.......here is a website I came across recently...a very wonderful sounding 1929 M&H BB and some nicely played pieces by the artist, Paul Cantrell. It certainly is a beautiful sounding "old" BB! He also explains his recording set-up etc. Enjoy!

http://innig.net/music/recordings/method/instrument.html


Some of the recordings I found particularly beatutiful:


http://innig.net/music/recordings/ith_brahms-117-2.mp3

http://innig.net/music/recordings/ith_brahms-116-4.mp3

http://innig.net/music/recordings/ith_brahms-10-4.mp3

http://innig.net/music/recordings/ith_chopin-28-20.mp3

http://innig.net/music/recordings/chopin-25-1.mp3

http://innig.net/music/recordings/ith_chopin-28-9.mp3

Your right the piano sounds wonderful. Rich, full mellow tone with a wonderful sounding bass. It helps that he plays well.

Rich

Yes, his playing is wonderful! I think that the bass section is one of the BB's strength's....that's what drew me to my RBB, that and the rich mellow sound.

Very nice! Thanks, grandpianoman.

thanks! Really enjoyed those recordings, and that BB sounds great...

good stuff ... and his recording ideas were right on as well.

Gosh, do I dare cast a dissenting vote?

I wasn't really enamored of the recordings, as the bass and high treble seem quite muffled to me; I also hear overload, as if the microphones need to back off a bit.

I really don't get a sense of the signature Mason & Hamlin sound here. The midrange seems to honk.

I'm wondering if my stereo could be really that far off?

The artist's website went into detail about how critical it is to tune the piano before recording, yet I could discern many unisons that were out.

I thought there was way too much pedal - in the Chopin particularly. The Brahms came off a bit better, but I do like the pedal to clear completely whenever there are chord changes.

I know I'm being extraordinarily picky. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have posted at all, as it's been a grueling long day with very little sleep.

I will however give kudos to anyone who takes the time, care, and effort to put up a website of their own recordings. It is a lot more than I will probably ever do!

Whippen boy, hey that's ok...that's what makes life interesting!

Fwiw, I first listened to these recordings on a Sennheiser PX100 portable headphone, and the sound was bloated and not good. I then switched to my new Stax portable SRM-001 headphone system and voila, the sound was totally different...no bloat on the low notes, and a much clearer presentation, also the mics do not sound as if they are too close with my Stax, so it could be your listening set up? I also think I am a fan of the close-mic sound.

I agree that the tuning is not spot on...not sure if he tunes it or has someone else do it, but it could have been better.

I like the M&H sound, especially a BB. These recordings have a richness to them that I like. I don't think this fellow is a professional pianist, nevertheless, I agree that anyone that has the chutzpah to present his amateur playing and his own recording like he has done, for everyone to hear, deserves a lot of credit. After all, it's not a professional CD.

My sound setup is pretty dismal. I have a sattelite/subwoofer system - a miniature one for computers, not really for audiophile use.

Anyway, the odd thing is that I listen to plenty of other piano recordings on this hokey setup, and they seem to sound ok.

I was reading further on Mr. Cantrell's website..he acknowledges that the piano, even after being tuned by a tuner, ends up being slightly out of tune for a lot of his recordings...also that he likes the close-mic approach, which explains why the piano sounds so close.