Grand piano: difficulty performing pp

Member

Posts: 3
City: Bergamo

August 5, 2015, 12:20

Good morning everyone,

I have just joined the forum after closely following the videos on piano mechanics and regulation, for which I offer you my compliments.

I started playing the piano at age 9 (I am now 42), and I have played it constantly, even though it is not my job... but it is my greatest passion!

I have always had an upright piano (the last one being a Petrof P131), and I recently purchased a grand piano, a new Feurich P178. I know it is produced in China, but it seemed better to me than the various "refurbished" Yamahas and other used ones that I have had the chance to try, and therefore, given my budget, it seemed like the best choice. Furthermore, the fact that the setup and regulation are done by Feurich in Austria/Germany seemed to me a guarantee of quality and manufacturer reliability.

Now that it is home and I have been playing it for about ten days, I have noticed extreme difficulty in executing p and pp, especially in fast passages. I have thought of several possible explanations:

- deficiency in the mechanical regulation;

- room acoustics (much smaller than the showroom where I tried it);

- my habit of playing an upright piano;

- loss of tuning (due to which the sound is less precise and less uniform, and this emerges more in pp... could it be?);

- limitation of the piano (I hope not, even though I know it is not a high-end piano).

I wanted to know if the listed explanations are all plausible, and if there could be others.

I also ask if you can suggest some specific checks or tests to perform to understand if there is indeed a problem, so that I can present it to the shop technician when he comes to do the first tuning (in 1-2 months).

Thank you, and have a good day!
Dario

pianoexpert

Moderator

Posts: 3,876
City: rocca di papa

August 5, 2015, 17:21

Dear Dario, a famous comedian used to say "...the second thing you said!"... instead.. I must correct it to "the first thing you said". Incorrect regulation, combined with the lack of hammer voicing (which must be strictly preceded by tuning!!!!!), are the causes of this discomfort of yours. The Technician you call must be skilled..... pay attention to the voicing intervention, which is quite difficult and, above all..... irreversible if performed deeply and inadequately. The balance between lows and highs must be correct. The extreme lows and extreme highs must be left quite bright. The lows must be soft but clear, and the cantabile zone must emerge effortlessly. After good voicing, a good instrument (and yours is!) must be capable of offering the pianist the possibility to pass from the sweetest pp to the most aggressive ff. Obviously, it is not possible to perform pp if the regulation is wrong. The fact that a new piano was delivered without being properly "prepared" does not surprise me... but it must be a wake-up call to choose a trusted Technician who will competently follow your instrument in the future. If you watch my video tutorials, you can listen to and see indications regarding these interventions. There should also be some of my articles published on the site. I hope I have been useful to you. Happy Music

DarioM

Member

Posts: 3
City: Bergamo

August 5, 2015, 17:44

Good morning Paolo,

thank you for the prompt response!

I still have one doubt: is it normal for a new piano to require tuning work? In fact, I thought that the tuning was performed in the factory, and that it would be necessary to play it for a certain amount of time, at least a few months, before the hammer felt compresses to the point of requiring tuning.

For completeness, the dealer (and he is one of the most serious in my area) told me that the piano was 90% prepared, and the rest of the preparation will be done during the first tuning, so that in the meantime the piano adapts to the new environment.

As for the competent technician, I imagine it will be an arduous search... but a necessary one!

I have already followed your videos on mechanical regulation very closely; I found them very clear and exhaustive; and I agree with the fact that a pianist who wants to refine their way of playing, and who wants to "get the most out of" their piano, must know all these aspects well.

Have a good evening

Dario

pianoexpert

Moderator

Posts: 3,876
City: rocca di papa

August 6, 2015, 09:18

Thank you. The dealer says many things. The fact is that regulation takes time and precision. Tuning can easily be lost because these pianos are in the shop within everyone's reach, and then the manufacturer leaves a large margin of intervention on the new hammers, which are increasingly impregnated (therefore quite hard and bright). Whether it is prepared for the listening environment to which it is intended is fine, as long as it is not a makeshift solution....to intervene superficially. A good technician will spend several hours around your piano.