Living Pianos

Robert,
I enjoy your website and your videos. Thanks so much. My piano is a Baldwin acoustic upright and I have it tuned regularly. But now I have a new piano technician and he is suggesting I add a humidistat to the inside of the piano to regulate humidity at all times. He says this will cause me to not need regular tunings anymore. Does this make sense? I’ve never heard you speak of such a thing.

Sincerely,
Laura

Your tuner gave you some good pointers. In fact, stabilizing the soundboard will help with tuning stability particularly in environments with wide swings of humidity. Although I live in Southern California with a semi-arid climate, I have a Dampp-Chaser System on my concert grand which helps keep the tuning stable. However, all pianos will still require tuning on a regular basis, particularly if they are played a lot. The Dampp-Chaser System just prolongs the life of your tunings.

Does a Humidistat Help with Tuning Stability?

This might seem like a silly question. How would something as small as the music rack affect the sound of the piano? The truth is, for the audience it doesn’t. However, for the performer, it can have a big effect on what they hear while playing.

I remember during one of my father’s recording sessions he needed to reference the score for one small section – so he placed the music in front of him. This was completely out of the ordinary for him as he memorized all his music for all his performances and recordings. However, he was concerned that it might affect the sound of the recording. When he asked the engineer he said it wouldn’t be a problem; sure enough, it didn’t make a difference.

So you might be wondering what the point of this video is! Well, the music rack might not have an effect on the sound of the piano for the audience but it does have a tremendous effect on the sound for the player.

I would actually go so far as to say that the position of the music rack affects the sound you hear when playing the piano as much or more so than if you have the lid of the piano opened or closed. If you have never played a piano without the music rack down you really should, the sound you will hear is much fuller and is more open; this is yet another great reason to memorize your music!

You might notice on some pianos the music rack has an artistic design with carvings and holes through the wood. If you have a music rack like this, you won’t need to put down the music rack; the sound will travel through just fine.

If you have a piano with a solid music rack, try and play the same piece with the music rack up – then place it down. You will be rewarded with a dramatically improved sound!

Does the Music Rack Affect the Sound of a Piano?

Hi Robert,

I played the Kurzweil 250 in the late 80’s for a temple job and loved it! The digitized sounds actually Felt like I was playing harps, guitars, strings, etc. and the organs were marvelous. Even the piano was amazing, considering I’m a classically trained pianist/organist and am used to the “Real Thing”, including huge pipe organs. Later on, when Kurzweil sold out to Young Chang I thought the quality went way down, but it’s possible they couldn’t afford the big instrument. But that 250 was a real treasure. Do they sell anything like them now? I’m also interested in this recording feature since recording for students has gotten so weird over the last 10 years or so!

Carolyn

There are actually a number of amazing 88 note weighted keyboards with phenomenal sounds and capabilities. But I am not aware of a similar instrument with real wooden keys like the Kurzweil K250. In its day it was a premier instrument. If you are interested in some of the state-of-the-art keyboards available today with similar features, there are great keyboards from Yamaha, Korg, Roland, Kurzweil, and others. Many of the workstation keyboards have extensive recording capabilities. More than that, any keyboard with a standard MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) output can interface with a personal computer for multi-track recording and score printing with appropriate software.

Piano Questions: A Great Digital Piano – The Kurzweil K250

Hi Robert, I played the Kurzweil 250 in the late 80’s for a temple job and loved it! The digitized sounds actually Felt like I was playing harps, guitars, strings, etc. and the organs were marvelous. Even the piano was amazing, considering I

Placing a piano in an optimal spot in a room is vital for the overall sound of the instrument in your home. With the right placement, you can make a smaller piano sound much richer and fuller.

When it comes to upright pianos, the obvious selection would be to put it against the wall; after all, the back is flat – and it’s not very attractive to look at. If you were to put an upright piano in the middle of a room it might look odd.

Even though the placement of an upright piano might seem limited, there are some things you can try to make the sound much better. The best thing to do is place the piano a few inches away from the wall – don’t place it directly on the wall. This will allow the sound of the piano to reverberate off the wall and fill the room with music. If the upright is flush against the wall, a lot of the sound will be muffled. This is because most of the sound from an upright piano comes out the back because that is where the soundboard is.

Another thing you can do to improve the sound is to place the upright in a position where it would divide the room – so it would not be against the wall, but essentially in the middle of the room. To get away from having the back of the piano exposed, you can install attractive fabric on the back of the piano to match the decor of your room.

