Home Artists Posts Import Register

Files

Checking out the new Steinway Spirio with John Franek

@John Franek । Composer । Pianist is recording a new album, using the new Steinway Spirio (an amazing hybrid acoustic and electronic instrument)

Comments

Anonymous

so its a midi grand piano? nice!

Nathan-Andrew

It’s a player piano! 😂 I guess they’re making a sort of comeback, thanks to new tech. On a tangential note 🎵, it’s pretty wild that there are player piano rolls made by the likes of Debussy, Mahler, and Saint-Saëns. But why is your friend making the modern equivalent, when (unlike those composers) he could actually make a sound recording?

John Sawyer

I am presuming it is to make a better recording. If the piano can record exactly what he plays and then be tweaked you could take all the feel and expression but sort out any slight errors etc. It could then play back and thus be recorded as played on the piano. At least that is my bet.

doughelvering

So, here's the story. This is one of Steinway's top concert grand models. It is fully acoustic and sounds INCREDIBLE in person. John had a situation where he had been asked to record an album of music by Haydn while he was in the US this summer. His schedule could never match up with the recording engineer's schedule. So, access to this piano became the answer. John performed the work at the piano, and the electronics that are embedded within the instrument recorded the mechanical action as John played. Think of it as a very complicated roadmap for how to exactly recreate John's performance...down to the velocity of key strokes and usage of the pedals. John recorded an hour of music in a little over three hours (an amazing feat). Then, he was able to listen back to his playing via the instrument's interface. What we see in this video is John editing a bit of dynamics (key velocity) to help even out one of the passages. Then, in a few days, the recording engineer can come, set up the recording equipment, and simply record the piano recreating the exact performance John has already played. It saves time for John. And, it saves time (and editing) for the recording engineer. I think it's a fascinating development in the technology.

Randy Hammill

I'll bet that sounds amazing. Keith Emerson insisted on touring with one of his Steinways. It was even used in the flying piano stunt where it rose into the air, and flipped end-over-end with him still playing. I've always found Emerson's piano work to be among his best. Take a Pebble, parts of Trilogy and Endless Enigma, and especially his piano concerto (which has a version with the full score here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8ztO9bYtX0).

Denis Perron

The doorbell rang and the lady of the house opened her front door to find a workman, who was standing there holding a box of tools. “Good morning Madam”, he said, “I’m the piano tuner”. The lady looked puzzled and questioned him, “I’m sorry, I didn’t send for a piano tuner?” The man replied, “I know YOU didn’t Madam, but your neighbors did”.