The sustain pedal

I recently decided to apply my day-to-day work to my home concerning the room acoustic. More particularly when I play piano.

For the non technical people, each room produce echo that depends on its size, shape and material. So when listening at a source, we hear the direct sound which come directly from the source and diffuse sound that are the echoes (reverberation) bouncing on the objects in the room.

The farther away you are from the source, the more diffuse sound will be.

When playing piano, caution must be exercised when using the sustain pedal. As the player (close to the piano), we perceive mainly direct sound. This then to give us the illusion that the sound is dry/poor without the sustain pedal. However, for the listeners that can be a different story.

So I recorded myself at different location get an idea of how it sounds at different location in my house. Even thus, my home is not particularly reverberant, now know that I must use very gently the sustain pedal when I play for other people.