Grand piano placement

Question

Sadly, I don't enjoy playing my August Förster (170 cm) grand piano. Tones sound harsh and music blasts into my face instead of being 'in front of me'. I feel like I can insufficiently distance myself from the music, making it harder to control the instrument. I find myself compensating by playing softer and constantly holding down the left pedal.

I was able to improve the situation by placing a thick carpet under the piano (the floor is hardwood) and, most of all, by moving the piano further from the corner. But it's still not nearly enough.

The main difficulty is that all possible solutions are practically and/or financially costly. Moreover, I have no idea which one(s) will work. Several options:

• Hire a company to do acoustic treatment
• Replace my grand piano with an upright piano
• Rotate the piano 180 degrees

To give you an idea of the current layout, I've created a sketch of the living room. The rectangle above the piano is a cupboard. The narrow strip on the bottom is the window (i.e. an area that should remain relatively open). Best case, the roughly 2.5 x 2.5 m bottom-right square is all the space I have available.

Answer 1

That set-up is concentrating the sound into the S.E. corner. Any instrument stuck in a corner is going to make that happen.

There's apparently no door in the room! Its location would help answers, maybe. But turning the piano through 180° would be a good, free start. It also would mean the player could have eye contact with any listeners, not a bad thing!

It's the reverberation from three walls (plus ceiling and floor, but they're there anyway in the room), that's causing the extra volume, so an amount of sound-absorbent material anywhere there will help. As you say, carpet is a start. Followed by hanging something - anything - on the walls, particularly higher, although lower won't go amiss.

Sound absorbing material that is stiff is available to go inside the lid, even a thick, stiff carpet, maybe supported by laths just under the lid - that shouldn't interfere with the strings or mechanism.

The possibility of placing it further into the room needs consideration, too, although it's probably mainly used for other purposes, and that's not an feasible. Failing everything else, there's always the option of ear defenders or noise-cancelling headphones. Replacing with a studio piano won't solve the problem if thet's going to be in that same location.

Answer 2

Perhaps sound diffusers may help? I think the piano would sound better near the top wall, though that may not be possible.

The problem is (as you seem to note) the reverb off the walls.

https://www.acousticfields.com/sound-diffusion-in-small-rooms/

Answer 3

The piano should not be in the little L-cubby. Sound is going to be trapped there, bouncing back and forth. That's probably where the loudness and harshness you describe is coming from. It's probably the worst place in the whole room to place a piano. And you even have the lid opening up against a wall.

Probably the best place in the room is at the far end, in the same orientation. I know that people say to put the bass side against the wall, but in my experience, that amplifies the harshness of the sound. My 7' sounds a lot better pulled out into the room a few feet.

Answer 4

Grand pianos are big, loud instruments! Perhaps you've just put one into a too-small room.

You've tried a carpet under the piano. Obviously you wouldn't open the lid in such a small room, but how about a blanket over the top of the closed lid?

Is there no way to move the instrument into the larger space?

If this is to be its long-term home, perhaps a technician could voice it 'quieter'.