I Have Tonsillitis!
I have tonsillitis, yes it's true. With my recent experiences with this ailment, I decided to write a bit on being a musician (or a singer), and what illnesses, or degrees of illness will affect your ability to perform, audition, record, or even practice your music.
For singers, it's pretty obvious what kinds of things will keep you from singing. Obviously any ailment that causes pain to the through or mouth, shortness of breath, or other respiratory problems will prohibit your ability to sing. But, these aren't the only things that may inhibit the practice of your art. Broken bones can often restrict or completely disable your ability to practice. A broken leg will keep you in a leaned back or at least sitting position. This will make it very difficult to seriously practice a piece of music for any kind of musician where posture or pose are essential.
But if you have a sore throat, does that prevent you from being able to practice, or even perform? The short answer is yes, and no.
The last few days have been excruciating. I've had tonsillitis. Second only to strep throat, this extremely painful affliction was difficult to work with. But I didn't just sit around and "vege" while I was sick. I continued to teach my piano lessons, attend my college classes, and practiced with the Symphony Orchestra at our regular rehearsal time.
You're probably thinking, "No way, that's just ridiculous. No one would put themselves through that." Well, I did. For a few reasons. The first, I needed to. I had to keep up with my classes. It was also the first test week, and I didn't want to miss that! I will not settle for anything less than an A, (not that I always meet that mark) but I will always do my best to get there. Second, I didn't know that it was tonsillitis and thought I would just wake up the next morning feeling better, just like any other cold I've ever had. It just kept getting worse, not better.
Put how did I manage to keep performing? How well did I do under those conditions with all of my stuff going on? Some people think tonsillitis (being an infection of your tonsils) only really affects the back of your mouth and throat, and thus wouldn't make a difference in your ability to sit through music theory classes and take notes. This would be true, if it wasn't that every time I swallowed, I felt the most excruciating pain in my throat that I have ever felt. If this isn't distracting enough, my body is going through hot and cold waves. One second overly warm, the next I need a sweater. And finally, I was tired. Dead tired. I could hardly keep my eyes open. My body was spending so much energy fighting the infection, it didn't have much left to give me!
Imagine, your in pain, your exhausted, and uncomfortable, and listening to lecture on scales, pitches and harmonics. Not any easy thing to focus on. You can imagine, orchestra rehearsal didn't go so well for me either. Under the aforementioned conditions, can you see yourself sitting and playing your cello perfectly normally for your 3 hour practice session? NO WAY! Neither can I; neither could I. My performance was extremely limited in ability and skill that evening.
I know this sample leans somewhat to the extreme. On the converse side, you have a minor cold that you get every few months. It's not really a big deal, just a hassle and you proceed as normal. Did you play your best for rehearsal? Probably not. But did you care to play your best at this rehearsal? Maybe not. Did you try to play your best? Only you can know the answer to that one.
Now, for the final thought. Your big performance. You play the oboe, and you have a big solo for a concert with they Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Your feeling a little sick to your stomach, but don't really think about it to much, being more frightened of your performance ahead of you. How does it go? Just fine. You played your part well enough, and you were met by thunderous applause at the end of the piece. But now, you feel really badly. Your constant exertion through the music and your difficult piece drained you of a lot of energy. Energy not able to be used to fend of your illness. In a matter of hours, you have the full-blown flu. Would you have gotten this sick if you hadn't performed? What if you just hadn't thrown so much effort into your music? Everyone is different, and has different tolerance and threshold levels for these sorts of things.
I know this article has included much theory, dramatizing, and general make believe, but I hope it has shed some light on the matter of being sick, and keeping up with your music schedule. Don't push yourself to hard, but if you really feel up to it, go ahead and play, it might make you feel better after you get some blood moving.
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Monday, August 3, 2015
Digital Piano Software
Digital Piano Software
With the rapid expansion of technology and the convenience it offers, more an more artists are moving to digital, virtual piano software. This has several advantages over being an acoustic artist, but first I want to discuss what a "virtual piano" really is.
A virtual piano is literally what it's name states it is. It is a piano that is not a real piano, but in every way functions as one in a digital world. It can be played like a piano, sounds like a piano, but does not take up the space of a piano. The sounds of a virtual piano are stored on a computer. The sounds can be activated by using a MIDI controller, an electric piano keyboard. This is a very crude but effective way of describing a virtual piano.
The way the sounds are acquired (or sampled) is by actually recording each key of a real piano at multiple velocity levels. This allows for a very real sound, and a wide dynamic range. The realism of the sounds vary greatly between different sampled pianos. Some are recorded better than others, and some have more velocity layers than others making them more dynamic. The most ideal virtual piano has many velocity layers that are recorded with a very high quality sound system in a studio.
Examples of some excellent software is Ivory II (any of the series, Grand Pianos, Italian Grand, American Grand) and Galaxy Steinway D. These programs combined have hundreds of gigabytes of high quality sounds.
Most electric keyboards can be used as MIDI controllers to harness and effectively play these virtual pianos. The quality of the keyboard will dictate the level of control and realism of feel you have over the virtual piano. Two exceptional MIDI controllers would be Kawai's VPC 1 and the Casio PX 350.
The advantages are obvious. Less space required. Less money required, and less time required than a real caustic piano. It's amazingly easy to record a virtual piano because you don't need any microphones! There can be a tornado going on around you and you can still produce a perfect and flawless recording!
But what are the disadvantages? There are a few, but they are usually overridden by the positive side of the coin. A virtual piano will never feel like an acoustic piano in two ways. When you play an acoustic piano, the action has a very distinctive, smooth feel to it. Unfortunately, a digital keyboard will never have that kind of feel to it. Several keyboards have gotten very close, but none quite match the feel of a real piano. And secondly, even though the sound you hear will be very much like a real piano, you will never feel the sound waves roll over and through you as you play. You'll never fell the shimmering power of the bass, or the gentle brilliance of the high treble. Will you hear it? Yes, but you will never quite feel it.
So while digital instruments are excellent for producing recordings and practicing on, no digital and virtual piano combination to date has ever accurately reproduced the full experience of playing on a real acoustic piano. Does that make it any less enjoyable? In my experience, it's a separate experience all by itself that can be enjoyed individually and totally separate from that of playing a real piano.
With the rapid expansion of technology and the convenience it offers, more an more artists are moving to digital, virtual piano software. This has several advantages over being an acoustic artist, but first I want to discuss what a "virtual piano" really is.
A virtual piano is literally what it's name states it is. It is a piano that is not a real piano, but in every way functions as one in a digital world. It can be played like a piano, sounds like a piano, but does not take up the space of a piano. The sounds of a virtual piano are stored on a computer. The sounds can be activated by using a MIDI controller, an electric piano keyboard. This is a very crude but effective way of describing a virtual piano.
The way the sounds are acquired (or sampled) is by actually recording each key of a real piano at multiple velocity levels. This allows for a very real sound, and a wide dynamic range. The realism of the sounds vary greatly between different sampled pianos. Some are recorded better than others, and some have more velocity layers than others making them more dynamic. The most ideal virtual piano has many velocity layers that are recorded with a very high quality sound system in a studio.
Examples of some excellent software is Ivory II (any of the series, Grand Pianos, Italian Grand, American Grand) and Galaxy Steinway D. These programs combined have hundreds of gigabytes of high quality sounds.
Most electric keyboards can be used as MIDI controllers to harness and effectively play these virtual pianos. The quality of the keyboard will dictate the level of control and realism of feel you have over the virtual piano. Two exceptional MIDI controllers would be Kawai's VPC 1 and the Casio PX 350.
The advantages are obvious. Less space required. Less money required, and less time required than a real caustic piano. It's amazingly easy to record a virtual piano because you don't need any microphones! There can be a tornado going on around you and you can still produce a perfect and flawless recording!
But what are the disadvantages? There are a few, but they are usually overridden by the positive side of the coin. A virtual piano will never feel like an acoustic piano in two ways. When you play an acoustic piano, the action has a very distinctive, smooth feel to it. Unfortunately, a digital keyboard will never have that kind of feel to it. Several keyboards have gotten very close, but none quite match the feel of a real piano. And secondly, even though the sound you hear will be very much like a real piano, you will never feel the sound waves roll over and through you as you play. You'll never fell the shimmering power of the bass, or the gentle brilliance of the high treble. Will you hear it? Yes, but you will never quite feel it.
So while digital instruments are excellent for producing recordings and practicing on, no digital and virtual piano combination to date has ever accurately reproduced the full experience of playing on a real acoustic piano. Does that make it any less enjoyable? In my experience, it's a separate experience all by itself that can be enjoyed individually and totally separate from that of playing a real piano.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Why You Should Practice Piano as a Second Instrument
Why You Should Practice Piano as a Second Instrument
You've probably heard some teachers or musician friends say that you should practice piano as second instrument, but you may never have really heard why. If you ask them why, they may not know the answer, only that it's "helpful".
It's true, playing piano as a secondary instrument is VERY helpful for your musical ability regardless of what instrument you play. Some colleges require you to take piano as well as lessons for your primary instrument when you are studying for your B.A. or your B.M.
But why is it really helpful? Let's back up and talk about your primary instrument first, let's say it's the viola. The viola has 4 strings, each strung an equal fifth apart (A, D, G, and C, top to bottom). By keeping the fundamental tones of the strings exactly a fifth apart, this determines what kind of finger patterns will be necessary to produce music, and the range of the instrument.
For another example, let's use the guitar. The strings on the guitar (E, B, G, D, A and E) are fourths apart, save second and third strings which rest at thirds. This determines the finger patterns and "shapes" necessary to produce chords and find specific individual notes on the instrument.
