The sound meter that I used to measure how loud my Steinway plays is a
hand held unit, battery operated, with the microphone mounted on the top
of it.  Made by Quest Electronics, Model 211A, which is ANSI S1.4 Type
S2A compatible.  The specification sheet which came with the meter has
been lost, but I am sure the ANSI number describes it very well.  We
used this meter at work for selecting small muffin fans that would meet
the dB noise specifiction of our product.

A 2nd calibration unit also comes with the meter which emits a 100 dB
signal which you place over the microphone and adjust the meter to read
100 dB.  A small screwdriver is needed for the procedure.

There is a knob on the front that changes the dB range from 60 to 110 dB
in steps of 10 dB.  A analog meter is on the face of the unit which
displays a range from -10 to +10 dB.  To read values above 80 dB you set
the range switch to 80 and read the meter.  If the meter reads more than
+10 dB, then you change the range to 90 dB.

The 92 dB reading was taken directly in front of the piano.  The bench
was positioned a little further back from where you would normally play
the piano and the meter was held at chest height (about 10 inch. above
the keyboard). The microphone was pointed toward the piano with the
piano lid open.

The meter seems to react a little slowly for single key strokes but I'm
sure it is taking an average reading over a short period of time (like
500 ms). I tried taking a reading of me talking at a normal level and
the meter showed between 60 and 68 dB depending on where the microphone
was pointed and what was being said.

Every 3 dB increase indicates that the sound level [power] has doubled.

Pete Knobloch

 [ Ed. Note: Pete, the meter -- plus your ears -- will eventually be a
 [ big aid in achieving the performance Craig Brougher is talking about.
 [ I encourage you to study his advice, and experiment.  Your report
 [ above is a fine example of documenting the experimental set-up, and
 [ will enable anyone to duplicate your sound measuring method
 [ elsewhere.   -- Robbie