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Àâòîð
Òåìà: Ïèàíèñòàì è íå òîëüêî
Âðåìÿ: 01.04.2005 19:43 



For the first time ever pianists have a real grand piano that they can carry in their van, or suv!
Check this out folks!
Is a company called Travelgrand breathing new life into a instrument that was headed for the museum?
The flood of pre-orders after the preview of Travelgrand’s new affordable, portable TP-88M TP-88S and TP-76 pianos at a pre-NAMM party was unanticipated.

Although aimed at the gigging musician, interest and orders were coming from several diverse places, including sound/instrument rental companies, organizers of summer piano camps and many larger music schools. With a list price of under $8,000 for the 76 key model there has already been over $6 million in pre-sales before the delivery of the very first instrument!

Oddly enough much of the inspiration to build a new portable grand came not from keyboardists but from guitar players and drummers!
Because there are so many guitarists (and even drummers) around these days compared to keyboardists it was inevitable that they would give their laments about the state of pianos and piano players.
But guitarists and drummers, more often than pianists are group players instead of solo performers so it was from this angle that their opinions emerged.

Their reasoning was simple enough. All the band members but the piano player are able to bring to the job the instrument they practice on at home. There may be a great sounding grand piano on the band’s recordings but at the gig it is a digital simulation.

Did it negatively affect the organic sound of the band that they were able to capture in the studio recording? More often than not they agreed that it did even while many also agreed that synthesizers’ unique sounds and incredible versatility were a plus if not essential to have as components of the band’s sound. (that last statement must not have come from country groups...)

The idea of a new portable grand piano inevitably brought up discussion of the old Yamaha CP80 and CP70 electric grands. Everyone agreed that a portable grand piano that came in two pieces was a brilliant idea yet the CP80/70 was no longer in production. Why not?

Most might argue it was because of the continued advances in digital instruments but... perhaps it was actually because the CP80 was not quite a real grand piano. Yes, it had real grand action that struck strings, and most everyone agreed that it played great, but....it had no soundboard. Instead it had electromagnetic pickups under the strings giving it a very metallic percussive sound that was unique but very un-piano-like compared to the warm resonance a traditional grand.

Why not use the basic CP80 design and build a portable grand piano that came in two pieces - but a real grand piano WITH a soundboard! Why not use modern materials throughout the instrument that resist shrinking, swelling, warping and rusting? Materials that are lightweight but strong enough to hold up under heavy abuse and the high tension in a piano.

How about an instrument that could even hold up to getting wet at an outdoor concert and still be playable after drying!

After consulting with a few companies already using composite materials to make string instruments with great success, Travelpgrand decided to use a carbon composite material for a soundboard.

Travelgrand’s engineers were hardly pioneers here though. Besides violins, cellos, and guitars, a piano also had already been built with a composite sound board and it had proven to work very well. Does it work as well as fine grain spruce put in the finest grands one might ask? Perhaps not, but arguably better than the average grade spruce put in the majority of pianos.*(see ft note)

And the big plus besides great tuning stability and weather resistance is for once pianos can be made with uncanny tonal consistency. Wood quality variation was the main reason that pianos coming off the same assembly line can sound remarkably different from one another.
Can pianos with composite sound boards still be voiced differently to different tastes? Yes, since voicing is done in the piano hammers.

The degree of tuning stability using a composite soundboard is nothing short of astounding, yet Travelgrand decided to go one step further and make the TP pianos tunable by the owner using a motorized robotic tuning pin tuner with built in pick-ups. The machine can fit over all three strings of a unison at once and tunes the strings almost instantaneously while a person strikes the key a few times. The smaller TP88S and TP76 will only have 2 strings per unison where the other piano (as in most all traditional pianos) will have 3. If needed the piano can be tuned in about 20 minutes, and it doesn’t even need to be quiet during the tuning since the system uses pick-ups instead of microphones.

Following Kawai’s lead of using plastic action parts, almost any part that was capable of swelling, shrinking, warping or rusting was replaced with plastic, carbon composite, aluminum or stainless steel. Much care was taken however to make sure the feel of the action was true to a traditional grand.
Except for the use of new materials the action is the same as in most any traditional grand so any piano technician will be right at home with any repairs or adjustments. A repair kit with these new action parts can be purchased from Travelgrand to have on hand for field repairs if needed, or...traditional action parts can be temporarily substituted until the replacement parts are obtained. How is that for backward compatibility!?

With the use of modern materials throughout the new Travelgrand TP series it should have a life span much longer than any traditional piano and the projected savings compared to a traditional instrument over the life of the piano because of it’s minimal maintenance requirements is nothing short of phenomenal.
Piano buyers do not often consider the costs of maintaining the piano AFTER the purchase yet that cost is the reason that the world of full of broken down, unregulated, out of tune pianos today.
Travelgrand is not trying to put piano technicians out of work. They are simply trying to make piano maintenance more realistically affordable for the piano owner.

