Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards No una-corda samples on new digital pianos?

^ Thanks, I can hear it even through my iPhone speakers and later on I’ll try with headphones which should be even better. According to Alexander Kuznetsov from Pianoteq forums, older grands have an una-corda that’s more pronounced compared to modern grands.

I'm not sure we can generalize from what he stated about his own piano. But there is likely a case where a new grand won't have compacted, hardened hammers to begin with so the una corda effect will be quite reduced, compared to broken in hammers that have well-work grooves from regular play.

I don't play the historic pianos on Pianoteq but on all the modern grands in Pianoteq there is a slider to set the intensity of the Una Corda effect if you want something else than the factory setting. Honestly, it works good and it can be set from inaudible to totally muffled

He meant real acoustic grands, not Pianoteq.

Ok sorry I didn't understand

Which is as mine, but I just don't think that is the proper behavior. I just watched this video:



...and it appears from the video, that with the una corda pedal fully depressed on an acoustical grand, the hammer should hit one of two, or two of three strings, on most of the notes except for A0-F#1. Even with sympathetic vibrations of the string not hit by the hammer, it should result in a significantly reduced sound for most keys, and especially G1-A#2 where it is hitting only 1 instead of 2 strings.

I'm hitting C2 on my N1X, for example, which is in this 1-string range, with and without the una corda pedal, and I almost don't detect a difference in the sound. I can't believe this is the sound of half the strings being hit. That would mean the sympathetic vibration of the untouched string is almost the same as if it had been hit by the hammer. That's stretches my incredulity.

I don't believe my N1X's una corda pedal is working, or if this is the behavior of all N1X's, I don't believe Yamaha has calibrated the sound properly.

Can someone with an acoustical grand test their C2 key and see if the una corda pedal has an effect?

I should probably look up the acoustical energy transfer function via sympathetic vibration and do a little calculation here, but I am just not buying it for now...

Tyrone, you might have to re-read this entire thread, including the reference to Philip's answer in the Pianoteq thread which is not so much about Pianoteq but rather about how real grand pianos are set so that the una-corda pedal moves the keyboard in such a way that the hammer strikes two out of three strings in the same hammer grooves, but only shifted. Which preserves the hammers, but makes the effect very subtle. Philip himself preferred that approach. There's no consensus on what is a good implementation of una-corda, but it seems it's not rare for this effect to be too too subtle.

Not exactly: when shifted via una corda pedal, the hammer usually strikes the three strings, not in the grooves but on the contrary between the grooves where the felt is softer. And the left string is hit by the edge of the hammer. Hitting two of the three strings inside the grooves as you say is another possibility, but not much liked because it damages the hammer (a pianist using often the una corda would make the two left grooves deeper than the right one, it would become a real issue when not using the una corda).

Ahh, thanks for clarification, I have misunderstood your post in the Pianoteq thread.

If the hammer strikes all three strings when using the una corda then something is wrong or out of alignment. The hammer should only strike two strings on a three-string unison.

Also, for the hammer to hit all 3 strings would change the quality of the sound (because it would hit the fluffier part of the hammer), but probably not the volume. Is this what was intended by the pedal? Seems like they should rename the pedal if it is going to behave in a different way from what it was originally meant to do.

It is a matter of taste. You can get a very nice sound when two strings are hit in the middle of the grooves and the third one (the left string) by the edge of the hammer (it adds some 'zing' to the sound). Hitting two strings is another possibility, but it is better not to fall in the grooves to avoid an irregular wear of the hammer. Hence you must go a bit farther to the right. This requires a very well regulated piano as you get closer to the neighboring note.

How about half-pedaling the una-corda pedal? Pressing it fully would move the keyboard one full string-length to the right. And then by half-pedaling the pianist may produce varioius effect such as that "between the groves" strike and/or edge-strike to produce a zing, etc.

It also depends on the wear on the hammers. If regulated the way Phil describes, there will be very little difference between normal and una cords on a brand new piano with ungrooved, unhardened hammer felts. Three strings being struck on soft felt in either case. On a piano that's been played for a few months or years, the felts will have compressed at the grooves, and the una corda becomes more prominent.

My guess is the reference CFX at Yamaha was probably a brand new specimen that the Yamaha techs had their pick of to use as reference, whereas Garritan and other VSTs chose their piano from a library of existing, well-played but well-regulated instruments.

Ok. I don't want my N1X to be a new piano any more. How can I age it so my una corda pedal will start really working?

To me it's clear that most digital pianos implementations of the 1-corda pedal are very basic and cheap. They act just as a velocity-limiter and that's very different from the way it works on a real acoustic grand. At least the third pedal is good-looking in my cabinet style digital-piano, even if it does nothing special to the sound, and I can use it effectively with a good VST with 1-corda samples or modeling.

This is also an interesting possibility, then it is up to the pianist to make his sound. If he is interested in playing that way (not so easy, some practice is needed), I would give 1.5 millimeter more freedom to the action.

You should have an option to make the effect(?) more strong. On my digital is set at 3/10 and it does nearly nothing. If I set it at 7 or 8/10 I hear clearly the velocity limiter in action when I press the keys harder.

Really? Why sweat it?
Just look at the pedals on a used piano.
The damper is worn with no shine at all to the brass.
The una corda is near pristine. It's just not used very much.