Not quite tech talk but pianist and conductor, Daniel Barenboim, has unveiled a "radically different" piano that is a contender against some of the highest quality grand pianos on the market. As such, Barenboim's creation will add a new design to an otherwise traditional landscape.
The piano is built with straight, parallel strings, which is uniquely different to a regular concert grand that is built with diagonal strings. For such a conventional instrument--whose world-class design has seen little change in the last 100 years--it might become a new standard for generations to come.
The strings, as has been reported, are largely cross-strung with the bass strings crossing over the middles and trebles in a newly formed "x" pattern, allowing a concentrated sound based around the middle of the soundboard.
Inspired by Franz Liszt's restored grand, Barenboim spoke about the piano to BBC, saying, "The warmth and tonal characteristics of the traditional straight-strung instruments is so different from the homogenous tone produced by the modern piano across its entire range. The clearly distinguishable voices and color across its registers of Liszt's piano inspired me to explore the possibility of combining these qualities with the power, looks, evenness of touch, stability of tuning and other technical advantages of the modern piano."
In association with Belgian instrument maker Chris Maene and the world-renowned Steinway & Sons, pianist Gwendolyn Mok also said the piano possesses a superior quality, even to the musician's own 1875 straight-strung Erard.
The instrument sounds like an updated version, indeed.
Listen to that version, with Barenboim on the sticks, below.
