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This posting is for the many New and Golden-Age Mason & Hamlin owners out there, as well as any enthusiast of the great 20th Century Russian Composer and Piano Virtuoso Sergei Rachmaninoff. Many know of Rachmaninoff's close relationship to Steinway & Sons when he permanently arrived in the U.S. in late 1918. However, prior to his first tour of the U.S. in 1909 as a composer and a pianist, Sergei had been a very big fan of his precious Bluthner back in Russia, and was looking for the finest piano that he could perform, tour and record his famous Second Piano Concerto, as well as his new composition and calling card, the Third Piano Concerto... that piano? A Mason & Hamlin!
In addition, after arriving permanently in the U.S. in 1918, Rachmaninoff signed an exclusive contract with the American Piano Company to produce their "AMPICO" Reproducing Piano Rolls. Between 1919 and 1929, Sergei produced 35 such rolls, now legendary due to their commercial success via London Records 'Rachmaninov Plays Rachmaninov - The AMPICO Recordings' and via Wayne Stahnke and Telarc's outstanding two volume release of 'A Window In Time' - with all 35 works being recorded on the legendary Bosendorfer 290 SE Reproducing 9'6" Imperial Grand. However, there is a little known, yet important fact... Rachmaninoff recorded all 35 of these rolls on a 1918 Mason & Hamlin 6'4" AA equipped with the AMPICO system!
As both a new Mason & Hamlin 7'0 BB and PianoDisc iQ SilentDrive HD owner, I endeavored to videotape and record some of my favorite Sergei Rachmaninoff performances on my new piano, to get an idea of what that may have sounded like.
So without further adieu, Sergei Rachmaninoff plays 14 favorite compositions of his own and by others on my Mason & Hamlin 7'0" Model BB Serial # 93623 via MIDI through PianoDisc iQ SilentDriveHD (4-2016). Stereo Recording was made using a TASCAM DP-008EX Digital Portastudio Multi-Track Recorder
That sounded terrific. The pianodisc system is amazing, as was Rachmaninoff. My sister played the second piece when young, but no longer plays. Then I fast-forwarded to the Prelude that I really like as well and is very popular. Your room looks "live" but sounds great with your recording setup. I recently recorded with mikes right over the strings and I think I'll try the "concert experience" setup as you did, next time.
Is it Live or is it ProRecord? Fun with my Mason & Hamlin BB, PianoDisc ProRecord and SilentDrive HD record and playback!
An update... a couple of months ago, I recorded and posted a YouTube link to Edvard Grieg's Lyric Piece - Op. 68, No.5 Cradle Song ('Badnlat'), after being inspired by a fantastic video of Leif Ove Andsnes Steinway D selection at the Hamburg factory, prior to his recent Beethoven Journey tour. I thought a recording of this piece might provide an excellent demonstration of the lyrical and singing nature of my new Mason & Hamlin 7'0" Model BB. The stereo recording was made using a TASCAM DP-008EX Digital Portastudio Multi-Track Recorder.
What I didn't mention is that at the same time I digitally recorded this, I also made a quick impromptu MIDI recording using the new PianoDisc ProRecord system installed for me at the Mason & Hamlin factory. I thought it might be fun to do a sample video demonstration comparing the original live recording with a PianoDisc SilentDrive HD playback of the ProRecord MIDI recording. Below is a link to the demo, as well as a link to the original recording of Grieg's Cradle Song on the M&H Model BB:
Fabulous piano and thanks for all the recordings. I nearly had a WN&G action put in my piano, in fact I might do it in the future sometime. It's the way forward
I have not posted in a while, but have enjoyed reading about many other PianoWorld member's new or "new to me" piano experiences! Just had the Mason & Hamlin BB regulated and tuned earlier this month. What a joy to play and own such a marvelous instrument! After the WNG action was regulated, I worked on calibrating the ProRecord optical sensors with the SilentDrive HD proportional solenoids and did a recording of Liszt's transcription of Mendelssohn's "On Wings of Song" (Auf Flugeln des Gesanges), that I will post soon. I can share this calibration process on PianoWorld, if anyone is interested. I am also working on personally performing and recording a number of other works as well.
