Smith Memorial Hall¶
Smith Memorial Room¶
Playability: 5.
The Smith Memorial Room is a large room on the second floor of the building, with the entrance on the north side. It contains a Steinway Model B. The room is rather detailed and beautiful, with marble walls and chandeliers. The room has a good amount of reverb.
Voicing and tuning are very even and consistent. The dynamic range of volume and tone is great: Soft playing is very mellow, and loud playing is brilliant but not harsh. The piano is slightly on the louder side — moderate finger pressures will create louder sounds. When the low notes are played loudly, the tone can feel “cheap” instead of “sonorous”, but not to a bad extent.
The recording below has no reverb added; all reverb is due to the room.
Last updated: Jan 26, 2026
Rach 3:
Rm 307¶
Playability: 3.
Steinway Model M.
Voicing is even. Can play quietly with good tone. Notes tend to become harsh quickly as volume increases. Loud tone is good.
Last updated: Jan 25, 2026
Rach 3:
Rm 311¶
Playability: 2.
Steinway Model M.
Voicing is slightly too soft, and uneven. Treble notes especially sound muted even when played with large force. Bass notes sound mellow, but not brilliant. The action makes a knocking noise when certain keys are played.
Last updated: Jan 31, 2026
Liszt Petrarch Sonnet 1:
Rm 319¶
Playability: 2.
Steinway Model M.
Voicing is quite loud. Notes become harsh quickly. Quiet playing is not very mellow, and key weight is uneven. Loud playing feels “cheap”. Some notes aren’t perfectly tuned.
Last updated: Jan 26, 2026
Rach 3:
Rm 322¶
Playability: 2.
Yamaha upright.
Tuning is good. Action is very soft, so playing softly is easy but cannot play loudly. Soft tone is good.
Last updated: Mar 22, 2026
She's a rainbow:
Rm 332¶
Playability: 2.
Steinway Model M.
Tone is sonorous. Some notes are out of tune. The voicing is quite hard, and playing softly is difficult.
Last updated: Feb 3, 2026
Liszt Petrarch Sonnet 1:
Rm 336¶
Playability: 1.
Steinway Model S.
Most notes are out of tune. Voicing is very hard and unpleasant. Difficult to play softly. Loud playing is metallic, and most notes are heard loudly, even when intended to be in the background.
Last updated: Feb 3, 2026
Liszt Petrarch Sonnet 1:
Rm 341¶
Playability: 4.
Steinway Model M.
Most notes are in tune. Tone for light and medium playing is great. Low notes ring well, and melody notes are clear. When playing loud, low notes sound dull and high notes harsh, but that is expected of a small piano.
Last updated: Mar 17, 2026
Composition:
