Oscar Paul
acoustics writer
Biography
Dr. Oscar Paul was, in Dolge's words, a 'careful and learned' writer on piano construction who, working under the 'wave theory' of sound, insisted that the soundboard is the very soul of the piano and that both tone quality and volume depend entirely on its construction. He went so far as to hold that tone is produced by the soundboard itself rather than by the string. Dolge presents this view chiefly to contrast it with Siegfried Hansing's book, which he says shows the fallacy of Paul's contention beyond contradiction.
Highlights
- Argued that the soundboard is 'the very soul of the piano' and that tone quality and volume depend entirely on its construction
- Held that tone is produced by the soundboard rather than the string, a view Dolge says Hansing disproved
Source
Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 107.
Public domain.