Generally, you will have an upright piano against a wall, but it is worth experimenting to see what sounds best. The sound of your piano is dependent not only on the condition of the piano but the room it’s in.

Where to Put an Upright Piano in a Room

Placing a piano in an optimal spot in a room is vital for the overall sound of the instrument in your home. With the right placement, you can make a smaller piano sound much richer and fuller. When it comes to upright pianos, the obvious selection wo

Years ago I had the pleasure of performing in a concert series for Inessa Khurgel’s Classical Music Encounters in Orange County. In Southern California, it is a great opportunity for musicians and audiences alike to experience some great classical music from some extraordinary artists. This really was an inspiration for me to start Art District Concerts.

My father, Morton Estrin, was my teacher when I was growing up on Long Island, NY – he in fact still teaches there. He had a large addition built on our house many years ago which contains his studio. The studio is used for practice, teaching, and even concert performances right in our home! Growing up with this was a great experience for me.

But why is this significant? Well, there is historical significance to the idea of in-home concerts. Believe it or not, a concert hall is actually a relatively recent development – they first appeared in the mid-19th century.

Back in Mozart’s time, a piano was not loud enough to fill the area of an entire concert hall; Symphony Orchestras were less than half the size of late 19th century orchestras and the instruments everyone played were much quieter. For example, flutes were made of wood; which doesn’t project nearly as much sound as metal. French horns had no valves so for almost half the notes the player would have to shove their hands into the bell to play the notes which muted the sound. Eventually, musical instrument design evolved and became much louder.

So concerts were generally presented in salons or churches. In more intimate settings, you can actually feel the energy of the instruments and the music. I will never forget the experience of listening to my father up close and personal playing concert level performances. When you hear a performance in a concert hall it simply doesn’t have the energy; you actually have to sit very quietly to hear the performance fully. You don’t have this problem sitting next to the instrument; the energy is almost overwhelming!

You might be surprised to find similar types of performances in your area. There are many vibrant communities of classical musicians and performers around the world that perform and host in-home concerts. If you love classical music and you’ve never have had the pleasure of going to one, you should really check them out. It is a completely different experience than listening in a concert hall.

But how does this benefit the artists? There are several reasons: One is that it’s a great way to grow an audience and gain new fans; more importantly it’s because it allows an artist to perform in an informal setting and interact with the audience, break in new repertoire, and essentially practice performing! It is important to get comfortable with the pacing of energy as well as refining programming. This really helps to prepare artists for formal public concerts.

If you are an artist you really should get involved with either a group providing in-home concerts or simply start your own. As a rule of thumb, I always arrange smaller performances before a major concert. I also provide opportunities for my students to do the same.

What are In-Home Concerts? The History of Concert Performances

Mr. Estrin, I’ve really enjoyed your video about sight reading.

I’m willing to do whatever it takes to improve (I honestly relate to your story you gave in the video, my sight reading is basically non-existent compared with my level of playing, and it’s starting to hurt me now).

I practice close to 3 hours a day, and devote 1 hour to sight reading very basic pieces – will this help? Is there a more effective way?

– Niraj

Yes, I overcame my inability to sightread on a decent level. It came to me in an “Aha” moment. I describe in a video I produced on sightreading how when my father was performing the Tchaikovsky B-flat minor Concerto at Carnegie Hall, he asked me to accompany him on the 2nd piano for practice. This is when I could barely sightread at all! I kept my eyes on the music and counted and kept my hands moving to hit occasional right notes – but throughout the entire concerto, I never got lost! Since that day I have gotten more and more of the notes and can read anything.

I strongly recommend that you play with other musicians – because when you are playing with others, you absolutely must keep going. It’s almost impossible to discipline yourself to keep going when wrong notes are hit. You would be surprised at how appreciative instrumentals and singers are to have someone accompany them even if the accuracy is poor. What is vital is having a sensitivity to their timing and expression. Knowing what key you are in so that you have some basic framework of the piece will help you achieve decent results. As you read more your accuracy will improve.

Sometimes sightreading involves reducing the score to its skeletal framework and fleshing out the harmonic structure rather than actually reading every single detail. You have to make intelligent assumptions as to what the score is saying when it’s not possible to see absolutely everything on the fly.

As for practicing sightreading alone, choose the music you can play accurately at a slow tempo after playing through no more than 2 or 3 times. If you continually miss notes in your reading playing over again and again the mistakes will become ingrained which defeats the purpose. In choosing reading music on your level, your level will grow. Here is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31ag-P4fBvg

All the best-

Hi Robert,

How often do your recommend regulating and voicing a Yamaha studio upright? It was built in 1986, 48 inches tall.

