Caterpillar Cowboy

hikari17:

bobulate:

Kathleen Mallery on finding the best piano:

“What’s the best piano out there?” I asked.

The piano tuner’s eyes sparkled. ”I always get asked this question.  Everyone always wants to know — what’s the best piano. And I always say, the piano that’s in your living room.”

”It’s all about getting it tuned right, bringing out its own sound and then when you play, you play the piano that’s in front you, and you see what it can really do. That’s all there is really. Tuning it and then playing what you’ve got.”

I was fascinated to find, when I learned how to tune an old, not-so-special cello, that I could feel when it was in tune. Not just hear it, but feel it. A complete surprise to me, a former non-string player. When you slow down to tune, it resonates in a way that’s unmistakable.

Resonance…. hmmm…

Absolutely. In fact, bands and orchestras will sound lounder when playing in tune, as the frequencies all line up, amplifying the combined waveform. To a lesser extent, the same is true for pianos, as the struck notes will align when in tune (as will their overtones, which is possibly why it sounds “better” to you).