Hammer Shanks

[C. E. Hood]

As you all can well imagine, those of us who make early pianos (fortepianos, to use the pop term) face the question of shank thinning.  The ones I copy (an 1803 and an 1816, both Viennese) have carefully thinned shanks, the bass end of the scale thinner than the treble.  Maximum volume was of course desired, and also flexibility of tone.  Viennese pianos didn't offer a lot of either compared to modern grands, so they worked to maximize what was there, and not lose the light fast feel.  The English pianos of the time had a bit more volume but were said to feel heavier and more unwieldy.  And Chopin in his letters says he was advised, on a concert tour in Vienna, to take up the offer of a loan of a Viennese grand instead of the French one he liked since the former was so much louder & more audible in the concert hall.  (his reply was that volume was not important to him)
     They worked pragmatically, from experience with previous models, and used their ears.  All the pianos similar to my 1816 prototype had very similar thinniing of shanks and hammer weight.  As stringing and cases got heavier so dod the shanks etc, obvious.  We need to use our ears; what tonal effect we want is the big question.
     As far as using Pianalyser for voicing, I've done many printout sheets on lots of notes for lots of fortepianos, and don't find it too helpful, tho interesting.  The weight of the blow makes a very great difference, so I get way too much varying info.  Again, our ears are very good tools, connected directly to our own cpu's.
     Margaret Hood
     www.fortepianos.pair.com



-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Johnson <johnsond@stolaf.edu>
To: College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org>
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 14:47:02 -0600
Subject: Re: Hammer Shanks

Hi-

Good luck to all trying to "prove" something here- but I'm not convinced
this is really possible in a definitive way. I'm also definitely not the
only one who has gone back and forth regarding thinning shanks. I have gone
to much extra trouble in the past to this end, but in recent years have
come back.  For whatever it is worth- I support thinning both shanks and
hammers toward the treble,  but less so, if any, toward the bass.

Back in '97 I did a study with the physics dept. here using their spectrum
analyzer to record output data using various combinations of weight and
leverage on given notes of a specific concert grand.  We got some
consistent and interesting results too- but not convincing enough to change
anything.  I guess I would like to see how consistently individual shanks
measure out from a given set before I make conclusions about comparing one
type to another.  I think most people don't realize how much variation
there is just from one part to another.  Ultimately we strive for a mere
illusion of evenness........and that's the process that is so fascinating!

take care-

Dennis Johnson
St. Olaf College

_______________________________________________
caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives