Jim, You never cease to amaze and amuse me! I truly hope that, if it is given for me to enjoy the lifespan that some folks like you have, I am able to do so with such grace and dignity. Anyway, maudlin ramblings aside - Actually, yes, I did intend the "clear" without the "not". Ordinarily, I would _abslutely_ agree with you about the torture. The reason for modifying that, in this case, is that many of the folks hired to play these kinds of gigs fancy themselves (and, may be, in another life, are) real pianists - therefore, since they "know" that: a.- the hammer is "supposed" to clear the left string; and, b.- that there _will_ result a difference (of what kind, they may not be sure) in the tone - it hurts little to give them what they think they want. Also, since we don't know what kind of hammers these are, we don't know how wide they are. So, we don't know if it is more reasonable to try to clear the string completely, or to work to strike all three more evenly. Sort of hearkins to the recent thread re: someone's experience in Japan. My own work with a real Yamaha technician was with Yogi Suzuki. Part of the point of that story was the relative importance of making sure that the _hammer shape_ was as good as possible, and then work with the leveling of the strings. This is along the same lines. Even under these kinds of ludicrous circumstances, it takes a pretty obtuse performer to not hear a string that is being only half-struck by the hammer; and, these problems really jump out if the edge of the hammer is really, really hard - as it would be from a heavy lacquering. The whole thing reminds me of a really neat practical joke I pulled some years ago at a well-known institution. Having listened to endless complaints about just how horrible two Ds were (one NY, and one Hamburger) - and grown _quite_ tired, indeed of the personal nature of the complaints... I waited until one Christmas break and swapped the hammers (with shanks and flanges) between the two. As Franz says "a little tuning, a little voicing, a little regulating" later, both were back in service. Roughly 200 performances later (on each) everyone was simply amazed at how wonderful these two pianos were, after all. I was bored. So, that summer, I put 'em back the way they were. I guess the point of the digression is that Barnum is still right, after all these years. Our fiduciary responsibility, if you will, is to our own sanity as much as to anything else. To that end, if, based on their years and years of training and experience, someone decides that something which I know not to be a duck is a duck, who am I to disabuse them of that knowledge? Particularly when it means I have to spend less time picking up broken pieces of this and that. Fact of the matter is, to paraphrase Frank Zappa, that most pianists wouldn't know a good piano if it ran up and bit them. Oops! I just realized that this is cc'd out....I'd better go put on my (brand name deleted) flame suit... Best. Horace At 08:27 AM 2/24/1998 -0700, you wrote: >Hi Horace: > >It's good to have you back with us. > >In your answer to Ted about dueling pianists, I quote the following: > > >"break" the edges of the hardened hammers ever so slightly, and do a >reasonable >amount of needling between the at-rest (non-shift) string cuts. I think >I'd also >be sure to clear that left string in the trichords. > >I always had the impression that 2 strings would handle less well the >torture which the hammers impart to the strings. Did you intend to put >the negative "not" before the word "clear"? I know we normally can give >the pianist more expression capability when clearing the left string on >pedal shift, but these guys who play these instruments are probably not >interested in such niceties. > >Well, there is still the strong possibility that I have missed something. >I seem to be developing the ability to do this. There are 3 things which >happen as one grows older: Number 1. Your memory begins to go. Number 2. >Hmm, I can't remember now what the other 2 are. > >Hey, I don't mind at all growing older. It sure beats the alternative. > >I think a lot about the here-after these days. I go out in the shop and >think "what am I here after?", I go into the kitchen and mumble "what am >I here after? etc. I'm sure glad I have a 76 year old wife who knows what's >going on around here. > >Jim Coleman, Sr. > > Horace Greeley, CNA, MCP, RPT Systems Analyst/Engineer Controller's Office Stanford University email: hgreeley@leland.stanford.edu voice mail: 650.725.9062 fax: 650.725.8014
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