As I mentioned recently, my friend Peter Phillips (of http://www.petersmidi.com) from Australia has been a leading pioneer in refining the process of MIDI roll emulation since the late 1970's. He has recently made available approximately 4,000 MIDI files developed from Ampico, Duo-Art, Welte-Mignon and Welte Licensee sources. Attached is a sample of the great romantic Enrique Granados (a.k.a. "the Spanish Chopin") performing his beautiful 'Maiden and the Nightingale' - from Goyescas, Op. 11, No. 4, via Peter Phillips MIDI Welte-Licensee Roll 2786 Emulation on my Mason & Hamlin Model BB 7' #93623. You can really hear the longing of the Maiden and the singing of the Nightingale!
This six minute recording was made between 1913-1915 and may have been one of his very last, just prior to his tragic drowning at the young age of 48, attempting to save his wife, after their boat was attacked by a German U-boat. And this was just after reaching a new pinnacle of success, having just performed the Goyescas Suite at the White House, at the invitation of President Woodrow Wilson in 1915.
What a historical treasure to hear the great masters such as Granados, Camille Saint-Saens, Claude Debussy, Edvard Grieg, Alexander Scriabin, Georges Enescu, Cecille Chaminade, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninoff and many, many others perform their own works! In addition, piano virtuosos like Harold Bauer, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Leopold Godowsky, Alfred Cortot, Frederic Lamond, Percy Grainger, Ferruccio Busoni, Josef Hofman, Josef Lhevinne, Wilhelm Backhaus, Artur Schnabel, Guiomar Novaes, Wanda Landowska, and countless others (including then young superstars Vladimir Horowitz, Artur Rubinstein and Rudolf Serkin) are also recorded for posterity! And all of this occurred during that amazing 'Window in Time' of 1905-1930 (pre-Depression). I will from time to time endeavor to post some of the more memorable of these recordings. Enjoy!
P.S. Also attached is a live recording of my teacher, the great Professor Raymond Hanson - Chairman of Piano at the Hartt School of Music for over 40 years - performing this same Granado's work "The Maiden and the Nightingale" as an encore following a performance of the Rachmaninoff 2nd Piano Concerto with the Hartt Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Nathan Gottschalk on March 12, 1962:
This posting is for the many New and Golden-Age Mason & Hamlin owners out there, as well as any enthusiast of the great 19th Century Hungarian Composer and Piano Virtuoso Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Liszt was my personal hero growing up; I couldn’t get enough of reading about his romantic exploits, unparalleled reputation as a fiery, yet lyrical pianist, mastery of many languages, writer of great poetry, devotion to the Church, and author of so many great original works (lyrical Consolations and Liebestraum, epic Sonata in Bm, virtuostic Piano Concertos, etc.) and transcribed compositions: including Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn, to the Rhapsodic Gypsy music of the Magyars. Unfortunately, although we have many lithographs, pictures and portraits of Franz Liszt and a great deal of mythology of his pianistic ability, there is no recorded evidence of his virtuosity… or is there?
Bernhard Stavenhagen (1862-1914) was a German composer and virtuoso pianist said to be the finest pianist of his time, apart from Franz Liszt (1811-1886). He was born in Grez on 28 November 1862, and in 1874 moved to Berlin. He studied piano with famous educator and teacher Theodore Kullak (1815-1882) entering the university in Berlin. Upon, Kullak’s passing, Stavenhagen also studied with Friedrich Kiel (1821-1885). In 1885, at the age of 22, Stavenhagen became a pupil of Franz Liszt in Weimar and travelled with him to Rome, Budapest, Paris, London and Bayreuth during the last two years of the Maestro’s life. What other pupil of Liszt had such an honor? Liszt said that Bernhard Stavenhagen was his finest young student and a loyal friend.
