A violin in the home makes a silent statement, but a great piano is recognized as the greatest in elegance. When given an option between a great piano and a vertical an artist will usually choose the grand piano. Why, you could ask is the grand piano so much more desirable than a vertical piano. Herein we’ll cover some frequently asked questions that will help you select the right piano for your purposes.
First all pianos are not created equal. A high quality vertical piano is better than a cheaply built grand piano. Grand pianos range in price from $4,995 upward to over $170,000. Why is the more costly pianos better? Quality of materials, aging of woods and quality of craftsmanship to craft them. The additional time the manufacturer takes to create a violin and the greater felt, leather and woods used will translate to a violin that is capable of projecting sound efficiently and also better tone.
A piano’s action (the mechanism that propels the hammers once the keys are struck) is quite intricate. The action has a large number of parts, which are adjusted and built to very fine tolerances. One key that’s a slight 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, higher quality woods found in the action will contract and expand causing alignment problems and again affecting one’s dynamic control.
Keys found in a violin must certanly be made from quality wood, such as for example spruce, basswood AND utilize key buttons, which supports give the key stability and prevents excessive wear.
Tuning stability is crucial to the entire tone of the piano. The pin block, the multi-laminate plank of wood where the tuning pins reside must certanly be made out of premium woods so torque on the pins is enough to withstand the over 20 tons or string tension. Some pin blocks use a few, very thin laminates that aren’t going to hold along with one that’s multiple laminates. Hard rock maple is probably the most accepted pin block by major manufacturers as one that may, over the long haul maintain tight pins, helping to keep good tuning stability.
The soundboard is the diagraph that, once the strings are stretched throughout the bridges oppose the strings tension, thereby amplifying the strings vibrations. 爵士鋼琴課程 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 being the most effective wood for soundboards in pianos, guitars, violins and other acoustic instruments.
A solid soundboard is better than a laminated. Soundboard are created with edge-glued planks of spruce wood to produce 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 such as for instance a sandwich of three pieces of spruce and other wood). The tone of a laminated board tends to really have a brittle sound whereas the solid board features a more responsive tone that is a lot more pleasing.
An old wives tale about cracked soundboards is just that….a wives tale. A soundboard that’s a crack, first in virtually all cases may be repaired, IF the tone is even afflicted with the crack. I have tuned a number of pianos that give no indication of a problem. Now, if the ribs, (on the backside of the soundboard which supports maintain the crown or similar to a drum head) have separated from the soundboard, there can be a buzz, or weak tone. But again that is easily repaired. We repair soundboards/rib frequently. So, if a violin you’re considering features a “bad soundboard” or a “cracked soundboard” let a qualified piano tuner-technician examine the piano for you. Chances are the piano is just fine.
Another note about soundboards….a grand piano that is say 60-90 years old might have a soundboard that’s lost its crown. If the piano is a quality piano, such as a Steinway & Sons, Baldwin, Mason & Hamlin, Bosendorfer and other quality piano, it’s worth replacing the soundboard and restringing once the piano has been restored. A Steinway piano today that is rebuilt with a new soundboard can bring from $22,000-90,000 with respect to the size of the piano.
So what sort of piano should you buy; a console, studio, spinet or grand piano? It depends on what it is going to be used. Will the piano be played at home, at college, a church? Each application will place varying demands on the instrument. A violin that is made cheaply will not last nearly so long in a college because it will in a home. How big is the grand piano must be considered. The longer the piano, the more volume and better tone quality it will produce. A violin that is too small for a church is going to be beat to death in an endeavor to bring out more volume for choral works, or when using a band. So the length of the piano, which gives larger soundboard area and longer strings is going to be best in those instances in which a smaller one is going to be just fine for home or studio use.