Thanks,

– Carol

The frequency of regulation is determined not by the age of the piano so much as by how much it is played. Also, the regularity of maintenance enters into the equation. If your tuner does fine adjustments during regular tuning schedule, then problems can’t build up. If you provide me with information about how much the instrument is played, I can give you some guidelines. I would say that with average playing, a piano would probably benefit from at least some regulation within 10 years. Often times even brand new pianos aren’t regulated up to a high standard. So, if you have never had any regulation performed on the instrument, it could very well benefit from some. Ask your tuner next time you get the piano serviced. If you notice any issues with the response of the piano, of course, that would indicate some adjustments are necessary.

All the best-

Piano Questions: Sight Reading Tips – Whats is Regulation and Voicing?

Mr. Estrin, I’ve really enjoyed your video about sight reading. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to improve (I honestly relate to your story you gave in the video, my sight reading is basically non-existent compared with my level of playin

This is a very good question. Many people might not realize that there are many different things that can affect the sound of a piano in a room. Some good, some bad; but they are all things you should be aware of to determine the right size and placement of a piano in your home.

The size of the piano you choose for your home is very important. It is determined not only by the size of the room but the acoustics. Have you ever sung in the shower and noticed how much better your voice sounds? Because of all the porcelain and glass, the acoustics allow your voice to be echoed off the walls and it has a pleasing effect. The same is true when it comes to any live room.

A room with wood floors or slate; lots of windows, and high ceilings may provide an ideal environment for a piano. The sound travels all around the room and reverberates very nicely. If you have a room that is dead acoustically, the piano won’t sound nearly as pleasing. One of the biggest factors in a room is the floor; carpeting will dampen the sound of a piano. Why is this? Half of the sound of a piano comes from underneath the soundboard, so when the sound travels into the carpet or rug it will deaden the sound substantially.

Now there are occasions when you would actually want to deaden the sound of a piano. For example, if you have a room that is too live or has a bigger piano than it should, the sound of the piano can actually become overbearing. To solve this you can put a rug underneath the piano and it will dampen the sound a bit.

Other objects in a room that affect the sound of your piano are things like curtains and couches. Soft and cushy furniture will absorb sound and will actually affect the sound of your piano in the room. In fact, just having people in the room will affect the sound of a piano. When many people are in a room they will actually absorb some of the sounds, making the piano just that much quieter. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to a hall before a concert and tested out the piano only to find it sounded completely different once the seats were filled for the actual performance.

The bottom line is that you want a room that will enhance the sound of the piano. You don’t want the sound to be too loud or too quiet. Obviously, this can be a challenge if you already have a piano in a certain room and it will be difficult to change anything but little modifications can help to improve the sound of your room. Some people will even put clear plexiglass under the piano if it is sitting on carpeting to help reflect the sound projecting under the piano!

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com: Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

What Affects the Sound of a Piano in a Room?

I love watching and learning from your YouTube channel Living Pianos. I don’t know if you know the answer to this question, but why are all pin blocks made of wood? It would seem that by now someone would have found a better material that wouldn’t have all the disadvantages of wood.

Thanks,
Jay

You ask an intelligent question about pinblocks. In fact, I have a video which explores alternatives to wooden pinblocks pioneered over 100 years ago by Mason & Hamlin.

The good thing about wooden pinblocks is that they can be replaced if they wear out. They also provide excellent tuning stability for the enormous combined weight that the strings exert on the pins. With new technologies, perhaps new materials will surface for pinblocks, but wooden pinblocks have served us well up until this point.

Why are Piano Pin Blocks Made of Wood?

Hi Robert,

Thanks for your emails and videos; they have really valuable information for piano owners.

I would like to know what kind of video and audio recorder you use for your videos.

Thank you,

– Marcos

I use 2 recorders for the videos:

– Sony PCM-D50 for the piano

– Tascam Field recorder with XLR inputs: I plug in a DPA phantom powered, miniature lapel mic for my voice

The video is shot on one (and sometimes a second camera):

– Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 with a Voigtlander Nokton 25mm F0.95 lens

– Canon EOS T2i with Ultrasonic 0.48m/1.6ft 28-105mm lens

It is essential that the mics are placed precisely for a good recording. Lighting is incredibly important for the quality of the video as well.

Piano Questons – Production Equipment – The Camera and Audio Recorder I Use

Hi Robert, Thanks for your emails and videos; they have really valuable information for piano owners. I would like to know what kind of video and audio recorder you use for your videos. Thank you, – Marcos I use 2 recorders for the videos: R