In 1905, Bernhard Stavenhagen was approached by Welte-Mignon to record some works by his teacher and mentor, in the style and manner “as played by Lisztâ€. Having recently purchased ~4,000 Ampico, Duo-Art, Welte-Mignon and Welte Licensee roll recordings, I endeavored to videotape and record three of Bernhard Stavenagen’s Welte-Mignon "Recreations of Liszt's Performances" on my Mason & Hamlin BB, to get an idea of what “Franz Liszt" may have sounded like. There is a great photo of young Bernhard taken with Abbe Liszt in 1885, included in this audio-video recording.
So without further adieu, Pianist and Liszt protege Bernhard Stavenhagen plays three of the great maestro's compositions “in the style of Franz Liszt†on my Mason & Hamlin 7' Model BB Serial # 93623 via MIDI through PianoDisc iQ SilentDriveHD (7-2016). Stereo Recording made using TASCAM DP-008EX Digital Portastudio Multi-Track Recorder:
As his reputation grew, Bernhard Stavenhagen learned ten new piano concertos and toured Europe and North America with them. He was a genius and was appointed court pianist to the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar in April 1890. The following year he married Agnes Dennighof (1860-1945) who was a soprano in the Weimar Court Opera. In Weimar, he conducted six operas in 18 months. and also helped introduce and conduct 'new' works by Richard Strauss, Hans Pfitzner, Mahler, Debussy, Ravel, and Schoenberg at subscription concerts. In 1898, he attained an appointment in Munich and in 1907 he moved to Geneva teaching piano master classes at the Conservatoire. He died on 25 December 1914 and was buried in Weimar. Author of at least two concertos, Piano Concerto No 1 in B minor, Op. 4 in 1894 and Piano Concerto No 2 in A in 1912, many of his works are sadly lost, including a Piano Sonata in F. Perhaps due to his modesty, it appears that he concentrated on his piano performances, teaching and other duties at the expense of insuring that his compositions would endure for posterity. His greatest legacy today are some of his recorded Welte-T100 (Red) piano rolls, including these three memorable performance of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12, Legende No. 2 - "St. Francis of Paola Walking On The Waves" and Chant Polonaise "Meine Freude ('My Joy')", played in the manner of his mentor, teacher and champion Maestro Franz Liszt.
P.S. Also attached is a live recording of my teacher, Professor Raymond Hanson - Chairman of Piano at the Hartt School of Music for over 40 years - performing the final piece of this set - Liszt's written transcription of Chopin’s Chant Polonaise - “Meine Freuden (‘My Joy’) - as an encore on May 5, 1991:
For those who don't know, Raymond Hanson is still with us - teaching his students and still playing beautifully as he approaches the age of 97! He is in the estimation of my good friend and esteemed pianist Jeffrey Biegel, "one of the greatest legends of pianism, artistry and pedagogy". Although one admire’s the virtuosity of Stavenhagen's recreation of Liszt’s performance of this work, one has to "love Ray's even more because he makes the piano sing and flow more organically.†I believe he truly capture’s Liszt’s lyricism! As Jeff also pointed out to me quite recently, "quite often, re-creators of music by other composers offer a more natural and compelling performance..."
Had a few minutes of alone time Sunday afternoon on my new Mason & Hamlin BB and had a chance to digitally record Franz Liszt's beautiful piano transcription of Felix Mendelssohn's "On Wings Of Song". Video was created after the live recording, using PianoDisc and ProRecord. Piece is quite tricky as the transcription is written on three staffs and the melodic "voice" line is shared between the hands. I also just love the sound of my beautiful instrument and wanted to share... Enjoy!
