[NewMusic] Toy pianos, etc.

[mylesaudio at aol.com]

All the toy pianos I have seen employ cylindrical metal rods, which are 
screwed into a wooden sounding board. Since there is no dampening of 
any notes, there is a lot of sympathetic resonanance, making for a 
harmonically complicated and wet/reverby sound. Tuning tends to be 
idiosyncratic at best. You should be able to locate some samples 
online, yes?

Myles


-----Original Message-----
From: Ryk A. Groetchen <windrag at mac.com>
To: Bay Area New Music Discussion Group <newmusic at music.mills.edu>
Sent: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 1:59 pm
Subject: Re: [NewMusic] Toy pianos, etc.






Hi Matthew,

The Melissa & Doug toy piano is a nice sound. Intonation varies from
instrument to instrument and tends to be fair. It's easy to open up
and you could adjust the tuning slightly as necessary. The sound is
like created by hammers striking metal bars, like a Fender Rhodes.
Tuning is from middle C up two octaves. Lots of overtones of the 1st
and 2nd partials, especially in the lower octave.

<http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-and-Doug-Learn-To-Play-Piano/dp/B00020V59S

 >

Hope that helps. Have fun!

rag


On Dec 6, 2008, at 11:08 AM, Matthew Goodheart wrote:

> Hi Folks-
>
> I'm trying to figure out the right sound for a piece; I'm looking for
> some high toy-piano like sound to mix with the upper octave of the
> piano, though out-of-tune. I know very little about toy pianos, xyla-
> pianos, etc. Anyone got any info I can glean? I'm under deadline and
> can't necessarily go hunting around for the right instrument before
> the score is due.
>
> Thanks
> matthew
>
> Matthew Goodheart
> composer ~ improviser ~ pianist
> matthew at matthewgoodheart.com
> http://matthewgoodheart.com
> http://myspace.com/matthewgoodheart
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Bay Area New Music Discussion Group
> NewMusic at music.mills.edu
> http://music.mills.edu/mailman/listinfo/newmusic

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