I love these thematic submissions to HN and wish the site had a way of cataloging /grouping them. This and Ravenchord were really cool to read about.
You can 'favorite' the item (look at the top of the page near the title, the links there).
The Alexander Piano
51–60 of 103 posts
Re: The Alexander Piano
#52Someone also applied the idea to an upright piano: https://www.worldpianonews.com/new-product/acoustic/worlds-l...
Being not a fan of the sound of church organs, I think this might be a proper replacement.
I'm not a fan of church organ recordings but to hear them in person is amazing (and to play them even more so).
Re: The Alexander Piano
#53I love this Reminds me of Stuart & Sons, a company from across the Tasman, with their impressive 108 key Piano On a side note: can any piano experts chime in on why it seems impossible to DIY electric pianos in the same way? I'd love to see some experimental Rhodes, Wurlitzers or Hohner Pianet derivatives. The only successful ones seem to be the even more conservative Vintage Vibes and Rhodes MK8. I'd love to see the…
> can any piano experts chime in on why it seems impossible to DIY electric pianos in the same way
It's absolutely doable, go for it!
It's been on my 'to do' list for ages, to build my own but I realize how much time it would take and what I'd need in terms of tooling just to produce a serviceable action. So it will probably never happen. But there are zero obstacles to doing this if you are dedicated, have the space, the skills and the funds.
Re: The Alexander Piano
#54The timbre of piano strings is an interesting subject, but to my ear honestly the sound isn’t that much different in this example.
If you don't know what to expect then you probably should hear it side-by-side with a regular piano to pick up on the differences, that's much easier than to hear it being played because the effect is subtle enough that if you're not paying attention you will likely just think 'nice bass' and leave it at that.
Re: The Alexander Piano
#55“There is a powerful driving force inside every human being that, once unleashed, can make any vision, dream, or desire a reality.” Tony Robbins This is what it means to follow your dreams! A wonderful mother, supported the desire of her son. I would like to listen to Elton John playing on this instrument and to know his opinion.
From what I recall after chatting to Adrian around 2014, he couldn't get Elton to play on it because Elton was under contract to play with Yamaha-only pianos or something like that.
Re: The Alexander Piano
#56The timbre of piano strings is an interesting subject, but to my ear honestly the sound isn’t that much different in this example.
For what it’s worth I’ve got a trained ear (trained musician, brief career as a mastering engineer) and the bass notes on these recordings sound freakishly distinct in pitch (identifiable, “tight”, “not boomy”). It’s similar to the difference between an electric bass guitar and an acoustic bass. Or more to the point, it’s one notch further in bass note clarity on a scale from small upright piano to baby grand piano t…
Yes. I've looked at what a 1.80 grand puts out in the lows and it is really quite muddy from a spectral perspective. You can still tell the pitches apart but there is a lot of smearing and the harmonics are, especially when you look at the high end, all over the place.
Re: The Alexander Piano
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not an expert, but it might be that your speakers do not really respond to the low A (~27Hz). Check the speaker's response curve.
Reminds me of a saying in jazz circles "Listening to brass through a recording is like photocopying a steak and eating the copy" Some accoustic properties just can't be properly captured through microphones that aren't perfectly selected and reproduced through speakers engineered for the specific recording This is true especially for the low end (without prohibitively expensive 18"+ drivers and a near flawless accous…
That's a hilarious quote.
Re: The Alexander Piano
#58But why is it called that?
Re: The Alexander Piano
#59Native Instruments have sample packs of two extraordinary pianos - the one "una corda" only has single strings for every note, the other is a massive upright piano just like this one, with exceptionally long strings called "the Giant" https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keys... https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keys...
Una Corda is one of my favorites - I came here to post it:
https://klavins-pianos.com/products/una-corda/
And for a two-story version, see the Model 450i Vertical Concert Grand
Re: The Alexander Piano
#60There's quite a lot of discussion about how it was made (which is pretty interesting, and impressive for a 15 year old!) but not very much discussion about the results. My understanding is that it has a normal range of notes, but with a different type of string - is that true? Or can it go lower than a normal piano? How is the experience of playing it? Is it the same? Or does it respond differently (eg a different re…
There are some videos at the bottom where it is played. It sounds beautiful. The range is like a normal 88 key piano, no extra keys but what matters is the difference in timbre in the low notes. Your 'regular' piano has what is called an overwound string, a steel string that is covered with one or two layers of copper. This results in a string that sounds less pure. The Alexander piano is special in that it uses no o…
I listened to the Clara Schumann piece and I thought the low notes have a "perfectly tinny" sound, as if they were computer-generated on MATLAB. Or like a harpsichord. I assume that's the difference?