Thank you so much Dave for the very kind comments! I have also enjoyed reading about your restoration of your 1916 Weber Duo-Art 6' Grand Piano - a true labor of love. I see you have already obtained 400 Duo-Art rolls, don't miss the chance to obtain Harold Bauer's (1873-1951) performance of the Bach - Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in Dm - Duo-Art Roll(s) 7316 and 7317 (issued 4-1929). They are two of the best and most realistic performances on any player system that I've heard to date! Prof. Bauer was a student of Johannes Brahms, debuting I believe one of the Brahms Piano Concertos in America for the first time in the early 1900's with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He was also a mentor and teacher to my teacher, 96-year old Prof. Raymond Hanson - Chairman of Piano at Hartt School of Music for over 40 years.
My visit and lesson with Professor Raymond Hanson - Chairman Emeritus of Piano Department at Hartt School of Music on 2-21-2016 - Still Playing and Teaching (Schubert - Impromptu in Gb) at Age 96 at his home in Heath, MA!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sogEAWdz50s
Thanks Jason, I have both of those rolls and love them. Until my Weber is restored I make periodic trips to a friend's home. He has several Duo Art pianos and an Ampico. I usually play the classical Duo Art rolls on his Steinway DR (one of 10 made). I worry the 9' steinway will spoil me for the 6' Weber, but he tells me I will be happy with the Weber. I have also been picking up both vintage and current 88-note rolls, since friends will want more current popular pieces from time to time. The one issue with the Steinway DR is that the manual expression controls were never connected on the DR's like this that were built solely for the concert stage. I have been told the few DR's built for private homes did have them connected.
I haven't posted recently since I've been busy practicing, going to work, enjoying being a dad to our four-year old twin girls, etc. But I have enjoyed reading many, many interesting forum topics and lively discussions! Anyway, I was invited by Mason & Hamlin to join them up in Haverhill, MA next week to participate, speak and perform at their Annual Mason & Hamlin University meetings with their dealers. On Thursday, Master Voicer Boaz Kirschenbaum will be speaking on the company's recent efforts to re-establish their "signature sound" and more uniform quality for all pianos leaving the factory. And Boaz has asked me to be there to assist in demonstrating the type of pianist they are creating their "signature sound" for! On Friday, I will be giving a mini-recital and speaking on why I feel M&H pianos are so special, both in tone, construction, and technology, and to also discuss how I am using ProRecord and PianoDisc as a Classical Pianist in my recording efforts.
Although I have a lot of repertoire now back in my fingers, I am waiting for Boaz's visit to my house at the end of the month to voice and tone regulate my M&H BB, as well as my Yam C3 - both of which will now feature WNG flanges, knuckles, shafts and Abel hammers - before I produce any new recordings. Mini-Recital includes Bach, Scarlatti, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Grieg and Rachmaninoff.
In the meantime, I recently listened to a dozen or so old Vladimir Horowitz Welte-Mignon (1926) and Duo-Art (1928-1932) roll recording MIDI emulations and thought I might share one with everyone, featuring the M&H BB. I had the privilege of hearing Mr. Horowitz live in an unforgettable concert at the Bushnell Memorial in Hartford, CT around 1985... but would always hear, "if you think he's good now, you should of heard him when he was younger". Well here you go:
Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) plays Frederic Chopin - Etude Op.25, No.12 in Cm, "Ocean" Peter Phillips Emulation of Duo-Art Roll 7287b (issued 12-1928) Mason & Hamlin 7' Model BB Serial # 93623 via PianoDisc iQ SilentDriveHD (9-2016)
Mason & Hamlin University: Haverhill, MA - Sep 15/16, 2016
As I mentioned, I was invited by Mason & Hamlin to join them up in Haverhill, MA to participate, speak and perform a mini-recital at their Annual Mason & Hamlin University meetings with their dealers this afternoon and tomorrow. Have prepared a program of Bach, Scarlatti, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt and Rachmaninoff, as well as a little history of historic Mason & Hamlin artists such as Harold Bauer, Ossip Gabrilowitsch and Alexander Brailowsky. What a fun opportunity!
