Hammermaker's corner 6.

[isaacah]

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Hammermaker's corner 6



Ari Isaac.







I had but a vague idea of the tests I would have to pass but I knew I =
had to do some deep thinking about how, exactly the tone I wanted would =
be produced. The shape of the hammer press and the formers, the =
construction of the felt sheets, all would depend on providing clear =
answers to that question.

Music, to me, is a story told in sounds (or tones). The word "story" is =
a stand-in for impression, feeling, worldview and accompaniment. "story" =
will do. Stories are many and varied and they sound a lot better if not =
told in a monotone. To put it in other words, if they're told with as =
many shadings of volume and color as possible, or as demanded by the =
story being (musically) told. Every composer of piano music, from =
Beethoven to Gershwin looked for, demanded, a greater degree of =
lyricism, tonal color from piano makers. Hammers designed to produce a =
primarily "clear" tone without the capacity to excite varying =
combinations of partials across the volume range, as well as, =
incidentally, the current fashion to play and record music played by =
"original instruments" - both fly in the face of every major composer's =
perception of musical tone.=20

The obvious problem with producing piano tone is the one Bernard Shaw =
spoke of when he pointed out that we 'destroy our appetites in the act =
of satisfying them'. The hammer blocks the string as soon as it impacts =
on it. What to do about that? The common answer has been to get the =
hammer off the strings as quickly as possible, to give it a minimum of =
contact time so less of the tone is damped. This, to me, is a clumsy =
answer. It doesn't make use of the available energies. Regardless of how =
light you make the hammer, there is still a loss of energy; the string =
starts to push the hammer until it falls away and we have derived no =
benefit from all of that energy.=20

It became evident to me that the hammer string contact time is a =
variable. Getting the hammer away from the string as fast as possible is =
not the priority. The priority, the trick, is to make greater use of the =
reversal of the hammer momentum by the hammer-string impact. If the =
hammer were a compression spring, the impact would compress the spring. =
When it began to open, when the spring compression was released, the =
compressed spring would push more energy into the string. The degree to =
which the spring compressed would depend on the intensity of the impact =
so that the energy pushed back into the string would vary as a function =
of the impact force, enabling the production, by the hammer, of varying =
combinations of audible partials - tonal color. This second transfer of =
energy into the string as the hammer rebounds would compensate, to a =
considerable degree, for the loss sustained by the hammer damping the =
string. The damped components of the tone are always; it seems to me, =
the fundamental and the first few partials. The functioning of the =
hammer like a spring is, so I thought and so I know now, the most =
efficient, most labor saving and most long lasting way to restore most, =
if not all of the tonal components the impact damps out.

At this point I needed to define hardness. There are two types of 'hard' =
relevant to piano hammers: one is the hardness which renders the felt =
immobile. This inability, of the felt, to flex is caused by laquoring or =
by steam shrinking as practiced in Europe. The impact will, for a hammer =
with this type of hardness, rob the tone of important groups of partials =
and throughout the volume level the same groups of partials will be =
lost, damped out and remain absent. Applying a simple test, using this =
kind of hard, or non flexing hammer i.e. dividing the volume range into =
six steps: pianissimo, piano, mezzoforte, forte, fortissimo and double =
fortissimo, the volume will increase or decrease, depending on the =
direction one moves in but there will be no chage audible in the tone =
color range. By 'tone color' I mean grouping, or combination, of =
partials and fundamental frequency for a given playing intensity. It is =
possible to employ various needling techniques to force the hammer to =
produce some color up and down the volume range. Piano technicians have =
been forced to become expert in these techniques due to the lack of =
hammer design by many hammer makers. I refused to go that route. If I =
were going to go to the immense trouble of making hammers - I would =
attempt to do it right, or differently.=20

The second kind of 'hard' for hammers, is the hardness of a compression =
spring. Every compression spring requires a certain weight, pressure, =
impact, before it will compress. I have, at one time, purchased a 200lb =
spring. I placed a 195lb weight on top of it - the spring did not budge. =
When I increased the weight to 205lbs - it began to compress. At less =
than 200lbs that spring was absolutely hard, inflexible but it was still =
a spring. Felt, too, can be constructed to be as springy as one wishes. =
In a set of hammers the spring, like the hammer weight and size, needs =
to graduate so that the 'hardest' spring is at the treble end graduating =
down to the bass. How could I get felt makers to do what I wanted? They, =
like anyone else, were used to do things their own way and, judging by =
what I had seen, the various hammer felt sheets showed no sign of =
graduating density. In my sheets of hammer felt I wanted the density =
graduation to be the result of a downward graduation in the wool fiber, =
all of the sheets I'd seen appeared to be made of one wool blend with no =
change from bass to treble end. Here was my next challenge and it was =
crucial - if I could not get the felt I wanted.=20



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