In both of these examples, there is a non-linear, unequal way of looking at theory and technical because you have to think it specific sets of intervals when moving from one string to another. For example, as a violist I would know that first finger on the C string is the note D, while first finger on the G string is A. The same applies to guitarists. You have to move not only left and right, but also up and down with your fingers.
To sum up, you can't visually "see" the patterns in a linear way, but rather in shapes or stretches. However, this is not true on a piano. Scales, chords, and patterns are all VERY linear on a piano. In fact, there is no way to not be linear about it. Each note ascends or descends left to right, where as on a guitar or viola not only can notes be left or right of each other, but also up or down from another. In same cases, this left, right, up, and down motion can be very confusing when trying to learn the theory and mechanics behind music, chords, pattern, progressions, etc.
However, on the piano, you can only move in a straight line left or right. This helps the brain process more effectively the theory and mechanics you are trying to learn by putting it an logical, straightforward sort of way that requires less brain power to process.
This allows you to think about the specific notes you are playing. For example, I know on a piano a C chord consists of C, E, and G. I can play any combination of those notes and still get a C chord. I can literally see this on a piano, where as on the viola I would more probably think something along the lines of, "first string, third finger first string, second string". Do I know what those notes are? Certainly, but I can't think about it to linearly, because I have to shift across and up strings. On the piano, all I have to do is play C and move up a third, and a third again. I know what notes I am playing, and will always know that those are C, E, and G. I will always see in my head my fingers playing a C chord on the piano when I hear someone say "C chord."
Is this really necessary? Well, most would argue no. But it has been an invaluable tool for me to be able to take a rhythm, a note progression, or anything strange I find in my music to my piano, plunk it out, and then play it out on the cello with the linear vision of the music in my head.
Does this work for everyone? Probably not. Does it work for most? Yes, most people think in a straight line better than they do on a roller-coaster pathway, even if they are used to thinking like a roller-coaster. This is why we make lists, charts, graphs, so we don't have to just have pages and pages of information. We organize it, we process it, we arrange it into a MORE understandable fashion. This is what the piano will help you to do when learning music theory and mechanics.
You've probably heard some teachers or musician friends say that you should practice piano as second instrument, but you may never have really heard why. If you ask them why, they may not know the answer, only that it's "helpful".
It's true, playing piano as a secondary instrument is VERY helpful for your musical ability regardless of what instrument you play. Some colleges require you to take piano as well as lessons for your primary instrument when you are studying for your B.A. or your B.M.
But why is it really helpful? Let's back up and talk about your primary instrument first, let's say it's the viola. The viola has 4 strings, each strung an equal fifth apart (A, D, G, and C, top to bottom). By keeping the fundamental tones of the strings exactly a fifth apart, this determines what kind of finger patterns will be necessary to produce music, and the range of the instrument.
For another example, let's use the guitar. The strings on the guitar (E, B, G, D, A and E) are fourths apart, save second and third strings which rest at thirds. This determines the finger patterns and "shapes" necessary to produce chords and find specific individual notes on the instrument.
In both of these examples, there is a non-linear, unequal way of looking at theory and technical because you have to think it specific sets of intervals when moving from one string to another. For example, as a violist I would know that first finger on the C string is the note D, while first finger on the G string is A. The same applies to guitarists. You have to move not only left and right, but also up and down with your fingers.
To sum up, you can't visually "see" the patterns in a linear way, but rather in shapes or stretches. However, this is not true on a piano. Scales, chords, and patterns are all VERY linear on a piano. In fact, there is no way to not be linear about it. Each note ascends or descends left to right, where as on a guitar or viola not only can notes be left or right of each other, but also up or down from another. In same cases, this left, right, up, and down motion can be very confusing when trying to learn the theory and mechanics behind music, chords, pattern, progressions, etc.
However, on the piano, you can only move in a straight line left or right. This helps the brain process more effectively the theory and mechanics you are trying to learn by putting it an logical, straightforward sort of way that requires less brain power to process.
This allows you to think about the specific notes you are playing. For example, I know on a piano a C chord consists of C, E, and G. I can play any combination of those notes and still get a C chord. I can literally see this on a piano, where as on the viola I would more probably think something along the lines of, "first string, third finger first string, second string". Do I know what those notes are? Certainly, but I can't think about it to linearly, because I have to shift across and up strings. On the piano, all I have to do is play C and move up a third, and a third again. I know what notes I am playing, and will always know that those are C, E, and G. I will always see in my head my fingers playing a C chord on the piano when I hear someone say "C chord."
Is this really necessary? Well, most would argue no. But it has been an invaluable tool for me to be able to take a rhythm, a note progression, or anything strange I find in my music to my piano, plunk it out, and then play it out on the cello with the linear vision of the music in my head.
