How to reproduce sound of piano

I agree with Dlanselm - a player piano is really the only way to go, but obviously your choice of source material is severely limited. By way of reference, even the hyper-sampled digital keyboard software like Ivory or Virtual Steinway isn't completely convincing through a superior stereo system - though it's better to my ear than the best SACDs (which are next in my pecking order).

I also agree with Shadorne that a subwoofer is probably a good idea. If you scan these threads you'll find lots of good info on subs from Shadorne, Bob Reynolds, Drew Eckhard and a few others who are well informed on the subject. As to main speakers, timber & dynamics are both critical it's hard to find speakers that are great in both areas.

MBLs offer great dynamics, but they strike me as compromised in tonal balanced. Conversely, he smaller Ohms are omnis that mate well with subs and IMHO reproduce timbre exceptionally well. However, they lack the dynamics you're seeking. I haven't heard the bigger models but, they might be worth checking out. Ohm sells factory direct and money back, so your bet is hedged.

Best of luck.

Marty

BTW,

A very nice Yamaha baby grand with disclavier will run app $10K - maybe half that for a used model. If you have room, you may want to consider this idea. You'll have a beautiful piano, a good selection of music available (not what you'd ideally want, but good) and a fair bit of cash left for a fine stereo. If you really want a 9' Steinway, that's another story...

Marty

Halcro,

Well beyond the question of compression, piano is a pain in the ass to record.

As noted in an earlier post, close miking and ambient miking both have their advantages, neither is perfect, and combining the two is an art unto itself. I once "executive produced" (read funded) a recording session for a friend who is a prominent LA based French Horn player, so I attended some of the sessions. After struggling mightily to get the piano sound right, and waiting for a take that everyone liked, we finally got one. Given the time and effort that had gone into getting that track down, there was a real sense of relief in the booth. Then, playback revealed a squeaking bench!

Trust me, more time was spent on getting the piano to sound right than on everything else combined.

Marty

Jax,

The lowest pitched key on a typical piano is tuned to 27.5 hz. Bosendorfer makes a 96 key grand which adds an extra octave of bass - so the spec you cited is about right. Now, finding a recording which contains that information is another story!

IMHO, use of subs is appropriate to this instrument - and good digital pianos are often demo'd with subs for this very reason. It's certainly possible that there's a full range speaker out there which will reproduce the lowest notes of a full grand without compromising the rest of the response, but I believe that you've got a lot better shot at success if you use a sub, or a speaker with a built-in sub for this application.

As to the room - this is always a limitation to loudspeaker perfomance, particularly in the bass region. There are other contributors here who are more technically informed on the subject, but I can say that flat frequency response into the mid 20hz range is acheivable in a reasonably sized room. I have eq'd to this performance (and measured it) with subs and a Velodyne SMS-1 sub controller/PEq/room analyzer. I've also heard this response with quality pipe organ recordings. Honestly, that feels a bit like a parlor trick, but the SMS/sub combo really does a great job on the lowest octave of my best piano recordings.

Marty

Oops!

I just looked at the photo of Plaser's room. As per Emily Litella...never mind!

Marty

PS - For those interested, Synthology software makes a program called Ivory, which contains hypersampled "voices" of 3 pianos for use with a midi keyboard controller and audio system (digital piano). One of the pianos is the 96 key Bosendorfer.

Plaser,

Velodyne makes the SMS-1 sub controller (X-over, room analyzer w/ calibrated mic and PEq) that is tremendously effective for your needs. App $500-$600 on-line (AudioAdvisor.com and others).

Marty