Understand there is a pretty sweet Rosewood 6'4" M&H AA and two examples of each of their model line. There are also four 9'4" M&H CC-94 Concert Grand Pianos being readied and prepped for selection by an Australian Concert Hall the following week, and I get to try them and pick one for my performance!
Talk about feeling like a kid in the candy store! Experience of speaking and performing over two days during the Mason & Hamlin University session was fantastic! Had a chance to play a brand new M&H 9'4" Polished Ebony CC-94 Concert Grand down on the 4th floor for the factory voicing and tone regulation team. I naturally also tried virtually all of the pianos on the 6th floor selection room. As you can see there were many high quality, beautiful looking and sounding pianos - but as they are hand-built, each had different tonal characteristics.
On the first day, I assisted Chief Voicing Technician, Boaz Kirschenbaum on his talk regarding the "Mason & Hamlin Signature Sound" on a number of instruments... from a beautiful M&H 6'4" Rosewood AA, to a Polished Ebony M&H BB to a another Polished Ebony CC-94 (one of four) - being prepped for a major international music school performance hall selection this coming Monday.
On the second day, the 9'4" Mason & Hamlin CC-94 Concert Grand that I ultimate selected to perform my recital on was a Satin Ebony Model with an inner rim and lid in Rosewood… quite sharp, but more importantly had a large and powerful bass, a buttery/singing and lyrical tenor section and bell-like quality in it’s treble… a true example of what I love about the Mason & Hamlin Signature Sound. Schubert’s Impromptu in Gb, Op.90 #3 never sounded better. And Rachmaninoff's Transcription of "The Star Spangled Banner" was particularly well-received by the entire Mason & Hamlin factory and dealer team, especially in a Made-in-the-USA factory!
As part of his talk at Mason & Hamlin University 2016 last Friday, I assisted Chief Voicer Boaz Kirschenbaum in his lecture on The Mason & Hamlin Signature Sound, by demonstrating differing elements of this signature on various voiced and tone regulated Mason & Hamlin pianos. There were a total of 4 CC-94 Concert Grands, and 2 of each of the other Mason & Hamlin Models (BB, AA, A and B). Although touch and feel of the WNG actions were all quite similar, there was a degree of tonal shading differences that could be heard - comparing a concert grand to a baby grand for sure, but even comparing 2 of the same models. Even with perfect quality control, the wood parts for each piano come together in a unique manner. This is not a bad thing, but the voicer has to consider the inherent characteristics of the particular piano being tone regulated, in achieving one's voicing goal.
According to Boaz, the focus of the Haverhill Factory voice and tone regulating department is to insure that every piano delivered produces the Mason & Hamlin Signature Sound with the following characteristics: 1) a Rich (full) powerful bass, 2) a Smooth (singing) lyrical tenor and 3) a Clear bell-like treble. He introduced a Tone Lexicon that I am finding very useful when trying to communicate and describe a particular piano's unique tone and color. Of the ones below, Boaz felt that the top three for Mason & Hamlin are: 1) Smooth, round and creamy (balanced), 2) Powerful (balanced time to power) and 3) with maximum Sustain and ring time.
Forum Question: Using the Tone Lexicon (shown below) as a common means of communication, how would you describe your new, current or favorite pianos?
