Hello CAUT and Ken Sloan (if you're out there), I recall Ken Sloan teaching in a class on how he built a second action for a concert grand at Oberlin so that pianists could have two options of voicing with one piano. What I want to know is, has anyone else done this? How much does it cost? Who did the keyset, keyframe, action rails etc? Did both actions use NY hammers or other "genuine parts"? How well did this work? What unexpected pitfalls were there? Was Steinway willing to do this? How much of the work could you do yourself? Where do you store it? Has it made your job a headache in anyway, (i.e. artists making you pull the action twenty times so they can make up their mind which one to use)? This would make a great Journal Article. I am seriously considering making a recommendation to do this given that artists can't agree on how bright a piano should be, and we have one D which must please all. Thanks in advance -Mike Jorgensen RPT School of Music, Central Michigan University.
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