A violin in the home makes a silent statement, but a grand piano is known as the best in elegance. When given a choice between a grand piano and a straight an artist will usually choose the grand piano. Why, you may ask may be the grand piano so much more desirable than a vertical piano. Herein we’ll cover some frequently asked questions that may help you choose the proper piano for your purposes.
First all pianos aren’t created equal. A top quality vertical piano is better than a cheaply built grand piano. Grand pianos range in price from $4,995 upward to over $170,000. What makes the more costly pianos better? Quality of materials, aging of woods and quality of craftsmanship to craft them. jazz piano The more hours the maker takes to create a piano and the higher felt, leather and woods used will translate to a piano that’s capable of projecting sound efficiently and also better tone.
A piano’s action (the mechanism that propels the hammers when the keys are struck) is very intricate. The action has thousands of parts, that are adjusted and developed to very fine tolerances. One key that’s a small variance in its action will cause that key to execute differently, affecting the proficiency of ones touch and musical dynamics. Better felts will not wear as quickly as those in cheaply made felt/leather. Further, better quality woods found in the action will contract and expand causing alignment problems and again affecting one’s dynamic control.
Keys found in a piano should really be made from quality wood, such as for instance spruce, basswood AND utilize key buttons, which supports give the main element stability and prevents excessive wear.
Tuning stability is essential to the entire tone of the piano. The pin block, the multi-laminate plank of wood where in actuality the tuning pins reside must certanly be created using premium woods so torque on the pins is sufficient to withstand the over 20 tons or string tension. Some pin blocks use a few, very thin laminates which are not going to keep as well as one that’s multiple laminates. Hard rock maple is probably the most accepted pin block by major manufacturers as you that may, over the long haul maintain tight pins, helping to keep good tuning stability.
The soundboard may be the diagraph that, when the strings are stretched over the bridges oppose the strings tension, thereby amplifying the strings vibrations. High quality bridges and soundboards are a must to again produce quality tone. Soundboards may be either laminated or solid. A Sitka spruce is regarded as the best wood for soundboards in pianos, guitars, violins and other acoustic instruments.
A great soundboard is better than a laminated. Soundboard are created with edge-glued planks of spruce wood to make a large diaphragm, and then cut to suit the piano’s perimeter. The solid soundboard is more flexible than that of a laminated board, (kind of like a sandwich of three pieces of spruce or other wood). The tone of a laminated board tends to have a brittle sound whereas the solid board has a more responsive tone that’s a great deal more pleasing.
An old wives tale about cracked soundboards is simply that….a wives tale. A soundboard that’s a break, first in almost all cases may be repaired, IF the tone is even suffering from the crack. I’ve tuned numerous pianos that provide no indication of a problem. Now, if the ribs, (on the backside of the soundboard which supports maintain the crown or much like a drum head) have separated from the soundboard, there might be a buzz, or weak tone. But again that’s easily repaired. We repair soundboards/rib frequently. So, if a piano you’re considering has a “bad soundboard” or a “cracked soundboard” let a qualified piano tuner-technician examine the piano for you. Odds are the piano is simply fine.
Another note about soundboards….a grand piano that’s say 60-90 years old may have a soundboard that’s lost its crown. If the piano is just a quality piano, like a Steinway & Sons, Baldwin, Mason & Hamlin, Bosendorfer or other quality piano, it’s worth replacing the soundboard and restringing when the piano is being restored. A Steinway piano today that’s rebuilt with a new soundboard will bring from $22,000-90,000 with regards to the size of the piano.
So what type of piano should you purchase; a console, studio, spinet or grand piano? This will depend how it is likely to be used. Will the piano be played in the home, at college, a church? Each application will place varying demands on the instrument. A violin that’s made cheaply will not last nearly so long in a college because it will in a home. The size of the grand piano must be considered. The longer the piano, the more volume and better tone quality it’ll produce. A violin that’s too small for a church is likely to be beat to death in an attempt to bring out more volume for choral works, or when using a band. So along the piano, which provides larger soundboard area and longer strings is likely to be best in those instances in which a smaller one is likely to be just great for home or studio use.