piano and other things i should leave silent

brittlebloodbrittleblood
edited November 2009 in Classical
okee dokee - i just finished reading "the piano tuner" - a work of fiction. the "singularity" of the piano tuner revolves around an erard piano.

as you know, i have no musical skills/talent/experience/street cred to justify entering into musical discussions. so, the hell with my limits and why on earth would a make of piano justify a specialist tuner.

and, o yes, is the piano considered a string instrument?

Comments

  • cafreemacafreema
    In my experience some people consider the piano a string while others consider it percussion due to the hammers hitting the strings. I do not know if there is a consensus.

    As for tuning, my grandfather was a piano tuner in Nashville and was highly in demand because he was one of the last remaining tuners that tuned by ear rather than using computer. It is commonly believed that the tune by ear is richer and fuller than that done by computer. Based on that fact he tuned for the Grand Ol' Opry, at Graceland, and for countless country music stars around Nashville. My uncle is also a piano tuner, but uses a computer. He can't get any of those jobs. I assume it is also likely that there is a perception that one can specialize in a particular type of piano.

    As an aside, my grandfather also had no musical skills/talent/experience. He couldn't play the piano. All he could do was four bars with the right hand that he used for tuning.

    Craig
  • NereffidNereffid
    Personally I refer to the piano as a keyboard instrument.
  • KatrinaKatrina
    Another vote for keyboard. Without the keyboard, you can't get to the strings!
  • kargatronkargatron
    Without the keyboard, you can't get to the strings!
    Katrina, would you like pointers to musical counterexamples? Here are a couple:

    http://classicaldrone.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-play-inside-piano.html
    Denman Maroney (and on emusic)
  • RonanMRonanM
    Tuners don't just tune, they regulate - which is to make sure that the key action is even and properly balanced, that the dampers fall true and smartly, the pedals work silently (an impossibility on my old Broadwood!) and so forth. These are not skills they need for tuning your parlour upright, but are vital in maintaining concert instruments.

    There is a wonderful recording of Michelangeli on Testament which includes a large chunk of him trying out the piano. You can hear him talking with the tuner as he singles out notes that are attacking slightly differently to the others etc. It's only when he plays a passage repeatedly that you can hear what he is getting at - a certain unevenness, for example.

    Erards - especially old ones - have an action that predates the Steinway action that is more or less standard. Hence, possibly, the need for a specialist.
  • TimMasonTimMason
    A piano is a percussion instrument, played with a keyboard. Take the keyboard away, substitute wood for wire, and you've got a xylophone. The organ is a wind instrument. Take away the keyboard and run up and down the length of the beast huffing into the pipes and you'll be as pink-cheeked as a cherub.

    The synthesiser is a Satanic device used by the lesser devils that inhabit parisian recording studios to turn African music into sludge.
  • brittlebloodbrittleblood
    say...mind if i cut and psate a bit of tihs in the driection of a waward intrleude?
  • amclark2amclark2
    edited November 2009
    A piano is a percussion instrument, played with a keyboard. Take the keyboard away, substitute wood for wire, and you've got a xylophone.

    Take away the keyboard, leave the wires, you've got a dulcimer.
    The synthesiser is a Satanic device used by the lesser devils that inhabit parisian recording studios to turn African music into sludge.

    A synthesizer is an electronic device for making or, um, synthesizing sound where there was only wires and signals. A keyboard is one way to play it.

    There are other ways{/url].
  • Dr. MutexDr. Mutex
    and still other ways...
  • TimMasonTimMason
    The hammered dulcimer (I'd never seen one of those). The Appalachian dulcimer is plucked, rather than hammered.
  • bluesboybluesboy
    In my case the plucking occurs after the hammering.
  • brittlebloodbrittleblood
    can you imagine the racket she makes when she tightens her corset?
  • TimMasonTimMason
    In my case the plucking occurs after the hammering.

    I'm happy to say I didn't understand that. It sounds sinister.
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