Steingraeber Transducer Pianos

Steingraeber Creates New Artistic Possibilities With Electronics

Electronics are not always used to serve artistic and creative expression in the world of music. They are often used for muting, or in ‘player pianos’ for example, and in pop music where, of late, the sound just booms out directly from the piano’s soundboard. A musical enhancement? Hardly!

However there are a multitude of professional applications that electronics can offer music and Steingraeber has demonstrated just that with a Steingraeber Transducer Piano in a series of trial runs* by composer Robert HP Platz from the University of Musik Würzburg, and pianist Clara Murnig from the Beethoven Institute at the University of Music Vienna. This particular transducer technology was born out of a collaboration between Robert HP Platz and IRCAM Paris, and subsequently optimised in SWR’s (Südwestrundfunk) Experimental Studio in Freiburg. The startlingly-authentic grand piano sound is thanks not to out-dated sampling techniques, but to the physical modelling approach of piano sound ‘Guru’ Philippe Guillaume and his firm Modartt/pianoteq.

Part 1: Introduction – Contemporary and Historical Tuning and Temperament

00:00 Simon Vincent: La Mia Coppa Trabocca (2016): Introduction & Verse 1
01:37 Introduction and Contemporary Tuning and Temperament
12:07 Historical Tuning and Temperament
14:06 Bach: Toccata C-Minor BWV 911 (Excerpt) 442 Hz
14:32 Bach: Toccata C-Minor BWV 911 (Excerpt) 415 Hz
16:23 Bach: Toccata C-Minor BWV 911 (Excerpt) Werckmeister III

Part 2: Harmonics, Resonance, and Microtonal Music

00:00 Harmonics and Flageolet Notes
02:42 Microtonal Tuning
04:48 Acoustic and Electroacoustic Pianos: 2 Sounds, 1 Soundboard

Part 3: Acoustic Piano and Synthesized Sound

00:00 Combination and Counterpoint
04:21 Recording and Playback
07:59 Acoustic Piano with Pre-Composed Electronic Sounds

Part 4: Acoustic Piano with Transducer Amplification

Part 5: Interview with Michael Acker, SWR Experimentalstudio

Transducer Background and Concept

* Visitors to the VdM Congress in Stuttgart in May 2017 as well as the Cremona Piano Festival in September 2017 organised by Roberto Prosseda, and the ‘Zeit für Neue Musik’ Festival in Bayreuth in March 2018 were able to witness the trial runs at first hand.

Steingraeber Pianoteq recordings by Simon-Mary Vincent

Three Greenhills Pieces consists of three individual short movements for solo piano. Each movement sketches—rather than translates in any literal musical way—the aura of its subject, ranging from the flitting, slightly mischievous character of The Sylphid, the bold annunciatory presence of The Songthrush, and the open-hearted joy of The Spirit of Ecstasy.

The pieces were created using Pianoteq’s physically modelled Steingraeber E-272 Concert Grand Piano with a preset customized by the composer. The midi information of the performances was captured by the software and exported as digital audio.