Does this work for everyone? Probably not. Does it work for most? Yes, most people think in a straight line better than they do on a roller-coaster pathway, even if they are used to thinking like a roller-coaster. This is why we make lists, charts, graphs, so we don't have to just have pages and pages of information. We organize it, we process it, we arrange it into a MORE understandable fashion. This is what the piano will help you to do when learning music theory and mechanics.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Searching, Trying, and Buying a Used Piano (or any instrument really)
Searching, Trying, and Buying a Used Piano (or any instrument really)
One of the most difficult things about picking out an instrument is not always finding a good one, but deciding which one you can live with the longest! I have a very recent, practical example for you later on in the article. First, let's talk about where to find an instrument, what to look for when trying it out, and finally buying the instrument.
The first thing you should do when looking for a new instrument is deciding what your budget is, and how much room you have for a piano. This will help you determine what kind of piano to buy. If you have a larger budget say ($3,000 to $5,000) and a moderate amount of space, it's best to go with a medium grand piano. If you don't have a lot of space but the same budget, you want to buy the tallest upright you can find, or perhaps a baby grand. But if you have a smaller budget (say between $800 and $2,000) you'll want to buy the tallest upright you can find.
In summary, an excellent general rule to follow: always buy the biggest piano you have room for (that fits within your budget and proves to be a quality instrument).
Now, the best place to begin looking for quality used instruments is in the local newspaper ads or places like Craigslist and Ebay, with the search set locally. If you can't find any that fit your size or financial budget, consider reducing size prerequisite or increasing budget if at all possible. If you can't find a quality instrument this way, look to the local piano store that sells used and or restored instruments. They usually have something that will suit your needs.
Now that you've found an instrument (or two or three) that meet your criteria, it's time to try them out and give them a test run. If you found the piano by way of ad, be sure to ask when the best time to try it out is. Most piano stores have regular hours, but in some cases you'll have to make an appointment.
These are some basic things to look for before playing the instrument:
As a warning: NEVER, I repeat, NEVER crawl underneath a grand piano to look at the underside unless you are 100% sure that it is structurally sound and won't collapse underneath you. I've heard stories of people who crawl underneath old pianos to take a look, and seconds after they crawl back out the piano collapses.
If the instrument passes your external examination, see if you can get a look inside. If it's a grand, this shouldn't be a problem, just look down between the strings at the soundboard, the action, etc. If you are inspecting an upright piano, I strongly recommend you hire a technician to come out with you to help you inspect the inside of an upright piano. This is good advice anyway: have a technician with you. But it's not necessarily necessary, and so often goes neglected. A professional eye can help you avoid a down-the-road disaster that could cost you thousands of dollars to fix. Most technicians can assist you for very little to no cost at all in something like this.
As far as the tonal quality, here are things you want to listen for.
Now, assuming you find more than one instrument that passes all your examinations and that you believe are a quality instrument. How do you choose one?
The last time I went to buy a new cello, I was faced with a serious dilemma. I found two, that were of equal tonal and structural quality. The both played fairly well, and were cosmetically pleasing. But they had exactly opposite personalities! One was very dark and warm (but not muddy), and had a intimate and friendly sound to it. The other had a bright sound (but not to bright) and boasted a proud and arrogant tone that was extremely powerful and rich.
The question for me was, "which of these personalities can I live with?" Not all music is suited for one kind of instrument. There is no "one size fits all" instrument. If you know your instrument well, you can make a dark and warm instrument sound brighter, and conversely as well. I had the hardest time picking which cello I wanted to have, they were both so nice!
After much debate, and hours upon hours of playing them, I came to a few conclusions. The one that was easier to play would serve me better, and a warmer tone fits in with more music types that a brighter tone. It's easier to fit in with an ensemble, chamber orchestra, or for performing duets or even solos with warmer instrument than a brighter one.
And so, even though I liked both cellos so much, I went with the darker, warmer one because it was easier to play, and could blend in with more types of music and groups of musicians than the brighter one could.
However, this conclusion does not work well with everyone. Some people prefer the brighter of warmer tone, and thus a brighter instrument is better for you. The best route to go is to find the middle ground, as it can usually be persuaded into sounding like either when you need it to. This can be accomplished by playing regularly on your instrument and knowing it inside and out, all of its little secrets and personality quirks.
One of the most difficult things about picking out an instrument is not always finding a good one, but deciding which one you can live with the longest! I have a very recent, practical example for you later on in the article. First, let's talk about where to find an instrument, what to look for when trying it out, and finally buying the instrument.
The first thing you should do when looking for a new instrument is deciding what your budget is, and how much room you have for a piano. This will help you determine what kind of piano to buy. If you have a larger budget say ($3,000 to $5,000) and a moderate amount of space, it's best to go with a medium grand piano. If you don't have a lot of space but the same budget, you want to buy the tallest upright you can find, or perhaps a baby grand. But if you have a smaller budget (say between $800 and $2,000) you'll want to buy the tallest upright you can find.
