piano in the studio - noise?
 

I am thinking of getting a piano. I have a one-room studio, and worry that if I get a piano it will "ring" every time I play electric guitar or sing loudly (and that would be bad, especially when recording).

Does anyone have any experience with this? Is there a way to easily dampen down a piano so its trings don't vibrate when its not in use?

Re: piano in the studio - noise?
 

Hi, I have a piano in ANOTHER room. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

When piano tuners tune a string of the piano, they put
a thin piece of cloth on other strings to prevent them from vibrating. I think that's an easy and perfect solution.

Re: piano in the studio - noise?
 

Also - many pianos have a practice pedal that essentially does the same thing - places a damper on the strings muting vibrations considerably (but not 100%). Mine does and can be LOCKED in that position. Then again, I keep it in another room so I don't know if the strings would vibrate with that Marshall on 11 thing.

Re: piano in the studio - noise?
 

Piano's have built in dampers on every note for all but about the highest octave (that's why you need a sustain pedal to make the notes ring longer). If you are worried about the top strings ringing, you can just put a blanket or pillow over these strings when you're playing other instruments, but generally you're not going to hear much ring from it, unless the sound is originating from the piano's soundboard.

Re: piano in the studio - noise?
 

A piano ideally wants some very specific atmospheric conditions with regard ti humidity and temperatue. Our piano is in a constant humidiy room (47%). There is both a humidifier in the room, as well as a dampchaser system installed on the instrument.

The piano, will give simpathetic tones unless the strings are completely damped. this can be accomplished simply by placing a blanket across the strings with the lid closed. Keep in mind, that unless your room is exceptionally large, the addition of a paino is going to make some major acoustic changes to your room.

However, there is nothing like a real piano.

Re: piano in the studio - noise?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Amen [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Joseph,
If you are purchasing an upright piano, you can attach furniture foam to the top front removable panel. When the panel is in place, the foam will dampen the strings. If your piano has a lockable dampening pedal, this combined with the above approach will pretty much kill any ringing strings. Remove the panel when you use the piano.
They sound much better IMHO with the panels removed anyway.