Piano History

It's with very great pleasure that I can report total success of the Nice International Piano competition https://www.concours-international-piano-nice-cote-dazur.com/ which has been conducted throughout at all stages.

In particular we saw how playing styles and associated musicianship shone through as performers discovered adaptation to the new dimensions that a good unequal temperament can access.

So many modern musicians and pianists have been having to battle with heavy machinery in terms of many heavy actions of many modern pianos, the worst leading to pianists hitting the keys, that there are different schools of thought now as to how one should play, whether deep in the keys or at times with what might seem a superficial touch on a good action to get the sound desired. This can split juries, but nevertheless, music emerges and the performers come out with an experience sometimes of magic.

A split as to how one should play Bach on the piano caused a dispute on the jury but the majority chose the 8 year old competitor from Romania in this instance whose playing I admired. Unbeknowing of the dispute, I had immediately gone outside and posed him a challenge. It turned out that his playing was inspired by enjoying Bach on the organ in the local Cathedral. I told him that as the piano I'd tuned was tuned as an organ, he could play Bach on the piano as on the organ in the cathedral. So I brought him back in and in front of the jury he played the piece holding the sustain down throughout on the one pedal. And it worked. The Jury were astounded and many never heard of such a thing before. They were won over and the President of the Jury for that day who'd voted in the minority against the lad came up to me and kissed me on the way out.

At the end, at the finals and Gala performance I'd tuned the Fazioli and the performers were rehearsing and a retired Radio France sound engineer came up to me saying that he'd never heard a piano like it before . . . 

https://youtu.be/mnTDkj5dYYc is the final concert and at the end I've added the recording of young David Martinescu playing Bach on the organ.

We really can be more adventurous with tuning than Equal Temperament provides.

Best wishes

David P

------------------------------
David Pinnegar BSc ARCS
Hammerwood Park, East Grinstead, Sussex UK
antespam@gmail.com

Transforming historical tuning for the modern piano . . .
------------------------------

David,

Tried to listen on Youtube...but get this result from your link: Video unavailable

Is it unavailble for those of us in the USA?

------------------------------
Richard Adkins
Piano Technician
Coe College
Cedar Rapids, IA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-05-2019 08:25
From: David Pinnegar
Subject: Nice Concours International de Piano - first Competition to use Unequal Temperament

It's with very great pleasure that I can report total success of the Nice International Piano competition https://www.concours-international-piano-nice-cote-dazur.com/ which has been conducted throughout at all stages.

In particular we saw how playing styles and associated musicianship shone through as performers discovered adaptation to the new dimensions that a good unequal temperament can access.

So many modern musicians and pianists have been having to battle with heavy machinery in terms of many heavy actions of many modern pianos, the worst leading to pianists hitting the keys, that there are different schools of thought now as to how one should play, whether deep in the keys or at times with what might seem a superficial touch on a good action to get the sound desired. This can split juries, but nevertheless, music emerges and the performers come out with an experience sometimes of magic.

A split as to how one should play Bach on the piano caused a dispute on the jury but the majority chose the 8 year old competitor from Romania in this instance whose playing I admired. Unbeknowing of the dispute, I had immediately gone outside and posed him a challenge. It turned out that his playing was inspired by enjoying Bach on the organ in the local Cathedral. I told him that as the piano I'd tuned was tuned as an organ, he could play Bach on the piano as on the organ in the cathedral. So I brought him back in and in front of the jury he played the piece holding the sustain down throughout on the one pedal. And it worked. The Jury were astounded and many never heard of such a thing before. They were won over and the President of the Jury for that day who'd voted in the minority against the lad came up to me and kissed me on the way out.

At the end, at the finals and Gala performance I'd tuned the Fazioli and the performers were rehearsing and a retired Radio France sound engineer came up to me saying that he'd never heard a piano like it before . . .

https://youtu.be/mnTDkj5dYYc is the final concert and at the end I've added the recording of young David Martinescu playing Bach on the organ.

We really can be more adventurous with tuning than Equal Temperament provides.

Best wishes

David P

------------------------------
David Pinnegar BSc ARCS
Hammerwood Park, East Grinstead, Sussex UK
antespam@gmail.com

Transforming historical tuning for the modern piano . . .
------------------------------

Original Message------

David,

Tried to listen on Youtube...but get this result from your link: Video unavailable

Is it unavailble for those of us in the USA?

------------------------------
Richard Adkins
Piano Technician
Coe College
Cedar Rapids, IA
------------------------------

The link of PTG discussion works.

Perhaps holding down the pedal for all of the Bach  works in pieces like that.
Traditional teachers advocate no pedal at all. (or very little pedal).

Maybe Feuerich has a good idea with the Harmonique Pedal (a 4th pedal).
This is "old news" now. I'll bet you'd love to tune one of the Feuerich grands 
to see how the harmonique pedal handles a well-tuned unequal temperament.


Piano Sounds Never Heard Before!