In summary, an excellent general rule to follow: always buy the biggest piano you have room for (that fits within your budget and proves to be a quality instrument).
Now, the best place to begin looking for quality used instruments is in the local newspaper ads or places like Craigslist and Ebay, with the search set locally. If you can't find any that fit your size or financial budget, consider reducing size prerequisite or increasing budget if at all possible. If you can't find a quality instrument this way, look to the local piano store that sells used and or restored instruments. They usually have something that will suit your needs.
Now that you've found an instrument (or two or three) that meet your criteria, it's time to try them out and give them a test run. If you found the piano by way of ad, be sure to ask when the best time to try it out is. Most piano stores have regular hours, but in some cases you'll have to make an appointment.
These are some basic things to look for before playing the instrument:
- Does the cabinet (also referred to as the "case" or the "body") have major scuffs, scratches, blemishes or other indicators of abuse or poor care of the instrument?
- Does the finish look like it's sun faded, indicating the piano was in direct sunlight every day over the years?
- Is it structurally sound? Give it a little push with your hands and see if it wobbles at all. A structurally sound piano should yield little to no movement when bumped or pushed upon lightly.
- Are there any stains that look like they could be from a beverage or spilled food? This can turn out to be or make serious problems down the road.
As a warning: NEVER, I repeat, NEVER crawl underneath a grand piano to look at the underside unless you are 100% sure that it is structurally sound and won't collapse underneath you. I've heard stories of people who crawl underneath old pianos to take a look, and seconds after they crawl back out the piano collapses.
If the instrument passes your external examination, see if you can get a look inside. If it's a grand, this shouldn't be a problem, just look down between the strings at the soundboard, the action, etc. If you are inspecting an upright piano, I strongly recommend you hire a technician to come out with you to help you inspect the inside of an upright piano. This is good advice anyway: have a technician with you. But it's not necessarily necessary, and so often goes neglected. A professional eye can help you avoid a down-the-road disaster that could cost you thousands of dollars to fix. Most technicians can assist you for very little to no cost at all in something like this.
As far as the tonal quality, here are things you want to listen for.
- Does the tone seem bright or warm? Is it too bright or to muddy? It should be right about in the middle, not to bright, but warm enough to produce a pleasant tone. To warm (also described as dark) and the tone becomes "muddy" sounding and unpleasant.
- Is the volume appropriate? Is the instrument far to loud or far to soft for normal playing?
- Do all the tones come out evenly? Does the tone jump wildly from warm, to bright, to somewhere in the middle as you play up and down the piano? A little shift in tone like this is normal and desirable, however, unpleasant and rapid changes are annoying, distracting, and generally indicate a problem. In most pianos, the tone in the bass is a warm and pleasant, and becomes smoothly and evenly brighter as you go up the scale, until you reach the top that has a sharp, crisp, but still pleasant tone.
- Is one note weaker than the ones around it? This could indicate a missing string or broken action part.
- Do all the keys work?
- Do all the keys work correctly?
- Are any obviously mistreated and damaged?
- Are the keytops in good condition?
Now, assuming you find more than one instrument that passes all your examinations and that you believe are a quality instrument. How do you choose one?
The last time I went to buy a new cello, I was faced with a serious dilemma. I found two, that were of equal tonal and structural quality. The both played fairly well, and were cosmetically pleasing. But they had exactly opposite personalities! One was very dark and warm (but not muddy), and had a intimate and friendly sound to it. The other had a bright sound (but not to bright) and boasted a proud and arrogant tone that was extremely powerful and rich.
The question for me was, "which of these personalities can I live with?" Not all music is suited for one kind of instrument. There is no "one size fits all" instrument. If you know your instrument well, you can make a dark and warm instrument sound brighter, and conversely as well. I had the hardest time picking which cello I wanted to have, they were both so nice!
After much debate, and hours upon hours of playing them, I came to a few conclusions. The one that was easier to play would serve me better, and a warmer tone fits in with more music types that a brighter tone. It's easier to fit in with an ensemble, chamber orchestra, or for performing duets or even solos with warmer instrument than a brighter one.
And so, even though I liked both cellos so much, I went with the darker, warmer one because it was easier to play, and could blend in with more types of music and groups of musicians than the brighter one could.
However, this conclusion does not work well with everyone. Some people prefer the brighter of warmer tone, and thus a brighter instrument is better for you. The best route to go is to find the middle ground, as it can usually be persuaded into sounding like either when you need it to. This can be accomplished by playing regularly on your instrument and knowing it inside and out, all of its little secrets and personality quirks.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Humidity and Temperature, and How They Affect Your Instrument
Humidity and Temperature, and How They Affect Your Instrument
You may be aware of this, then again you may not, but temperature and humidity directly affect the performance and structural integrity of your instrument in a few ways.
