marina just wanted to draw your attention to this event next Wednesday, since you requested a live session with a piano technician!

Thanks Ben. Fabulous! Topics I'd be interested in include...

- how tuning affects tone

-voicing (soft and hard hammers). How to communicate with your tech to enable the kind of voicing you'd really like. Is a good service just about responding to the needs of the instrument or also the player? 

- advances in strings and using hybrid strings in older instruments 

- how the tonal characteristics of pianos have changed over the last 150 years

- impact of climate change on sources of superior wood for sound boards, are the sound boards on older instruments "better" ie more tonally rich than modern instruments?

- what is "scaling" in piano design?

- how is a concert tuning different from a regular tuning?

- what is the future of piano tuning with the constant advances in digital instruments and everyone mostly listening to digitalised music these days. Are we losing the ability to truly hear acoustic colour and tone? 

Great collaborative work, Dominic, Neema, Tonebase! Thank you for responding quickly to attendees' request about question on screen. Excellent response time! What a wonderful session this was! Extremely fascinating! Thank you all!

I can't wait to watch! I had office hours all day prepping my math kids for finals! Sigh! I am fascinated by the art involved in tuning, regulating and restoring pianos! My tuner was supposed to come on Tuesday, but I couldn't articulate to Jason what I wanted him to adjust... so I had to reschedule until I could be home. Love how a great tech can just yank the action out and know just what to do to achieve just what the musician wants! :-) So looking forward to this... but now to teach lessons... Thanks Tonebase! 

Thanks for a great session. I can recommend these BOOKS about how pianos work to anyone interested in following up......

Under the Lid - Stephen Brady - “ the art and craft of the concert piano technician” Includes interesting interviews with a bunch of concert tuners and techs. 

The Haynes Piano Manual - yes really!!  just like their car manuals! Very clear and basic but not simplistic. Comprehensive without being overwhelming. Lots of great photos. In my opinion, better suited to pianists than the Inside the Piano tome which is quite intimidating and really more for techs.

Thanks to Neema and Dominic!

Larry Fine’s book was recommended too. I have an older edition of “The Piano Book”... lots of easily accessible information... It helped me on my hunt for my first brand new piano when I returned to playing. Taught me a lot about the “guts”.

Thank you for presenting this topic.  Answered many questions. I am in the market for a new instrument, and several high-end manufacturer dealers mentioned herein have been quite "persistent" with their sales approach. I'm more than a little overwhelmed as to balancing my wallet tolerance with my personal preferences and fear of buyer's remorse.  I thought my grand would last my lifetime, but I'm being told by every dealer it's not worth rebuilding a 50-year-old (K. Kawai 1971 KG-5 6'8") grand piano. Neema, thank you for confirming what they are saying. You have no profit in the balance for my choice so that really helps me know they are being truthful. Also, I was snubbing the Shigeru Kawai in favor of the Steinway models B or D or the Fazioli f228. I would like an updated, smoother, lighter action which responds with sound very quickly (Fazioli). Maybe the Shigeru does. I need to give it a chance. Any advice or words of wisdom would be appreciated.  Thank you both for the presentation!

Excellent advice. Thank you, Dominic!

I just watched this for a second time! I'm so glad that Tonebase sent this to my email. This is one of my very favorite sessions of Tonebase! Incredibly fascinating! Thoughtful questions to Neema and excellent answers and insightful, articulate points given by Neema. Dominic, you are quick to provide the best service possible, deftly and skillfully handling questions (and the camera!), and it is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Once again, it is a significant point to raise the issue of pianists knowing more about their instrument. Conservatories should incorporate this knowledge in their academic training.

It would enhance the artists' understanding of their beloved instrument.