Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Lid position

Wondering a few things about lid position...I know that wide open vs closed can affect the brightness and tone, but what about room acoustics and what we hear at the bench? For example, since the lid is basically a huge sound reflector, when it's wide open, it's blasting sound out into the room. Since some rooms are more "live" than others, can we take more of the room's influence on the sound out of the equation by lowering the lid?

Basically, by having the lid on short stick (or no stick), do we get a more direct piano sound at the bench vs when it's open? Are we hearing more of the piano and less of the room?

I almost always practice with the lid closed. So when I open it either short stick or full stick, I'm always struck by the change in tone. It is not just louder, the tone seems to change for the better.

Do whatever sounds best for what you are playing. I have one piano where the lid position makes a lot of difference, and another where it does not. You have to decide depending on what you are doing.

Piano manufactures scale their pianos for what they feel is the best sound with the lid wide open. When the lid is closed you lose upper overtones in both the tenor and treble (the wood lid blocks the upper frequencies, worse with MDF) and the bass loses clarity. The sound is muted, how much varies with the size and make. That said, scale sound preferences are a very personal and some owners actually prefer the sound of a closed lid.
I far prefer the sound of my piano with the lid open. I even permanently removed my music desk because it slightly blocked some of the clearness in the sound, which is a value that I highly appreciate. That is why I bought my piano, but that's just my taste.

quote=Radio.Octave
Basically, by having the lid on short stick (or no stick), do we get a more direct piano sound at the bench vs when it's open? Are we hearing more of the piano and less of the room?[/quote]

I don't think so.

When the lid is closed, we hear less resonance of the strings and more resonance of the soundboard and the cabinet, because sound in this case is 'closed' inside the cabinet.

The room acoustics, however, remains the same whether the lid is closed or not. The room acoustics just 'multiplies' whatever sound is coming from the piano.

I am SO glad I read this string. Since I bought my piano in June, I noticed a flatness in a few treble keys (and less resonance than I would like in the upper register). I routinely play with the lid closed, and the piano cover on, which I pull back just enough to expose the keyboard and piano stand. After reading this, I removed the piano cover and opened the lid fully to see how the qualities above would be affected by doing so. The difference is noticeable and I am happier. Indeed it seems that some overtones have been restored (or are no longer covered up).

Thanks!!!

There's a lot of sense in this.

Many pianists and teachers advocate playing with the lid closed/down - for some reason they seem to think that this will help them project better when they come to play in an auditorium. It's kind of false logic, really: they're used to really pushing the sound out at home, they get to a hall, the piano lid is up, and they carry on pushing the sound, often leading (and I speak from personal experience here) to over-projecting and tonal difficulties, and shock at the volume of sound coming from the piano.

It was a wise, older pianist who told me many years ago that the lid should alway be up when playing at at home. Then, when it comes to a performance, the piano volume doesn't startle you, and you know how to control the piano - you're used to it.

Of course, if playing at home for enjoyment etc, it's personal choice, and I can appreciate that some people prefer a less 'alive' sound.

NVB

I'd like to see an in-between stick length -- not as imposing as full stick, but long enough that anything anybody put on top of the piano will slide off.... ;-)

I've also noticed that music desk up or down affects the quality of sound that I hear - assuming you ever play with no music. Music desk up and a thick book of sonatas open absorbs a lot of sound coming in my direction.

It can also be very visually distracting to play with the music desk removed - I can see the dampers go up and down and the hammers rise and fall and forget what i am playing...

Sam

I've seen people play with the music desk laid flat, and the chart laid flat on top of it. I certainly can't read anything at that angle, but there are those who can.

I usually do all the voicing with the lid all the way up. This is the only way you can really hear what is happening. I think pianists should practice like this as well.

Whether or not the lid is up, the music rack, for me, really destroys the tonal balance across the compass that I hear at the bench. I use it for initial practicing as support for marking the score, but then switch to just my iPad on a small wooden plate to support it. This helps a lot.

If you want to really control the range of tonal characteristics a piano has available, playing with the lid up is the only way. That being said, in my small living room, I put the lid down when playing with other musicians. I often have a string quartet in my 18’x18’ room, so the piano with the lid full up becomes a bit loud to balance without all of us destroying our hearing. On stage, with the quartet, the lid is full up.

I often lift the lid on my Sauter 130 upright .It has quite a big sound anyway but lifting the lid gives a much more creative tone to work with when playing .
With my old grand I used to do the same when teaching ,always found it best .

Prout, I thought I was alone in my fastidiousness with sound being distorted by a closed lid and blocked by the music desk/rack. I hear a marked difference in tonal richness and dynamic range. I use an 12.9" iPad Pro with the dedicated, abbreviated stand that Apple sells for it (marketed as a charging stand). Noticebly less sound is blocked then with a rack. The music desk that came with the piano also blocked sound rising upward from the strings. There is some truth in the saying that a pianist at the bench has the worse seat in the house. I think this is more true as the piano gets larger, by the time you get to a concert grand they are made to be heard best 10' away. Open lid and no desk helps on my 210cm Estonia. It's also a kick to see the dampers rising and falling when playing fast passages.
Also agree with Sally's take on it.

All new yamahas and Kawaid have this actually - a sort of a “quarter stick”.

See picture in link. (Stick #3).

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7WRe-Zcbl9g/Tm_FcTwGQuI/AAAAAAAAADw/ZfpRGWYrz0Y/s400/3Props%2523.jpg

Yep, my Kawai has 3 sticks, too. It's nice to have choices =)

Does anyone know if it's possible to get a custom music desk for grand pianos? For example, it'd be kind of cool to get one where the rack is more see through, rather than the typical solid piece of wood. Something along the lines of this...

It looks like you can get one here: MisterStandMan

http://www.misterstandman.com/piano.htm


Cool site he has!

Sally's take seems the most logical to me as well. My S&S B sounds totally different when I am listening to someone else play it. I notice a very distinct tonal difference when I stand and playit for even just a few seconds it vs. when I'm full seated, so I also agree that the bench is not the player's position does sound very different from the audience.

On my B in my house, I prefer lid full closed, lid folded back with music rack up, or full stick. I just don't like to "kick-back" I get and the way the piano projects at short-stick height in my house. It's too powerful and kind of slaps me in the face.