Need a quiet practice piano? How about a feature like the practice pedal as found on many upright pianos. For soft practice pull a lever and a thin layer of felt is placed between the hammers and strings. Want it quieter still? Pull the lever further and a thicker layer is placed between them. Not loud enough for you to hear above the room noise? Just plug in some headphones to hear the piano amplified with its specially engineered and pre-installed mic/pickup system. Want just a midi controller with real grand action? No problem, just pull the lever one notch further that puts a barrier between the hammers and the strings.
Need to set up the piano to practice but don’t have time or the room set up the entire piano? Just set up the keyboard/action section and leave the harp section packed away. *(Note: for those interested the key/action section can be purchased separately for someone just looking for a controller with true grand piano action) In addition to the midi out is a usb connection for plugging straight into your laptop or desktop.



The smallest version TP76 will probably even fit in some station wagons. Using lightweight materials the entire piano is less than 260 pounds. The harp/string section is heavier on the larger model than the keys/action section but still manageable by one strong person and easily manageable with two. Built in wheels on the cases are a great benefit for ease in moving.


*1(Note: after feedback from potential customers, Travelgrand decided to offer a fourth model - TP88W with a traditional wood veneer exterior with an optional high quality solid spruce soundboard that will be aimed at the homeowners who move often due to job relocation, but still want a more traditional grand. Additional interchangeable harp assemblies using tines and reeds, bells and bars is also being discussed)

http://www.musicplayer.com//ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/18/t/013647.html
Àâòîð
Òåìà: Re: Ïèàíèñòàì è íå òîëüêî
Âðåìÿ: 01.04.2005 22:17 



åùå áû ïî ðóññêè..
Àâòîð
Òåìà: Re: Ïèàíèñòàì è íå òîëüêî
Âðåìÿ: 02.04.2005 02:18 



íå òî ñëîâî... êóäà íàì ñî ñâîèì ôðàíöóçñêèì ñ íèæåãîðîäñêèì...
Àâòîð
Òåìà: Re: Ïèàíèñòàì è íå òîëüêî
Âðåìÿ: 02.04.2005 02:30 
San Diego, CA
Keyz & Knobz

Åùå áû ïîñëóøàòü ýòî ÷óäî... Ê òîìó æå âðÿäëè ýòî çäåñü êîìó íàäî - äåíåã îíî äîëæíî ñòîèòü ìèíèìóì êàê íîðìàëüíûé àêóñòè÷åñêèé èíñòðóìåíò...
Åæåíåäåëüíûé #ÇÂÓÊÑÎÂÅÒ îò Right Audio - http://vk.com/rightaudio1
Àâòîð
Òåìà: Re: Ïèàíèñòàì è íå òîëüêî
Âðåìÿ: 02.04.2005 10:53 
Ìîñêâà
Ýòíè÷åñêèå

Ìäà. Ìîæíî êíåøà âñþ ýòó áîäÿãó â ÏðîìòÔýìèëè çàêèíóòü è íå ïàðèòüñÿ. Òîëüêî äðóãèõ äåë è òàê ìíîãî. È ÿ åùå íå ïðî÷èòàë äî êîíöà ñîâåòû íà÷èíàþùèì :)
Àâòîð
Òåìà: Re: Ïèàíèñòàì è íå òîëüêî
Âðåìÿ: 04.04.2005 12:10 



1. Ïåðåâîäèòü íå áóäó - ëåíü òðîïè÷åñêàÿ :D
2. Åñëè ó Âàñ òîæå ëåíü òðîïè÷åñêàÿ ÷èòàòü âñ¸, òî âíèìàòåëüíî ïðî÷èòàéòå 2 ïîñëåäíèõ àáçàöà.
Åñëè æå è ýòî òðóäíî, òî ñõîäèòå ïî ññûëêå âíèçó è ïðî÷èòàéòå âòîðóþ è òðåòüþ ñòðî÷êó ñíèçó.
Àâòîð
Òåìà: Re: Ïèàíèñòàì è íå òîëüêî
Âðåìÿ: 05.04.2005 00:33 
San Diego, CA
Keyz & Knobz

http://www.rane.com/pi14.html

Îáÿçàòåëüíîå äîïîëíåíèå ê âûøåóïîìÿíóòîìó èíñòðóìåíòó. Ñîððè ÷òî ñòîðìîçèë è îïîçäàë íà ïÿòü äíåé.

ÇÛ Ïîñëåäíèé àáçàö ïðè ïåðâîì ÷òåíèè äåéñòâèòåëüíî ïðîçåâàë...
Åæåíåäåëüíûé #ÇÂÓÊÑÎÂÅÒ îò Right Audio - http://vk.com/rightaudio1
Àâòîð
Òåìà: Re: Ïèàíèñòàì è íå òîëüêî
Âðåìÿ: 05.04.2005 11:12 
Ìîñêâà
Ýòíè÷åñêèå

À, ýòî òèïà îïèñàíèå ýëåêòðîïèàíèíî?
Àâòîð
Òåìà: Re: Ïèàíèñòàì è íå òîëüêî
Âðåìÿ: 07.04.2005 14:06 
Ìèòèëü



ß òàê ïîíèìàþ åòî òèïà "ïîõîäíîãî" âàðèàíòà ÿìàõîâñêîãî "Äèñêëàâèðà". Ðóëüíàÿ øòó÷êà. Èíòåðåñíî, ñêîëüêî ó íàñ ñòîèò :) ?
 ýòîò ôîðóì ìîãóò ïèñàòü òîëüêî çàðåãèñòðèðîâàííûå ïîëüçîâàòåëè!