Tone Lexicon:
☠Bright – tonal spectrum has more high frequencies in it. Resonant frequency peaks centered higher in the audio spectrum. ☠Brittle – excessively bright, sharp and tense, clean but stiff, lacking harmonics, harsh and piercing. ☠Buttery, Chocolatey – Rich, warm, smooth, round, fat and sweet. ☠Clean – usually refers to a tone that is defined, clear, focus, articulated. ☠Clear – well defined, distinct, not edgy, opposite of muddy. ☠Creamy – smooth. The resonant peaks are broader and centered lower in the frequency spectrum. ☠Dark – tonal spectrum with less high partials. Often used to generally describe vintage Steinways. ☠Edgy – having more or too much high frequencies. Contains raspy harmonics and/or false beats. Also related: steely, harsh. ☠Focused – defined, articulate, clean, accurate. Notes are distinct. ☠Glassy – sharp, clear but grainy, ringing. Usually refers to an overly bright tone that is loud and piercing. ☠Hard – too much upper mid-range paired with excessive volume and attack. Also related: harsh, strident, icy, edgy, glassy. ☠Icy – very bright and piercing, ringing, may have excess false beats. ☠Impedance – the degree of sound/tonal energy transfer in the soundboard. ☠Long – maximum sustain, lot of ring time, releases tonal energy over time. ☠Mellow – reduced upper mid range – opposite of edgy. Also related: warm. ☠Piercing – excessive highs, harsh, strident, hard on the ears. ☠Powerful – maximum volume available (headroom) with lots of sustain. - Not just volume – all power at once vs. sustain - Ring Time – time to maximum power - Simple to make loud instrument... - Hard to produce balanced power over time ☠Punchy – supposedly having good reproduction of dynamics. This is another one of those overused terms to describe tone. ☠Rich – full with complex, even-order harmonics. Has depth and body. ☠Round – clear with high frequencies rolled off. Not edgy. ☠Short – lacking sustain, has less ring time, loss of tonal energy. ☠Smooth – balanced not harsh or edgy, like round, creamy, etc. ☠Sustaining – notes continue to ring as long as possible. After the initial attack, notes decay to their maximum ring time. Impedance matched. ☠Thin – fundamentals are weak relative to harmonics. Opposite of rich. ☠Twang – bright, sharp sound. Usually refers to out-of-tune unisons. ☠Unfocused – open strings/poor hammer fitting; lacks definition, unclear, indistinct; may include false beats or have impedance problems. ☠Warm – having a more balanced sound spectrum. Broad and centered resonant peaks. Also related: creamy, round, buttery. ☠Weak – lacking power, sustain, tonal energy. Impedance mismatched.
P.S. As I mentioned in a prior post, my performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Transcription of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Mason & Hamlin factory last Friday was well-received by the employees and dealers in attendance, especially in light of it being a USA factory. Although there was no audio taken of the recital, a few of the dealer representatives in attendance asked me to record a video of me playing this work on my Mason & Hamlin BB. Recorded this last night after work at 5 pm in one take, just prior to picking up our twin four year old daughters from pre-K school! One interesting trivia note, Sergei used to open many a concert at Carnegie Hall, etc. playing this very transcription.... God Bless America! Looking forward to recording other works, after both the BB and C3 are voiced and tone-regulated in early October.
I've been very interested to hear your comments about M&H's new master-voicer and quality control improvements. The local M&H dealer in Salt Lake City, who is also a nationally-known technician, quit carrying M&H about 4 years ago because "I got tired of having to fix them all." I have not had the chance to play a WNG action, although I'd really like too, having heard so many positive things about them.
I have considered getting the piano-disc pro-record system for my dad's 1974 M&H model A. I was disappointed to hear from the company last week that they do not offer incremental damper pedaling with this system. Do you find this limiting or problematic with your recording?
Part I: Mason & Hamlin Factory Voicing & Tone Regulation
As Chief Voicing Technician at Mason & Hamlin, Boaz Kirschenbaum has become intimately involved in the voicing, tone regulation and final quality assessment of each and every new M&H produced since April of this year. With his training at North Bennet School in Boston, his completion of the CF Theodore Steinway School for Concert Technicians in Hamburg, his 10 years of concert tech work in the famed Steinway Hall “basement†on West 57th Street and as a Licensed Stanwood Precision Touch Installer, this is a remarkable development. Boaz main focus at the factory is to establish what it takes to create the Mason & Hamlin "Signature Sound" and insure uniform quality for all pianos leaving the factory.