Let's deal with the temperature first, assuming humidity is low or at least average for the instruments location. A high temperature will cause the instrument to dry out: the moisture content in the instrument will be reduced. On the surface, this might seem like a positive thing, however, it's not always.
When the wood in your instrument begins to dry out, it begins to move and contract in strange ways. In an extreme, this can cause the wood to crack, split, or become separated from a once stable glue joint. Instruments produce music by sound waves caused by vibrations. If the wood is cracked, the wood on either side of the crack runs the risk of knocking against each other, creating a buzzing, humming, or ringing sound that is distracting and unpleasant to listen to.
There is little chance of your instrument being exposed to extremely low temperatures. But even if it is, chances are it won't affect your instrument at all, but the humidity that often comes with cooler temperatures will.
Humidity is the moisture content in the air. When the humidity goes up, the air tends to feel thick, sticky, and has even been defined as "swampy." A majority of any instrument is made up of wood, which is directly affected by it's moisture content. When the humidity goes up, the moisture content of the wood goes up. When the humidity goes down, the moisture content of the wood goes down.
When the wood in your instrument has a higher than average moisture content, the wood will swell, or become enlarged. Most obviously this causes stress between any joints in the wood, weather it be by glue or a small nail. If the high moisture content is maintained over a period of time, it can cause the wood to swell to the point that the joint breaks, damaging the structural integrity of your instrument and usually affecting the tonal quality by adding the same buzzing, jangling, or ringing sound discussed earlier.
So what is ideal for an instrument? Where can it be perfectly comfortable? It's very simple. Instruments are like people. They like to be cool, but not to cool, and they don't want the air around them to be thick or "swampy" due to high humidity. Most instruments like to sit between 73 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and with a 45% to 50% local humidity. A few more or less degrees in temperature or humidity won't really affect your instrument.
This is why you should never leave your instrument in your car. It gets hot, the case it's in causes the temperature in the case to be slightly higher than the interior of the car, and depending on the humidity that day the instrument will begin to swell or shrink, risking breakage of your instrument.
Now, how can all of this affect the instruments performance. Picture this scenario. You're on a concert stage in front of 800 people, with a 60 piece orchestra behind you. It rained yesterday so the humidity is high but you don't need to worry about it because the concert hall is air conditioned. You're the cello soloist for Dvorak's concerto, and are about half way through the 40 minute piece of music.
The air conditioner, which has been in need of service for some time, gives out. Within minutes, all of the bodies, people breathing, etc. cause the temperature and the humidity in the room to rise rapidly. This in turn causes your instrument to swell. The body of your cello is pushing up on the bridge, which in turn is also swelling and pushing up on the strings. Your strings were sitting at a tension of 50.21 pounds, and was perfectly in tune. With the added and somewhat uneven swelling of your instrument pushing up on the strings and adding tension, the total tension in weight is now 52.87 pounds. Your cello is now noticeably out of tune and above standard concert pitch of A440.
The rest of the orchestra suffers the same problem, and now your music sounds discordant, disjointed, and generally...well...very bad. Not to mention your body is dripping with sweat. The director waves every to a stop, and dismisses the orchestra, apologizing to his audience for the uncomfortable room, and promises them another concert the following evening.
Not so fun, is it? Now, this example was slightly exaggerated. However, under an extreme like this it could happen very similarly to what is described.
You may be aware of this, then again you may not, but temperature and humidity directly affect the performance and structural integrity of your instrument in a few ways.
Let's deal with the temperature first, assuming humidity is low or at least average for the instruments location. A high temperature will cause the instrument to dry out: the moisture content in the instrument will be reduced. On the surface, this might seem like a positive thing, however, it's not always.
When the wood in your instrument begins to dry out, it begins to move and contract in strange ways. In an extreme, this can cause the wood to crack, split, or become separated from a once stable glue joint. Instruments produce music by sound waves caused by vibrations. If the wood is cracked, the wood on either side of the crack runs the risk of knocking against each other, creating a buzzing, humming, or ringing sound that is distracting and unpleasant to listen to.
There is little chance of your instrument being exposed to extremely low temperatures. But even if it is, chances are it won't affect your instrument at all, but the humidity that often comes with cooler temperatures will.
Humidity is the moisture content in the air. When the humidity goes up, the air tends to feel thick, sticky, and has even been defined as "swampy." A majority of any instrument is made up of wood, which is directly affected by it's moisture content. When the humidity goes up, the moisture content of the wood goes up. When the humidity goes down, the moisture content of the wood goes down.
When the wood in your instrument has a higher than average moisture content, the wood will swell, or become enlarged. Most obviously this causes stress between any joints in the wood, weather it be by glue or a small nail. If the high moisture content is maintained over a period of time, it can cause the wood to swell to the point that the joint breaks, damaging the structural integrity of your instrument and usually affecting the tonal quality by adding the same buzzing, jangling, or ringing sound discussed earlier.