YouTube		remove preview
Piano Sounds Never Heard Before! This video is about the surprising sounds that occur naturally in acoustic pianos revealed clearly for the first time by the harmonic pedal. This video is, I hope, relevant to those with an electric, acoustic upright or acoustic grand piano not necessarily fitted with a harmonic pedal. View this on YouTube >

------------------------------
Richard Adkins
Piano Technician
Coe College
Cedar Rapids, IA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-06-2019 13:05
From: David Pinnegar
Subject: Nice Concours International de Piano - first Competition to use Unequal Temperament

Thanks for pointing out the problem with the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnTDkj5dYYc

There should not be a problem with this, I hope.

However there has been a problem with one of the competitors challenging the Jury and the Competition objecting to them coming only 2nd equal. Bearing in mind on the recording I can tell in a blind test which performer is playing and the complaining performer is inferior, it's an outrageous complaint.

However, YouTube have received a complaint that the video infringes someone's privacy . . . . so problems of viewing the video might arise from that. In my opinion Soyhun Park comes out the best. 

The venue was not the best acoustic and the audience would have preferred the lid to have been on the piano, although obstructing sight between conductor and performer, but with the help of the France Radio engineer in refining my microphone placement in my opinion the recording is as good perhaps as any can be.

Thanks for pointing to the temperament demonstration - for those who haven't found it it's at https://youtu.be/mnTDkj5dYYc?t=7168 and the video finishes with an 8 year old playing Bach, and then upon my instruction, in a manner not possible on a conventionally tuned piano.

Best wishes

David P

-- 

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David Pinnegar, B.Sc., A.R.C.S.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+44 1342 850594

Original Message------

David,

Tried to listen on Youtube...but get this result from your link: Video unavailable

Is it unavailble for those of us in the USA?

------------------------------
Richard Adkins
Piano Technician
Coe College
Cedar Rapids, IA
------------------------------

Original Message------

The link of PTG discussion works.

Perhaps holding down the pedal for all of the Bach  works in pieces like that.
Traditional teachers advocate no pedal at all. (or very little pedal).

Maybe Feuerich has a good idea with the Harmonique Pedal (a 4th pedal).
This is "old news" now. I'll bet you'd love to tune one of the Feuerich grands 
to see how the harmonique pedal handles a well-tuned unequal temperament.


Piano Sounds Never Heard Before!

YouTube		remove preview
Piano Sounds Never Heard Before! This video is about the surprising sounds that occur naturally in acoustic pianos revealed clearly for the first time by the harmonic pedal. This video is, I hope, relevant to those with an electric, acoustic upright or acoustic grand piano not necessarily fitted with a harmonic pedal. View this on YouTube >

------------------------------
Richard Adkins
Piano Technician
Coe College
Cedar Rapids, IA
------------------------------

Cancel that previous comment. The link to PTG discussion
works fine. (Piano history link to same page didn't work for some reason?)

Now that I hear a demo of the temperament, I can tell
better what you're going for.

------------------------------
Richard Adkins
Piano Technician
Coe College
Cedar Rapids, IA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-05-2019 08:25
From: David Pinnegar
Subject: Nice Concours International de Piano - first Competition to use Unequal Temperament

It's with very great pleasure that I can report total success of the Nice International Piano competition https://www.concours-international-piano-nice-cote-dazur.com/ which has been conducted throughout at all stages.

In particular we saw how playing styles and associated musicianship shone through as performers discovered adaptation to the new dimensions that a good unequal temperament can access.

So many modern musicians and pianists have been having to battle with heavy machinery in terms of many heavy actions of many modern pianos, the worst leading to pianists hitting the keys, that there are different schools of thought now as to how one should play, whether deep in the keys or at times with what might seem a superficial touch on a good action to get the sound desired. This can split juries, but nevertheless, music emerges and the performers come out with an experience sometimes of magic.

A split as to how one should play Bach on the piano caused a dispute on the jury but the majority chose the 8 year old competitor from Romania in this instance whose playing I admired. Unbeknowing of the dispute, I had immediately gone outside and posed him a challenge. It turned out that his playing was inspired by enjoying Bach on the organ in the local Cathedral. I told him that as the piano I'd tuned was tuned as an organ, he could play Bach on the piano as on the organ in the cathedral. So I brought him back in and in front of the jury he played the piece holding the sustain down throughout on the one pedal. And it worked. The Jury were astounded and many never heard of such a thing before. They were won over and the President of the Jury for that day who'd voted in the minority against the lad came up to me and kissed me on the way out.

At the end, at the finals and Gala performance I'd tuned the Fazioli and the performers were rehearsing and a retired Radio France sound engineer came up to me saying that he'd never heard a piano like it before . . .

https://youtu.be/mnTDkj5dYYc is the final concert and at the end I've added the recording of young David Martinescu playing Bach on the organ.

We really can be more adventurous with tuning than Equal Temperament provides.

Best wishes

David P

------------------------------
David Pinnegar BSc ARCS
Hammerwood Park, East Grinstead, Sussex UK
antespam@gmail.com

Transforming historical tuning for the modern piano . . .
------------------------------