According to Boaz, his focus in leading the Haverhill, MA factory voice and tone regulating department is to insure that every piano delivered exhibits: i) a Rich (full) powerful bass, ii) a Smooth (singing) lyrical tenor and iii) a Clear bell-like treble. Relative to tone and color, Boaz says that the top three characteristics of the Mason & Hamlin "Signature Sound" are: 1) Smooth, round and creamy (balanced), 2) Powerful (balanced time to power) and 3) with maximum Sustain and Ring time. The use of the carbon fiber/composite Wessell, Nickel & Gross (WNG) action and carbon-fiber shanks, provides a consistent action "stiffness", with virtually no variation (1-2%; as compared to 15-25% with wood shanks), allows the M&H technicians and voicers to develop a very consistent process of similarly 'needling' hammers in a given section of the action. The recent movement and use of Abel Natural Felt hammers, also reduces the nearly 14,000 "needle strokes" required to properly voice an instrument. And because of the consistency of the WNG action, the voicing work and tone regulation done at the factory has greater staying power, through environmental variation (e.g. temperature and humidity) and significant playing. I don't know if it is because of the WNG action, or Boaz' background as a Stanwood Precision Touch Installer, but the Mason & Hamlin piano's I have recently had the opportunity to play at the factory exhibit a degree of control and touch that is world-class, reminiscent of the actions of the very best Fazioli, Bosendorfer & Hamburg Steinways.
Interestingly enough, this movement to have the factory play a much larger role in consistently establishing a piano's initial tone and color, is very much in-line with what was done at Mason & Hamlin and many of the other great Golden Age pianos. Pianos in that era, spent significant time in a factory's inventory, being voiced and tone-regulated until they were just right! This focus on consistent quality and tone color also reduces the burden on the M&H dealer network, which can have a great deal of variation in the skill of the piano technicians they can afford to employ.
Part II: ProRecord & PianoDisc Recording and Playback Experience
Relative to ProRecord and PianoDisc there is one subtlety that is very important to point out. ProRecord - which uses optical sensors to measure key and pedal movement and stores it in General MIDI format - does indeed have the ability to record incremental damper pedal position, in addition to recording the on/off position of the soft and sostenuto pedals. Thus it preserves exactly what the performer played, as seen by the optical sensors. Now one can argue, that if ProRecord actually measured hammer velocity, it would be even more accurate... but herein lies the problem for both the PianoDisc/ProRecord retrofit market. In order to be compatible with virtually any make of piano, the chosen means to either record a keystroke or pedal movement must be as simple as possible. For ProRecord to use hammer velocity, a great deal of customization would be required as a function of the piano manufacturer and installed action. You can see why Yamaha chooses to only install their record mechanism on newly minted pianos from their factory. Relative to incremental or proportional pedaling, there is a great deal of variation between the damper action of a Steinway vs. a Mason & Hamlin or a Yamaha, for instance. Not only are there differences in the force required and distance to travel, but this varies from piano to piano within a given make, and requires a very beefy solenoid with a "closed loop" feedback sensor. So offering a proportional sustain pedal option, that would work in all retrofit applications appears to be both technically challenging and would be quite an expensive option for PianoDisc. Such an option would best be possible on PianoDisc's sister division Mason & Hamlin, but unlike the high volume output of Yamaha, for instance, Mason & Hamlin only produces 200-300 pianos a year... not a large market for such a feature. Same exact challenge exists with the implementation of a PianoDisc soft pedal solenoid across a wide variety of pianos in the retrofit market. Easier to do on a Mason & Hamlin, but again a limited market.
