Piano Tone Is Completely Subjective w/ Chano Dominguez and David Andersen
So much in life is subjective. And you’d think with a “machine” like the piano, the way it should sound is set in stone. However, when analyzing a single piano’s sound, one piano technician might say they’d like it softer, while another might not see anything wrong with the sound or style–they are thoroughly enjoying it.
Does that mean one of them is wrong?
Not really; the right tone is entirely subjective.
In this session, with a world-class Flamenco-Jazz pianist, our co-host David Andersen explains how many leading pianists made one of his pianos sound different from tune to tune. That’s right, even though he laid the foundation, great artists were able to achieve a unique sound, within each performance. Chano further explains, from an artist’s perspective, how every pianist has a different tone. This effect applies to not just their personal “voice” but the voice they create for every tune.
This conversation extends beyond piano tone, to an artist's challenges with and strategies for piano care. We learn about how Chano's piano is situated in a challenging environment that makes it susceptible to going out of tune more often. Stay tuned, and learn how great artists stay tuned up in this Piano Tech radio Hour session!
Here's a little bit about our guest Chano Dominguez:
Does that mean one of them is wrong?
Not really; the right tone is entirely subjective.
In this session, with a world-class Flamenco-Jazz pianist, our co-host David Andersen explains how many leading pianists made one of his pianos sound different from tune to tune. That’s right, even though he laid the foundation, great artists were able to achieve a unique sound, within each performance. Chano further explains, from an artist’s perspective, how every pianist has a different tone. This effect applies to not just their personal “voice” but the voice they create for every tune.
This conversation extends beyond piano tone, to an artist's challenges with and strategies for piano care. We learn about how Chano's piano is situated in a challenging environment that makes it susceptible to going out of tune more often. Stay tuned, and learn how great artists stay tuned up in this Piano Tech radio Hour session!
Here's a little bit about our guest Chano Dominguez:
Chano has three Grammy nominations and over 40 years of stage performance experience. As a native of Spain, his works are an ingenious and unique combination of jazz and flamenco music that never ceases to leave their mark on the minds of the audience. Along with his recording and performing career, he has also shared his expertise through seminars and masterclasses and taught at Juilliard, the Taller de Música in Barcelona, and other institutions.
Early in his career, he formed a Latin rock band, CAI. They released three albums for CBS. However, the band parted ways in 1981, and Chano took on a solo career. Since then, Chano has earned several accolades for his inexplicable works. His album Flamenco Sketches was highly critically acclaimed and in this album, he reinterpreted all five songs from Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue,’ and more.
𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍 𝐔𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓❗❗
Browse more masterclasses and lectures from Piano Tuning Pros here: https://www.pianotechniciansmasterclass.com/
Piano Tech Radio Hour is brought to you by Piano Technicians Master. We provide cutting-edge piano technology instruction from piano industry masters without leaving your home, featuring monthly subscriptions, conventions, single live streaming, and recorded masterclasses. Learn advanced skills:
- How to tune pianos.
- How to repair pianos.
- How to rebuild pianos.
- How to tune concert pianos for the finest performers in the world.
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pianotechmasterclass
Creators and Guests
Host
David Andersen
David Andersen, owner of David Andersen pianos in Los Angeles has been a professional musician, recording artist, and piano technician/consultant for nearly four decades. He has overseen the restoration and maintenance of hundreds of Steinway and Mason & Hamlin pianos during that time. Beginning in 1975 he apprenticed for two and a half years under Jack Cofer in Atlanta, Georgia; during the 1980s he studied at Steinway facilities both in New York and London.
Host
Eathan Janney
Eathan has 20 years of experience as a piano technician. He studied with Dave Miller, the staff piano technician for the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, New Jersey. Dave Carpenter, the inventor of the Verituner electronic tuning device, provided mentorship for Eathan in Chicago. Eathan also worked with Ken Eschete and Bill Schwarts, the staff piano technicians at Northwestern University in Chicago. In 2009, he founded Floating Piano Factory of New York, a company that allows piano technicians to move from Apprentice to Craftsman level while offering value pricing to clients as technicians progress toward mastery. In 2017 he founded Piano Technicians Masterclasses, an online project designed to offer cutting-edge instruction from piano industry masters to anyone on the globe with an internet connection.
Guest
Chano Dominguez
Chano has three Grammy nominations and over 40 years of stage performance experience. As a native of Spain, his works are an ingenious and unique combination of jazz and flamenco music that never ceases to leave their mark in the minds of the audience. Along with his recording and performing career, he has also shared his expertise through seminars and masterclasses and taught at Juilliard, the Taller de Música in Barcelona, and other institutions. Early in his career, he formed a Latin rock band, CAI. They released three albums for CBS. However, the band parted ways in 1981, and Chano took on a solo career. Since then, Chano has earned several accolades for his inexplicable works. His album Flamenco Sketches was highly critically acclaimed and in this album, he reinterpreted all five songs from Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue,’ and more.