[Mag]

I've read somewhere that piano is one of the more difficult instruments to recreate accurately on a stereo. IMO opinion the key to realistic piano sound is to have a very good bass foundation.

Of course it doesn't stop there, when piano sounds right so do all the other instruments.

 Thoughts?

[1oldguy]

I would agree Piano tells much about the performance of a good sound system.

[tesseract]

In my experience, getting the piano right is very important. I use it as an acid test myself, of course the recording has to be up to it as well.

[S Clark]

I agree.  To my ears, getting both the bottom range 50Hz, and the  mids from 400Hz to 3200Hz separate the good speakers from the great ones. 
Female vocals, small jazz sets, full orchestra, and finally solo piano are my crucial elements for evaluation.

[Anonamemouse]

Does anyone have a suggestion for an excellent recording of a piano?

[S Clark]

David Fung  Evening Conversations from Yarlung records.  This is what it sounds like when  you are seated at the piano playing.  Very close miking and very well recorded. 

[Napalm]

Does anyone have a suggestion for an excellent recording of a piano?

You're opening a can of worms....

If you want to hear it as you'd hear it in a concert hall.... go for older records with microphones placed at a distance.

There are plenty of records with something like 3-4 mics placed just under the open lid then mixed to give you "holographic" sound. If you'd like to hear flying pianos in your room - this is the way to go.

Nap. 

P.S. How about 2 pianos:

[Mag]

Oscar Peterson-Night in Vienna

[95Dyna]

I agree.  To my ears, getting both the bottom range 50Hz, and the  mids from 400Hz to 3200Hz separate the good speakers from the great ones. 
Female vocals, small jazz sets, full orchestra, and finally solo piano are my crucial elements for evaluation.

I hope I'm not taking the thread off course by mentioning a Bryston product.  I installed my 7B SST2's with the new transformer and capacitors last June.  The very first thing I noticed about them was the extraordinary reproduction of solo piano.  It was and still is a breathtaking virtue of the 7B's.  I agree with the small jazz sets and female vocals as acid tests and the 7B's excell at both of these.  I have mentioned in another thread or two the Chesky Records
SACD featuring Valery Joyce's arrangement of the the beautiful Jimi Hendrix song "Little Wing" as a great test of the female vocal performance.  You just would not believe the spine tingling sound of this recording rendered to the speaks by the 7B's.  Have you ever had the feeling the singer is doing a lap dance while you listen to her sing?

[Moon Doggy]

Does anyone have a suggestion for an excellent recording of a piano?

 "Reference Recordings proudly presents JOEL FAN,
pianist extraordinaire in an exquisite HDCD audiophile recording."



RR has Hi rez recordings available for your music server and BDA




"2006's BEST CLASSICAL ALBUMS
- The Absolute Sound, February 2006 (Andrew Quint)

One of RR’s primary missions is to find and introduce great new artists. We are full of enthusiasm for WORLD KEYS.

Fan is a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, and has appeared with the Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, as well as on the television shows Good Morning America and David Letterman.

A native New Yorker (b.1969), Fan studied at the Juilliard School, Harvard University and the Peabody Conservatory. Acclaimed as "a soaring talent" (Los Angeles Times), “superb” (Boston Globe),“extraordinary” (Village Voice), and “a versatile and sensitive pianist” (Washington Post) - Joel Fan combines astounding virtuosity with a rare gift for lyricism."   

 

[lonewolfny42]

Does anyone have a suggestion for an excellent recording of a piano?

This is one of the few Oscar Peterson solo Piano records. Norman Granz and Duke Ellington had been trying to pursade Oscar to record a solo Piano album for quite a while and in November 1970 this was the result.

The man responsible for producing the album was Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer and he deserves a lot of credit. Its one of the best sounding solo Piano records ever produced. The moment you hear the first track you will begin to wonder how on earth all other Piano albums sound so bad in comparison. What does Hans know that other producers don't ???
One of Brunner-Schwer's fundamental concepts for MPS was recording the piano in a way that made the listener feel as though they were hearing the instrument from the perspective of the pianist, not as a member of the audience.

http://www.amazon.com/Tracks-Oscar-Peterson/dp/B0009AM658

[Napalm]

One of Brunner-Schwer's fundamental concepts for MPS was recording the piano in a way that made the listener feel as though they were hearing the instrument from the perspective of the pianist, not as a member of the audience.

But is that "realistic"? What would you think of a pipe organ recording with the mics installed at the console, giving you the performers perspective? Interesting yes, realistic no.

The problem with the piano is that it is huge, tridimensional and asymmetric in sound launch. The other huge instrument, the pipe organ, is actually bidimensional from the public's perpective, with a left-right asymmetry. Which makes stereo reproduction a breeze, once you figured out that you need a scaffold, a mic array and a hard hat.

Nap. 

[lonewolfny42]

But is that "realistic"?

VERY....

[Napalm]

You guys may try this:

http://bluecoastrecords.com/while-she-sleeps

I'm waiting for the BDP-1 to check the hi-res version.

Nap. 

[S Clark]

Realism for the piano is a somewhat defined by the venue.  Listening to a piano in your living room is an intimate experience.  Listening to one accompanied by the the London Philharmonic is a very different beast. For speaker evaluation, I prefer closely miked intimate pieces, hence my David Fung recommendation.  But just for listening, give me Sviatoslav Richter and Rachmaninov Concerti.

[mkaiser]

Does anyone have a suggestion for an excellent recording of a piano?

Yes, try to find the recording by an artist named Andy Winters. His piano recording is called "Shades Of Light Throught Black And White.

My high-end store uses it to evaluate their gear as well as for customer demonstrations.

-Mark

[robb]

Hi--I think the bottom note on the piano is more like 27 cps, so you need speakers and room that will allow development of  waves from 27 through 40  for the piano to sound realistic.

rob

[Napalm]

Hi--I think the bottom note on the piano is more like 27 cps, so you need speakers and room that will allow development of  waves from 27 through 40  for the piano to sound realistic.

rob

Make that 16 Hz for a Bosendorfer Imperial.

Nap. 

[S Clark]

Hi--I think the bottom note on the piano is more like 27 cps, so you need speakers and room

Absolutely correct, but most pieces usually don't go quite that low.  40 Hz is probably a common bottom....

As for the Bosendorfer, does it have an extended keyboard?  I've never played or heard a piece that used the entire 88 key range.  As a teenager, I often played on a Steinway built  before the 88 key became standard... it only had 85 and lacked the top three notes.  Never needed them. Sure wish I still had that instrument 

[rahman]

Piano is also a great test for TTs - especially pitch/speed stability.

In terms of good recordings, Oscar Peterson is great, Bill Evans too.