There are a number of settings both within ProRecord and via a variety of excellent MIDI scripting tools available for free from Spencer Chase at: http://www.spencerserolls.com/Files4Download.html that can help map and convert ProRecord's proportional sustain pedaling to an on-off command for playback on PianoDisc. Similarly, using the above tools from Spencer, one can easily convert recorded MIDI soft pedal commands to a prescribed volume reduction (e.g. 15-30%)... much like what happens on an upright when the hammers are moved closer to the strings. Although the resulting tone is not identical to what was originally recorded on a grand piano (via a shift of the hammers to a different string alignment), the intent is preserved and heard. So in answer to your question, through the use of these tools, I have not found this limiting or problematic with my recording. Greatest challenge I have found to date was keeping ProRecord calibrated following initial easing and regulation of the keys and action and then aligning what is recorded volume-wise to what PianoDisc plays back volume-wise. The former has to happen after each visit of the piano technician; the latter is basically a one-time assessment that can be done after initial installation of both ProRecord and PianoDisc. I understand that PianoDisc is working on better automating this calibration process in the very near future. Hope this is helpful!
Over the past few months, I've had the privilege of developing a close working relationship with a very skilled concert technician, Boaz Kirschenbaum, whose expertise is in tone regulation and voicing; In fact, he is the new Chief Voicing Technician at Mason & Hamlin. He spent the last two days working on both my new Mason & Hamlin BB and my older Yamaha C3 and now I have two beautiful sounding instruments that exhibit both beautiful tone and color! Over the next few weeks, I hope to provide some before and after comparisons of both instruments.
The experience of collaboratively working with such a skilled technician, who has many years of training at North Bennet School in Boston, at the CF Theodore Steinway School in Hamburg, as a Concert Technician working in the famed Steinway Hall “basement†on West 57th Street, as a Licensed Stanwood Precision Touch Installer and in his new role at M&H is one that I will never forget, and an experience that I would highly recommend for any new M&H owner. I tried to document each step in the process.
As M&H Chief Voicing Technician, Boaz main focus at the factory since April, is to establish what it takes to create the Mason & Hamlin "Signature Sound" and insure uniform quality for all pianos leaving the factory. This in theory should reduce workload on the local M&H dealer and also makes any follow-up "in-home" tone regulation & voicing touch-ups much simpler. Mason & Hamlin BB's are known for their rich & powerful bass, a smooth & lyrical tenor and a clear bell-like treble.
The goal of our all-day session was to recreate what Boaz and the Voicing & Regulation team now insure on each new piano being delivered from the factory; i.e. insure a consistent Mason & Hamlin "Signature Sound" that is: 1) smooth, round & creamy, 2) powerful (with balanced time to power) and 3) maximizes sustain & ring time. One must also make sure that the concert technician is provided the 'proper inspiration' for optimal voicing and tone regulation!:
The process begins with insuring proper key spacing and let-off.
He then sands the keybed for smoother operation of the soft/shift pedal.
Then he inspects and lubricates the sustain/damper mechanism and pedal to insure that friction is minimized.
Next, is the time consuming operation where he optimally shapes all of the hammers.
The concert technician then moves on to inspect proper string-leveling.
He then follows this up insuring that every hammer perfectly aligns with each of the strings it is intended to strike - at the same time.
Following this, he massages each strings in the undamped, treble section to insure that there are no false beats.
Next he does a critical inspection of each key's repetition, wippen assembly, pinning & shank action - e.g. insuring no "clicking" - and adjusting if necessary.
Now we are ready for a concert level tuning.
Upon completion of this step, the concert technician is now ready for final voicing. When he has completed, the pianist and technician optimally listen together and make any necessary adjustments.
Finally, upon request, the concert technician signs the piano, providing a seal of approval of the job! Great having the M&H Chief Voicer's signature of approval on my Mason & Hamlin BB... Thank you Boaz Kirschenbaum!
For a more comprehensive set of pictures from the session, here's a link to the PianoWorld Photo Gallery - Mason & Hamlin BB: Optimal Tone Regulating & Concert Voicing:
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