Pianotech

Now that I'm finally in at-home Hospice after 8 years playing Whack-A-Mole with bladder cancer (I'm happy and relaxed with great family support, so not to worry about me if this is news to you).

I'm realizing there are a few tips/tricks I've discovered in my 50 plus year career that I haven't recalled seeing previously published. Oddly, I submitted this one twice to the Journal, with no follow up or inclusion. Note to Journal staff: when in doubt, try the Golden Rule?

Anyway, here's what I was trying to get through normal channels unsuccessfully:

About 10 years ago, I decided to rent a space to create a retail showroom to market a specific line of Chinese pianos. The space had good visibility, but it was raw warehouse construction. Concrete slab AND concrete ceiling construction.

I got a bit too enthusiastic and decided to add a high density Pergo laminate floor. The walls were all standard wallboard, total room dimension about 25x30 or so.

After spending many hours on museum style lighting, etc. the space looked great. I brought in the pianos, only to learn the the room acoustics were absolutely horrendous.

Not only did the pianos sound terrible, but you couldn't even conduct a conversation with someone 3-4 feet away.

Clearly I needed to deaden the room, but the cost to cover that much wall space with curtains, or other absorptive treatment was into the many thousands, and I still had a concrete ceiling and hard laminated floor.

I spent a lot of time online trying to find a solution, when I stumbled on this site: Welcome to [Hy-Tech Thermal Solutions] - We Make Paint......Insulate!

 While the vacuum filled ceramic microspheres were being promoted as effective thermal insulation, somewhere in the copy "Sound deadening" caught my eye.

I was already set up with a 5 gallon paint spray rig, and the $75/per 5 gallon cost was worth the gamble. It took two coats to do the job properly, but all walls and concrete ceiling slabs were coated. and the sudden change in room acoustics was amazing.

All the unpleasant, harsh reverberation disappeared, and suddenly the pianos sounded great. Conversation was normal also. Leaves a sort of "buckskin" sheen on the walls.

Some years ago, I took a tour of a new concert hall in our area, and there were adjoining rehearsal rooms with the same unacceptable reverberation issues. Mind you, this facility (intentionally unnamed here) was designed by award winning acoustic engineers.

So that was my experience with this product, and I thought it important enough to publish here.

Best Regards,

Now that I'm finally in at-home Hospice after 8 years playing Whack-A-Mole with bladder cancer (I'm happy and relaxed with great family support, so not to worry about me if this is news to you).

I'm realizing there are a few tips/tricks I've discovered in my 50 plus year career that I haven't recalled seeing previously published. Oddly, I submitted this one twice to the Journal, with no follow up or inclusion. Note to Journal staff: when in doubt, try the Golden Rule?

Anyway, here's what I was trying to get through normal channels unsuccessfully:

About 10 years ago, I decided to rent a space to create a retail showroom to market a specific line of Chinese pianos. The space had good visibility, but it was raw warehouse construction. Concrete slab AND concrete ceiling construction.

I got a bit too enthusiastic and decided to add a high density Pergo laminate floor. The walls were all standard wallboard, total room dimension about 25x30 or so.

After spending many hours on museum style lighting, etc. the space looked great. I brought in the pianos, only to learn the the room acoustics were absolutely horrendous.

Not only did the pianos sound terrible, but you couldn't even conduct a conversation with someone 3-4 feet away.

Clearly I needed to deaden the room, but the cost to cover that much wall space with curtains, or other absorptive treatment was into the many thousands, and I still had a concrete ceiling and hard laminated floor.

I spent a lot of time online trying to find a solution, when I stumbled on this site: Welcome to [Hy-Tech Thermal Solutions] - We Make Paint......Insulate!

 While the vacuum filled ceramic microspheres were being promoted as effective thermal insulation, somewhere in the copy "Sound deadening" caught my eye.

I was already set up with a 5 gallon paint spray rig, and the $75/per 5 gallon cost was worth the gamble. It took two coats to do the job properly, but all walls and concrete ceiling slabs were coated. and the sudden change in room acoustics was amazing.

All the unpleasant, harsh reverberation disappeared, and suddenly the pianos sounded great. Conversation was normal also. Leaves a sort of "buckskin" sheen on the walls.

Some years ago, I took a tour of a new concert hall in our area, and there were adjoining rehearsal rooms with the same unacceptable reverberation issues. Mind you, this facility (intentionally unnamed here) was designed by award winning acoustic engineers.

So that was my experience with this product, and I thought it important enough to publish here.

Best Regards,

Now that I'm finally in at-home Hospice after 8 years playing Whack-A-Mole with bladder cancer (I'm happy and relaxed with great family support, so not to worry about me if this is news to you).

I'm realizing there are a few tips/tricks I've discovered in my 50 plus year career that I haven't recalled seeing previously published. Oddly, I submitted this one twice to the Journal, with no follow up or inclusion. Note to Journal staff: when in doubt, try the Golden Rule?

Anyway, here's what I was trying to get through normal channels unsuccessfully:

About 10 years ago, I decided to rent a space to create a retail showroom to market a specific line of Chinese pianos. The space had good visibility, but it was raw warehouse construction. Concrete slab AND concrete ceiling construction.

I got a bit too enthusiastic and decided to add a high density Pergo laminate floor. The walls were all standard wallboard, total room dimension about 25x30 or so.

After spending many hours on museum style lighting, etc. the space looked great. I brought in the pianos, only to learn the the room acoustics were absolutely horrendous.

Not only did the pianos sound terrible, but you couldn't even conduct a conversation with someone 3-4 feet away.

Clearly I needed to deaden the room, but the cost to cover that much wall space with curtains, or other absorptive treatment was into the many thousands, and I still had a concrete ceiling and hard laminated floor.

I spent a lot of time online trying to find a solution, when I stumbled on this site: Welcome to [Hy-Tech Thermal Solutions] - We Make Paint......Insulate!

 While the vacuum filled ceramic microspheres were being promoted as effective thermal insulation, somewhere in the copy "Sound deadening" caught my eye.

I was already set up with a 5 gallon paint spray rig, and the $75/per 5 gallon cost was worth the gamble. It took two coats to do the job properly, but all walls and concrete ceiling slabs were coated. and the sudden change in room acoustics was amazing.

All the unpleasant, harsh reverberation disappeared, and suddenly the pianos sounded great. Conversation was normal also. Leaves a sort of "buckskin" sheen on the walls.

Some years ago, I took a tour of a new concert hall in our area, and there were adjoining rehearsal rooms with the same unacceptable reverberation issues. Mind you, this facility (intentionally unnamed here) was designed by award winning acoustic engineers.

So that was my experience with this product, and I thought it important enough to publish here.

Best Regards,