Topic by rjawad1

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  • rjawad1
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Topic: pno scan II strip

Because of disappointment in the key action of currently available digital pianos, I was considering installing a PNO SCAN II strip into my baby grand.  This product is advertised on pianoteq's site, and they offer some sort of discount.  The strip is quite expensive (1600? US dollars)

I'm not experienced with building things, but I'm willing to give it a try.  In theory, it seems like a great idea:  you get the action of your grand piano, and you get midi capabilities + pianoteq with the PNO strip.  However, I am reluctant to start the project because it seems very few people have gotten it to work successfully.  Why has no one done this already?  There must be problems.

I found one guy on youtube showing how he equipped his upright with the strip, but he seemed to think it wasn't worth all the effort.  If I recall, he said it was very difficult to calibrate it.  There are some piano dealers selling pianos with the strip already installed.  In their advertisements, they focus on capabilities I am not interested in such as instant engraving of an improvisation.  I don't really care about these things; I just want a midi controller with the key action of a grand piano.

My question is, how accurate is this PNO Scan II strip?  How sensitive is the strip to the key action of the piano?  Does it successfully digitize the key action of the grand piano, or does it just kind of work well enough to notate a song on the fly (as the advertisements show).  Have any of you been successful in installing this strip and getting it to work with pianoteq?  Is it just OK or is it really good?

Thank you,
--Ryan

Edit:  I forgot to ask if there are any competitors.

Last edited by rjawad1 (20-08-2017 03:13)

Reply by dklein

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Re: pno scan II strip

http://www.forum-pianoteq.com/viewtopic.php?id=4460

Very accurate, very reproducible.

One or two competitors, but the names escape me.

Search this forum for more posts, as well as pianoworld.com .

- David

Reply by Lucy

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Re: pno scan II strip

If this is similar to the Piano silent systems, then there are other products out there cheaper and their installation available on youtube (mostly from China). I suppose they have midi outputs.

How they perform compared to the PNO Scan II, I have no clue.

Reply by rjawad1

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Re: pno scan II strip

David,

Thank you very much for the detailed information.  You did a fantastic job.  I have bookmarked your write up.

It seems you had to do a lot of work to get it up and running.  A lot of what you did is beyond my skill, I'm afraid.  You mentioned that most of the trouble was with the stop rail.  As I understand, the stop rail is built for modern pianos and since you have an antique piano, it didn't fit right.  On a modern baby grand, would all of this extra work be eliminated?

How does the stop rail work?  Do the hammers hit a piece of metal instead of the strings?  Does it affect the action?  What do you hear when this happens?  Would this sound be distracting if I was using headphones instead of speakers?

Why did you install it in an upright rather than a grand/baby grand?

Thanks again for the info.

Reply by dklein

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Re: pno scan II strip

1) A Stop-Rail is a movable metal bar with a rubber bumper rail.  You move it into place with a lever or a cable to 'catch' the hammers just after they are thrown by the escapement, but before they strike the strings, thus preserving the feel of the piano's action, but producing just a felt-on-rubber sound, which is not too notable when playing a MIDI-derived synthesized or sampled instrument sound.  Even with headphones, I find it fine.

2) My understanding is that stop rails are generally easier to install on modern pianos, ans easier on grand pianos.  Mine was a chore mostly because of the unusual nature of the old piano's action-frame.

3) Why did I put it into an upright instead of a grand?  Because I had wanted an upright for the shape of my room, and for $2200, I felt that the Steinway was a great bargain.  It sounds fabulous as an acoustic piano.  So now I have the advantage of doing either acoustic or electronic or both.

- David