Just thought I'd share this. For those suffering from "loud piano syndrome" this might help. My GIK acoustic panels came today and I did a bit of rearranging in the piano room. I will have to spend more time playing, but so far, there seems to be a significant improvement. The piano can be played very softly now, and it sounds smooth and mellow.

I was a little worried the room might end up too "dead", but one of the acoustic designers from GIK said, "That's part of the problem with a large, powerful instrument like an acoustic piano in a small space. To get it under control, you really need to deaden the room pretty hard. The nice thing is that the panels are on stands, so I can move them around, or even take them out of the room if they're not needed. Seems like a good solution for renters like me.

Here are a few pics, and for reference, there is a 3D diagram of my room.

Cool. How did you generate that 3D model?

You can also add foam underneath between the braces if that's not enough

Found this site online:

http://floorplanner.com/

Pretty cool

Hello milehighou,

I have a pretty loud upright sitting in a large and pretty bare room with no wall hangings and minimum furniture. Oh yeah, did I mention the hardwood floors? There is an area rug (3x5) under the piano and I have tested placing another area rug next to it, but there is still a lot of echo. I was wondering if your acoustic panels would work for my room (I like that you can move them around!). Are they costly? And which company did you deal with?

Thanks!
MC

If you have one panel that seems like it could be moved, try the panel (off the stand) placed under the piano on the rug you have as it may smooth out first point reflections in a different way (not sure if GIK Acoustics actually recommends this, but it wouldn't hurt to try it if needed). Seeing that you have 3 panels, I assume they are 242s. Did GIK also recommend 244 panels or a tri-trap? Or did they think the 242 panels would be sufficient.

I also have a few GIK panels and feel they work well to balance out sound wave reflections going to my ear.

Hey MC, yeah, I would think they would help. I got them from GIK acoustics; they're model 242 here:

http://gikacoustics.com/gik_242.html

You have to buy them in a 3 pack, which will run you about $180. If you want their stands, they are 50 bucks a piece which seems a little steep, IMO. You could probably make a stand yourself for a lot less. Anyway, I'll have to play more, but it made a definite difference to my room. You can always shoot them an email and they can help you out. Their tech did a good job of answering my questions.




Yep, they're the 242s. They said I would definitely need at least those, and if I wanted to deal with low freqs, I'd have to get a 244 as well. My main problem was taming some of the higher freqs, so he thought the 242s would do the trick no problem.

How did you choose the location of the panels? Why 3? Are they effective if mounted directly o the wall?

The guy at GIK made a few recommendations, but he said it's mostly trial and error. I played last night an decided to remove the one closest to the lid. IMO, the room was too quiet. The piano sounded like it was voiced down, a lot. So now I just have one in the corner to my right, and one on the wall behind me. I think 2 panels might even be too much, but I'll see how it goes. Those 2 bookcases on the wall really seem to affect the sound too.

They are fine mounted on the wall too, but I didn't want anything too permanent.

I have a floor to just under the ceiling book case now directly behind my piano. It made a huge difference has a diffusor in taming some of the sharpness of the room.

My problem is that I have the parallel walls--20 X 20- but at least a fairly high ceiling. I'm out in my studio every day practicing so for the most part my ear is now "attuned" or used to the sound. However if I go on vacation or for an out of town gig for a few days or a week, I come back and the sound definitely does bug me. The piano sounds like the "voice of God" if I'm sitting on the couch listening to someone else play, it's just when I'm sitting at the piano I'm hearing the unpleasantries and imperfections of the room.

I have about a dozen freestanding 1/2" fiberglass panels that I put up sometimes when I'm recording. It does help the recording but it, like you mentioned, gives the room that dreaded rock recording studio vibe of a "dead room".

This treatment thing has always been on my "to do list". I'm just leery of spending the dough and then still not being happy with the sound.....

Yeah, I bet a dozen panels deadens the room quite a bit. If they are only 1/2 inch though, that's pretty thin. I think mine are 2" thick, and they have some that are 4" to deal w/bass freqs.

I have 2 open doors behind me, so I tried to put the bookcases on the wall that faces my left ear, and the panels in the corner/wall that faces my right ear. I might just have to dial it in a bit more. Without panels, the room is too live, but with all 3 it's lacking reverb. I play a note staccato and after releasing the key, the sound stops almost immediately. It is pretty amazing how the sound can be changed without doing a single thing to the instrument.

What you write is what the acoustical engineer I consulted told me. You need panels at least 2 inches thick to capture the full audio spectrum; 4" thick for the extended low bass.

The difference, with 8 2"x2'x4' panels and one 4"x2'x4' corner bass trap in my own space is huge to my ears, but as importantly to the people who work in it with me. Recent experiences making a recording with a singer, rehearsing with another as well as a violinist and violist, in addition to my solo practicing have been a pleasure. The "mud" and extra "zing" from reverb and standing waves in the corners of the room are gone from the sound. The room is NOT the dreaded rock studio "dead", either. If you go with 10% to 20% of your reflective wall/ceiling/floor surfaces covered, I think you'll find a balance that would work.

I may add a few more 2"x2'x4' panels, but I need to get one of my pianos sold before I do that so I know what the remaining piano will sound like in its new location.

Well, this has been an interesting experiment. Maybe I should have started with 1 panel in the room, and added more as needed. I think having 2 panels in there, with the bookcases, rug, tapestry and other stuff was just too much. I now have one panel across the corner of the room, and I moved the other 2 to my living room. I'll keep playing around with it, but with too many panels in the music room, it basically killed all the reverb. Maybe now I'm at the happy medium