So what is ideal for an instrument? Where can it be perfectly comfortable? It's very simple. Instruments are like people. They like to be cool, but not to cool, and they don't want the air around them to be thick or "swampy" due to high humidity. Most instruments like to sit between 73 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and with a 45% to 50% local humidity. A few more or less degrees in temperature or humidity won't really affect your instrument.
This is why you should never leave your instrument in your car. It gets hot, the case it's in causes the temperature in the case to be slightly higher than the interior of the car, and depending on the humidity that day the instrument will begin to swell or shrink, risking breakage of your instrument.
Now, how can all of this affect the instruments performance. Picture this scenario. You're on a concert stage in front of 800 people, with a 60 piece orchestra behind you. It rained yesterday so the humidity is high but you don't need to worry about it because the concert hall is air conditioned. You're the cello soloist for Dvorak's concerto, and are about half way through the 40 minute piece of music.
The air conditioner, which has been in need of service for some time, gives out. Within minutes, all of the bodies, people breathing, etc. cause the temperature and the humidity in the room to rise rapidly. This in turn causes your instrument to swell. The body of your cello is pushing up on the bridge, which in turn is also swelling and pushing up on the strings. Your strings were sitting at a tension of 50.21 pounds, and was perfectly in tune. With the added and somewhat uneven swelling of your instrument pushing up on the strings and adding tension, the total tension in weight is now 52.87 pounds. Your cello is now noticeably out of tune and above standard concert pitch of A440.
The rest of the orchestra suffers the same problem, and now your music sounds discordant, disjointed, and generally...well...very bad. Not to mention your body is dripping with sweat. The director waves every to a stop, and dismisses the orchestra, apologizing to his audience for the uncomfortable room, and promises them another concert the following evening.
Not so fun, is it? Now, this example was slightly exaggerated. However, under an extreme like this it could happen very similarly to what is described.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
What Makes a Quality Piano?
What Makes a Quality Piano?
One of the most common questions technicians are asked goes along the lines of, "How good is my piano?" or "Is this a quality piano?" Often times I find myself trying to explain as politely as possible to a pressing customer why their piano doesn't sound so good. This is somewhat a difficult thing to do, especially once you finish servicing their instrument and accept the check.
When looking for "quality" in an instrument, you must first understand that there are two kinds of quality to inspect. Craftsmanship quality, and material quality. An expert piano maker cannot make a quality piano with poor materials, and a novice piano maker cannot usually make a quality piano even if he has the best of materials. So in short, when assessing the quality of an instrument, you must combine both of these factors into a single final measurement, assessing both craftsmanship and materials at the same time.
Craftsmanship quality is usually fairly easy to realize and appreciate. Clean glue joints, countersunk screw heads, well sanded and finished wood, properly aligned hinges and hangers, etc. If your piano shows any sign of sloppy gluing, careless screw placement, or improperly aligned parts, you can be sure the craftsmanship is poor.
Now, I cannot leave off there. In nearly all factories throughout all of history, the factory technicians how build the outside of the piano (what you see) and the inside of the piano (the actual working parts) are completely separate teams. The operators that build the cabinet of the piano are very good at doing that, and most pianos look very nice from the outside. You cannot use the outside appearance of a piano to judge quality, even from good name brands. To properly assess quality craftsmanship, you must look inside the piano at the action mechanism, the keys, and other aspects of the piano.
Now, material quality is harder to assess for someone who doesn't know what quality materials would be. A piano action consists of cloth such as felt and cotton, leathers such as buckskin, wood, and sometimes plastics. Knowing the difference between real cloth and synthetic cloth is fairly easy. The felt will be very soft and smooth as well as evenly colored. The cotton braid will usually have a similar texture to a very soft cotton T-shirt, and will be neatly braided and wound around strings.
Quality leather is to detailed to get into here, but in most cases if it's real leather it's good enough and you don't have to worry about the quality of it so long as it is real and not synthetic or a leather substitute.
Finally, there is the matter of the wood. Quality hardwoods woods will have nice, even grains, free from knots or burrs. There will be no cracks or splits that are formed because the wood was to dried out when building the piano, and it will look consistently uniform in color even as it ages.
So, a quality piano will have good craftsmanship as well as good materials. You can never trust a piano based on its outside appearance or it's name brand. Always look inside the piano to assess quality. At a glance you can usually get a very fast, rough estimate of its quality simply by looking for neatness and order on the internal parts of the piano.
I hope you find this to be helpful! If you have any questions about your piano, please contact us through our website with your questions and pictures if you have them!
Alex Swanson
http://www.alexswansonmusic.com
One of the most common questions technicians are asked goes along the lines of, "How good is my piano?" or "Is this a quality piano?" Often times I find myself trying to explain as politely as possible to a pressing customer why their piano doesn't sound so good. This is somewhat a difficult thing to do, especially once you finish servicing their instrument and accept the check.
