Rachmaninoff / Borodin - Vocalise

[derschoenebahnhof]

Recorded with Zoom H2N on a Yamaha C2X.

The piece still needs a bit more work, especially the second part. Comments welcome, but I am especially asking about some piercing notes in the treble.

There are some notes that irritate my ears, especially at 0:25, 1:26, 1:53 and 5:22...
these near the second octave above middle C also irritate my ears outside of recordings, but similar notes on commercial recordings do not annoy me. My wife and my son do not seem to notice anything wrong with some of these treble notes.

I already had quite a bit of voicing performed on the 2 octaves starting at middle C and higher, overall I am satisfied with the voicing and it has made the piano much more playable in the treble, but the irritation is still there, and it seems to be better some days than others... Has anyone faced this before and what solutions do you suggest (I don't have the $$ to buy a Steinway :-) ?

I attached a diagram of the room layout, the piano is very close to a wall and a large landscape window. Should I cover the window with thick drapes? Floor is hardwood with a rug under the piano, about the same length as the piano. I don't have much choice in piano placement to allow for walking through the room without bumping into it, since the room is long and a bit narrow.

I know Asian pianos are bright, but it is not all the notes, only a few, and the adjoining notes are ok.

Thanks!
CG

[michael_sayers]

Hi Derschoenebahnh,

Thanks for sharing that!

One possibility could be to install N.Y. Steinway hammers on your piano.

The instrument in the link here, though made up to a point in Asia, has N.Y. hammers . . .

A set of N.Y. D hammers/shanks costs around $1000.  I am not sure about cost of the hammers for the other lines.


Mvh,
Michael

[derschoenebahnhof]

Hi Derschoenebahnh,

Thanks for sharing that!

One possibility could be to install N.Y. Steinway hammers on your piano.

The instrument in the link here, though made up to a point in Asia, has N.Y. hammers . . .

A set of N.Y. D hammers/shanks costs around $1000.  I am not sure about cost of the hammers for the other lines.


Mvh,
Michael

Only thing, the piano is only 1.5 years old. I bet $1000 would just cover the hammers and not labor costs. I hear Abel hammers are pretty good too, but either way, an expensive fix.

CG

[michael_sayers]

Only thing, the piano is only 1.5 years old. I bet $1000 would just cover the hammers and not labor costs. I hear Abel hammers are pretty good too, but either way, an expensive fix.

CG

Hi Derschoenebahnhof,

I wonder if a mistake wasn't made at a factory.  I've been told that Renner sends out A, B and C categories of actions - one of them isn't preassembled by Renner, and the piano maker does the assembly of that set.

I'm not a piano technician, so don't take this too seriously, but I have to wonder if there wasn't a mix up.

Most of my recordings were made on a piano that wasn't voiced for eight (!) years, and none of the hammers began to sound that differently than the others.

I have heard a misshapen hammer sound that different than the other 87 following a flange pin slipping part way out unnoticed by its owner for a while . . . and no voicing of the hammer would fix it . . .

Abel and N.Y. hammers would (or should) be darker sounding.


Mvh,
Michael