Piano tone and timbre.
You don't know what love is
I've been wanting to write about Vladimir Horowitz, one of my favorite classical pianists, but when I sat down to write, I felt its necessary to first explain piano sound from my perspective, that is, how I hear it.
A pianos sound is a persons voice. And, like when you hear a persons voice on the phone and you immediately form a mental picture of them, their build, shape, height, teeth, lips, complexion, looks... really, everything, I find I often do it with instruments (err, not to that degree). Try it, its fun! Its usually a lot more fun with a piano than most other instruments because of the range of the instrument.
Another thing, an idea, an opinion, has lodged itself in my brain. You how they say pets and owners start looking like each other after a while? I think musicians and their instruments start sounding similar after a while. Take for example my piano and my voice in the link on top. Both bass heavy, rounded, warm and a little out of key :)
The first thing one notices about a pianos sound is the brightness. The hardness or lack of mellowness. Making any sense? Listen to these for a sec
Same piece same pianist, some allowance given for recording variations, but isnt the attack and difference in tone obvious?
Now. Me, I like the mellow pianos. The soft and subtle ones which sometimes gobble up the precision of the notes but add beautiful emotional nuances and warmth. If you want to play Bach, these, perhaps, aren't the best. Use a bright piano with crystal clear enunciation. The mellow ones trade that clarity for a little more character, a little more feeling.
And I'm sure snoopy and the guys would agree
No comments:
Post a Comment