When looking for "quality" in an instrument, you must first understand that there are two kinds of quality to inspect. Craftsmanship quality, and material quality. An expert piano maker cannot make a quality piano with poor materials, and a novice piano maker cannot usually make a quality piano even if he has the best of materials. So in short, when assessing the quality of an instrument, you must combine both of these factors into a single final measurement, assessing both craftsmanship and materials at the same time.
Craftsmanship quality is usually fairly easy to realize and appreciate. Clean glue joints, countersunk screw heads, well sanded and finished wood, properly aligned hinges and hangers, etc. If your piano shows any sign of sloppy gluing, careless screw placement, or improperly aligned parts, you can be sure the craftsmanship is poor.
Now, I cannot leave off there. In nearly all factories throughout all of history, the factory technicians how build the outside of the piano (what you see) and the inside of the piano (the actual working parts) are completely separate teams. The operators that build the cabinet of the piano are very good at doing that, and most pianos look very nice from the outside. You cannot use the outside appearance of a piano to judge quality, even from good name brands. To properly assess quality craftsmanship, you must look inside the piano at the action mechanism, the keys, and other aspects of the piano.
Now, material quality is harder to assess for someone who doesn't know what quality materials would be. A piano action consists of cloth such as felt and cotton, leathers such as buckskin, wood, and sometimes plastics. Knowing the difference between real cloth and synthetic cloth is fairly easy. The felt will be very soft and smooth as well as evenly colored. The cotton braid will usually have a similar texture to a very soft cotton T-shirt, and will be neatly braided and wound around strings.
Quality leather is to detailed to get into here, but in most cases if it's real leather it's good enough and you don't have to worry about the quality of it so long as it is real and not synthetic or a leather substitute.
Finally, there is the matter of the wood. Quality hardwoods woods will have nice, even grains, free from knots or burrs. There will be no cracks or splits that are formed because the wood was to dried out when building the piano, and it will look consistently uniform in color even as it ages.
So, a quality piano will have good craftsmanship as well as good materials. You can never trust a piano based on its outside appearance or it's name brand. Always look inside the piano to assess quality. At a glance you can usually get a very fast, rough estimate of its quality simply by looking for neatness and order on the internal parts of the piano.
I hope you find this to be helpful! If you have any questions about your piano, please contact us through our website with your questions and pictures if you have them!
Alex Swanson
http://www.alexswansonmusic.com
Monday, April 13, 2015
Pianos of Today
Pianos of Today
History has seen many makes and models of pianos come and go. Some were good, innovative designs that are still employed today, and some were terrible ideas that were quickly forgotten.
Today there are four major styles that are produced. They are the spinet, a very short piano with a typically poor action and tone quality. The console (also called studio) piano which is short like the spinet but has longer strings and a better action. The upright piano which comes in various sizes, but typically utilizes a good action and long string lengths to achieve a decent touch or feel and good tone quality. And finally, we have the magnificent grand piano, who's long design provides a very refined, complex action that feels wonderful and very long strings producing excellent tone quality.
Today we'll be breaking down farther into the characteristics of each piano type to help you decide which piano is best for you, or for anyone who simply wants to know more about pianos.
- The Spinet
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| Spinet Piano |
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| Piano Drop Action |
As you can see, the key is attached to the action by a rod called a sticker that extends down into the piano to connect the action. This allows the action to sit below the keybed, which results in a shorter piano. However, the spinet action is not very precise, and often times (especially in cheap piano makes) has little to no dynamic range. This is undesirable for an advancing student, but sufficient for a new student who doesn't want to spend a lot of money on a piano or anyone who lives in a smaller home and needs to keep things small.
- Console/Studio
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| Console Piano |
The console piano is a bit taller than the spinet, and the picture displayed is a shorter console model. They are produced in various sizes, but tend to stay to the short side. Because the piano is taller, there is room for a better action, one that uses no stickers at all, but is directly attached to the key. This is called the direct blow action.
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| Direct Blow Action |
Because the action is connected directly to the key, more dynamic and expressive range is possible to acquire. This action typically feels better to play on than a spinet action as well. Because the piano is taller, the strings are longer resulting in a better tone quality than a spinet.
- Full Upright
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| Upright Piano |
The upright piano (also referred to as the "full" upright piano) is the tallest of the vertical pianos and therefore has the longest strings and a taller action. The upright action rests on top of the stickers, rather than below it.
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| Upright Action |
- The Grand
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| Grand Piano |
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| Grand Action |
In summary, the taller or longer your piano is, the better it will sound and feel. There are exceptions to this rule: poor production of that instrument, poor company or era, bad materials or manufacturer error. But in general, you can rely on this rule when picking a piano out for your home: go as big as you have space for or can afford.
Alex Swanson
http://www.alexswansonmusic.com
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