Steinway "pinning" dilemma

[Horace Greeley]

Ed,

At 06:03 PM 10/9/2003 -0400, you wrote:
>Fred writes:
>
><< Looking at this more carefully, I have to disagree with you as to the
>mechanism for the tonal effect of firm pinning. From the point of view of
>the hammer being thrown to the string, I think mass, inertia, and leverage
>are plenty to maintain firm contact between knuckle and jack. Where lack of
>firmness has its effect is in the wobble that is introduced during the
>throw of the hammer, and even more so the wobble upon impact with the
>string (ie, what the hammer does during the time it remains in contact). So
>from a purely tonal point of view, I don't think friction per se plays a
>role. >>
>
>Hmm,  there is more to be explored here than I have time to, but there are
>some divergent ideas in my mind about how pinnng affects tone.  I don't 
>totally
>accept that it is wobble in the hammer during its approach to the string, nor
>loss of contact between knuckle and jack.

Agreed.

>    I think it is wobble during contact, caused by the restorative forces of
>the displaced string imparting some energy back to the hammer/shank 
>structure.
>I think the pinning is responsible for supplying a degree of impedance to the
>hammer and shank.  Without this "anchoring mechanism", the shank absorbs the
>transient shock of contact and by its unfettered vibration, causes a short
>interference between the hammer and string.  Perhaps the shank goes into a
>momentary random oscillation during contact which causes the tone to 
>suffer, I
>dunno.  I do know that pinning up from 1 gram to 5 makes a clear 
>difference in
>tone.

Definitely.

>
>    I say this because the sound of a loose pin is readily apparent on a very
>soft blow, where I wouldn't expect a lot of hammer wobble or shank flex to be
>in play.  I asked a tympanist about controlling the sound by how firmly he
>gripped the mallets and he said "Of course, there is a wide range of tone
>available depending on how firmly you hold the sticks".  (that may or may 
>not be
>germane).

That is why I suggested the recordings that I did - this effect is very 
obvious.

>Another consideration in bushing tightness and action resistance is that when
>a firm blow is delivered, the bushing cloth compresses on the "away" side,
>effectively only touching one side of the bushing. (If you look at a pin 
>in the
>bushing under a magnifying glass while applying pressure, you will see it 
>move
>into one side of the cloth, can there be much friction from the unloaded
>side?).  I wouldn't want to bet that a pianist could pick out notes that 
>had 2
>grams less friction in the hammer flange!

Actually, I have worked with several and know of a few more.  People who 
can with whom I have directly worked include(d): Menachem Pressler, John 
Perry, Jim Boyk, Alfred Brendl, Anton Kuerti, a couple of others.  People 
who have been reported to me as being able to include: Ivan Moravec, and 
Slatislav Richter.

Jim Boyk, who has been Artist in Residence at Cal Tech for roughly 30 years 
can not only accurately detect variations of less than 2 gms between keys, 
he can also accurately describe jack placement under the knuckle to +/- < 
0.5mm.  This is very scary the first time one encounters it.

Pressler works more intuitively - less reductively - but just as 
accurately.  Think of an architect who "sees masses" which "describe" 
certain "shapes".  The challenge there is being able to translate the 
generality to the specific.

All of this being said - those folks comprise a pretty rarified 
atmosphere.  Moreover, it is not always those whose names are better known 
who have the most sensitive touch...sadly, it is quite often the case that 
they do not.

Best.

Horace


>regards,
>
>Ed Foote RPT
>www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/
>www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
>  <A HREF="http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/399/six_degrees_of_tonality.html">
>MP3.com: Six Degrees of Tonality</A>
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