tonal character of the piano was very nice...if it had been in perfect tune, even better, but I realize this was not a "for release" recording...all the more reason I like it better than the other examples above, which WERE professionally recorded & released.

I don't have a website to upload my recording of my own BB--I have some recordings of piano & cello and also a couple of solo piano---recorded in my living room on my M&H BB a couple of years ago...does someone have a web address where I could upload these? I'd be glad to share them here...it seems people want to hear M&H BB's...you might like these.

Mat D.

RealPlayer/Joe & Matt D/Caslborgone:

I hope you'll post your M+H clips. I'd love to hear them and sure others would, too. And it would be interesting to hear the differences in the sound of the Masons, whether due to differences in recording or the pianos themselves.



Jeanne W

Stolen from another thread:

"Here is a link to a clip from a CD in which the Shigeru concert piano is used:
http://www.earlwild.com/

Go to recordings, and listen to some of the clips from Earl Wild at 88."

Astonishing piano and pianist!

I'd love to, but I'm technology-poor, having only a single cheapo stereo microphone that I use just to monitor my own playing. It won't do the piano justice. Maybe if I can borrow good mikes from a musician friend and get some instruction on how to set them up, I can post something.

This is the same problem I have contributing to the PW CD.

Or I could just phone you up. When the piano arrived, I played over the phone for some friends, and they were pretty impressed.

Steve:

Thanks for posting the soundclip of the Shigeru! There is a CD you can order from the Shigeru website of a jazz pianist (which I did). There are no soundclips to link to for that cd, though, that I could find on the net.

Joe:

I don't have any recording stuff either. Once I have my grand piano, my next project will be getting a recording set up to record some of my music. (I'll probably have to do a thousand takes to get one piece recorded w/o mistakes. :rolleyes: )

Too bad PW members don't have some way of sharing our recording equipment.

Jeanne W

Here's my Bösendorfer. Although the sound quality isn't great, you'll get the idea.

http://artistsong.com.pl?id=6373

Derick

Wow, great recording! To me that sounds awfully good!
What recording equipment did you use?

Sorry to sound ignorant but is it one of your own compositions?

RG TL

WELL! No Prambergers... harrumph. (he said, with an air of .. well.. something)

I borrowed some friend's equipment. He has some pretty good mics.

Not one of my compositions, a weepy, love song, made famous by Anne Murray sometime in the '70s.

Derick

I'd love to post my clips, but have nowhere to upload them to------maybe Frank would post a couple clips of my BB...anyone have some webspace so I could post a link to these clips??

Thanks,
Mat D.

I have got to agree, that song and that PIANO! OMG soooooo incredible. My Petrof will hold out for now until I can afford a M&H BB, which is more than 2x the price!

Derick,

I tried accessing your Bosie clip but got the message "Unknown Host." Did you remove the clip?

Yes, I removed it.

Derick

For those wanting to hear a Shigeru Kawai concert grand, here is a link:

http://www.earlwild.com/recordings/review.html?disc=IvoryClassicsCD-73005

Don Mannino RPT
Kawai America

It'd be great if we could hear Bluthner and Steingraeber soundclips. And a Grotrian that classical piano music is being played. Does anyone know of any CDs with these pianos being played?

Derick: You removed your soundclip before I got a chance to listen to it.

Guess we better add Bosendorfer back to the list of soundclips to add.

Hey, Dan M: If you're out there, how about adding a soundclip of your Charles Walter here?

Jeanne W

I really like the Mason & Hamlin A. I will definitely post some recordings of my 1929 rebuilt A once I get a good microphone.

By the way, Garrick Ohlsson does record on a Mason & Hamlin. Here are some Beethoven sonatas played by Ohlsson on a Mason & Hamlin, I believe rebuilt, but not sure of the year or model.

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?userid=z0s1RIPH1I&EAN=26724667725&ITM=5

-Ari

I put the recording back for a limited engagement.

Derick

Thanks, Derick, for reposting your soundclip of your Bosendorfer.

I hope your soundclip's "limited engagement" is long enough for me to get my husband around to do whatever it is that needs to be done so I can hear it. It's not one of those "just click and listen soundclips" - at least for me. I'm not the best with techie computer stuff, so I need to get Lloyd to do whatever needs to be done so I can hear it.

I'm looking forward to hearing it.

Jeanne W

Jeanne,

When you click on that link it should bring you to a page with my wonderful picture on it. Underneath that it should say "Listen hifi or lofi". Just click on hifi. If you don't have Windows Media Player installed on your system, or RealPlayer, or neither has the ".mp3" box checked, it may not play... But that's easy to fix. I'll leave it up until tonight.

Derick