Drop

[Mark Cramer]

Pretty much same here Fred, though I revert to using a 300g weight on the
key (John Hartman's "technician's third-hand") once I'm in the ballpark.

Got tired of "whumping" the stretcher with the heel of my hand (to trigger
escapement), so instead, now tap lightly on top of the key-weight with my
capstan tool. It's in my hand anyhow (for adjusting blow-distance), is
likely every bit as consistant, and saves my fist for pounding on the
armchair when "the Flames" take a bad penalty!  ;>)

Thanks for specifying the sequence/dimension (below). Rather than key-travel
after escapement (after-touch), I guess we're actually quantifying
key-travel-remaining, at the "on-set of escapement."

For clarity in my own records, I log specs as follows:

Key-dip: 10mm @ key-front @ 300g
sharp-dip: 3.2mm above nats @ 300g
After-touch: .040" @ 300g
Key height: @ #01/#44/#88: 65mm from bottom of key-frame
(as opposed to from key-bed, or top of key-slip)
Blow distance, etc.

Like re-using electronic tuning records, this seems to be a great
time-saver.

best regards,
Mark C.




-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf Of
Fred Sturm
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2004 3:36 PM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: RE: Drop (was Journal Articles)


--On Thursday, June 3, 2004 2:32 PM -0500 Mark Cramer <Cramer@BrandonU.CA>
wrote:

> Regarding the "the bump," my preference is to have this sensation as
> "crisp" as possible, and as late as possible, IOW, the least functional
> key travel remaining after escapement, the better.
>
> Or to say the same thing differently; .045" A/T in an Steinway usually
> "seems" right, whereas anything more than .035" in a Yamaha (pardon my
> generalization), and the "bump" becomes objectionable. Syncronization and
> correct after-touch seem to go hand in hand. IMHO
>
> Mark Cramer,
> Brandon University

	Yes, that's in keeping with my own preferences.
	I wonder, how exactly do you measure aftertouch? I do it by placing a .045
gauge on top of the front rail punching. Play the key slowly until it just
touches the gauge. At this point the upward movement of the hammer should
have just stopped, and the tender should have contacted the button. Squeeze
the key downward, and letoff starts to occur, but there is no hammer
movement (unless you squeeze a whole lot and letoff occurs). Then, if you
want .040, you just place a .005 punching (or if you want .050, remove a
.005 punching, etc).
	So, IOW, this measured "aftertouch" actually includes letoff - the
movement of the jack along the knuckle. The true "after" part of aftertouch
being quite a bit less, but definitely present, causing the hammer to rise
from drop just perceptibly on a controlled slow stroke.

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
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