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ATTENTION PIANO GEEKS! A GRANITE PIANO?!?!


New Engineering Concepts on Sound Production
presented by the Piano Technicians Guild, Chicago Chapter


Richard Bosworth

Tuesday, September 18 - 7:00pm

PianoForte Salon, 410 S. Michigan Ave., Studio 825
FREE admission; open to the public

Stonetone (R) Music, Inc. is launching a revolutionary new concept in piano design, allowing for greater clarity of sound, sustain and register integration of the entire keyboard range. This is achieved by the direct and efficient transference of string vibrations through granite bridges to the soundboard.

Robert B. Di Santo, the inventor of this technology and owner of Stonetone (R) Music, has teamed up with Daniel Koehler, piano technician and owner of Naples Piano Company, to retrofit pre-existing pianos with these specialized bridges. Modifications have been made on PianoForte's 5' Story and Clark piano which will be demonstrated and discussed at the meeting by pianist, partner, and spokesperson Richard Bosworth.

Listen to an example of a piano with a granite bridge

www.pianofortefoundation.org

©2012 PianoForte Foundation | 408 S. Michigan Ave. | Chicago, IL 60605 | 312.291.0291

can't find it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFmEByS9Z0w&feature=share&list=ULPFmEByS9Z0w

This is the most recent link since we installed the 20 additional dampers.
in comparison to a Fazoli 6'3 Grand..

Any pix of that bridge?

With two recordings miked at different distances and perhaps different pedalings it is hard to know what is due to the bridge. The attack of the second recording is rather strange. It sounds almost like an organ.

The compression of you tube etc. doesn't give the true effect than in person, but the tone on this indonesian crude entry level piano surpasses any keyboard in existence in the treble registers beside the sustain and angelic tone.


The presentation will cover many aspects of this New technology hands on with the folks attending. Until I complete a piano of significant quality then we will know much more of the real possibilities yet to experience while our entry level prototype continually proves this novel concept to valid and cutting edge for the acoustic piano industry.

Replacing the wood bridge with a granite bridge improves the acoustic piano performance no different than taking an analog to digital but naturally. Every density will have a different affect on the tone. Stonetone® Music of the Earth®

The piano is @ pianoforte chicago if you would like to see the workmanship. Performance and testimonies by Dr. Richard Bosworth. You can view Richards website @ www.richardbosworth.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFmEByS9Z0w&feature=share&list=ULPFmEByS9Z0w There are 6 performances to view in comparison, if you listen to earlier links of Claire D Lune especially, you can tell the over tones in the treble were uncontrollable since the treble is so resonant. now that the additional dampers have been installed there is total control.

Using the granite as the optimum transducer taking the strings energy to the soundboard without signal loss is clearly obvious. Utilizing the stored energy within the atoms of the crystalline matrix of the stone provides a faster response and even clear sound with minimal to no percussiveness..

Robert, why granite? I can appreciate the potential for a medium that transmits sound very well, but it is very coarse grained with a mash of minerals with varying density and maybe sound diffraction. Why not fine-grained homogenous basalt, or even glass?

Sounds like some clavinova or other electronic device...

Yup. There are too many variables that can occur purposefully or accidentally in a recording.

Chris,

Not all granites are ideal for this concept yet there are thousands of choices to use based on there mineral composition.. For instance Dr. Robert Youngquist and Dr. Stanley Starr nasa applied physicists clarified that the materials I have used for the Stonetone® technologies are Ideal for the placement in the piano. These folks have helped me on several aspects of my invention related to the mineral matrix and why granite is the optimum TRANSDUCER for this improvement. I will share with you one of our conversations that clarify this to be fact.

Professor Starr and I both studied this presentation. We discussed it,looked at some on-line resources,and reviewed our book on physics of music. In addition, we researched the patent database and was surprised to find no patents ever with the words piano and bridge in the abstract, so Mr. Di Santo may actually have something novel here.

Professor star and I both agree that there are good physical reasons to prefer using granite, instead of wood, in the bridge of a piano. The purpose of the bridge is to couple energy from a vibrating string to the soundboard within the piano and consequently, there are two attributes the bridge should have; 1) it should minimize loss of energy and 2) it should transfer the string energy over a large area of the soundboard. Granite is preferable to for both of these since it transmits sound with less loss and more quickly than wood.

We shant go further down this path since we are NASA Aerospace Physicists and are not foremost experts in piano physics. Hopefully this helps. While we find your project extremely interesting, we suggest you find further assistance in the private sector.



This communication was back in 2008 I have an insurmountable amount of science that clarifies this to be true by fact not assumptions while there is a mountain of knowledge yet to discover as I work diligently to complete this hugh effort.

Robert, the soundboard is crowned to a greater or lesser degree and responds to humidity changes, as would a wooden bridge to a greater or lesser degree. Stone does not afford any elasticity to my limited knowledge. How is this factored in and how does your bridge conform or change with the board? It would seem (to the uninitiated) that it would prevent the board from propagating sound. Enlighten me please.

This is exactly what I was thinking also. Granite is extremely stable and will not twist/warp or bend. It is used in fine measuring devices, layout/inspecion tables ect for this reason.

There would need to be some interface material between it and the soundboard, or else a gap or poor fit will ensue for parts of the year that cause the soundboard to shift up and down.

Also, would a heavy stable material like granite not effect the impedance of the soundboard out near its edges? I am inclined to think it would deaden it.

John,

The granite bridge acts as a support system eliminating the issues of degradation of the crown of any soundboard it is attached to. For instance, when our prototype was transported from humid south Florida to Chicago, that trip took 3 1/2 weeks of travel to multiple destinations for pick up from this carrier to another depot to be picked up and so on until the arrival. The piano stayed in tune during this time since there is no flex or elasticity to the granite @ the same time keeping the soundboard intact based on the support system it is attached to.

To me, the critical aspect of this technology is fitting the granite bridge within 0.002 of an inch literally stone bonded to the soundboard fitted as tightly as possible with minimal glue for DIRECT relation to the soundboard.

Here is a link about our prototype & press release thats been introduced in my field of work that you folks may find interesting.
slipperyrockgazette.net/file/archive/0111/pdfs/Issue_25.htm

Don't miss the September 18th Stonetone® Q n A session @ the Pianoforte Chicago 8th floor hosted by The Piano Technicians Guild.

I'm 5 1/2 hours away and won't be able to run down just for that. But I will be in Chicago that following weekend 21-23. Would the piano still be there and be viewable at that time?

Keith,
Yes, the piano will be there until feb 1st 2013. Ask any of the staff about the piano and they will take you to the location since the venue is large.