---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment There seems to be a difference between a heavy hitter and a hard hitter. A heavy hitter just plays loud, using the sustain pedal to keep time, almost never letting it up long enough for the strings to settle down. A string will break when it is hit repeatedly. The wire will soften, and then break when the hammer hits it again when the string is at it most stretched position. A hard hitter attacks the keys. I have observed players like that. They are not necessarily playing loud, but the manner in which they hit the key is different. I can't explain what they do, I just know that those players break strings. There was a jazz pianist once at a hotel where I tuned, and I had to replace strings on that piano on a weekly basis. Most of them were in teh 5th and 6th octave, but once in a while he broke bass strings, too. Wim -----Original Message----- From: Jeff Tanner <jtanner@mozart.sc.edu> To: College Technicians <Caut@ptg.org> Sent: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 17:46:23 -0500 Subject: [CAUT] Breaking strings/Una Chorda pedaling The recent discussions about the "over zealous" use of the una chorda pedal may have helped to explain why one of my piano profs has broken 12 strings on her teaching piano this semester alone. This is a Steinway B, the only piano of the 11 B's and 2 new Ds we bought in 1994 which has had even one broken string, let alone now, most of the 6th octave, some twice. Yes, the hammers are beginning to need filing, but they've gotten it since most of the others have and nobody else is breaking strings. The grooves aren't all that deep, but there is evidence that the hammers are hitting the strings in many varied positions. Other than this piano, broken strings here are a pretty rare occurrence. So, I'm wondering if una chorda technique may have something to do with it. A few weeks ago, I reduced her power in the 6th octave - lowered let off and raised the hammer line - to see if that might make a difference. I was beginning to think this cured the problem until she called me today with three more broken strings - the last of the originals between one or two notes below the treble break (E6?, maybe one on D#6?) and C7. Capo feels very smooth and rounded - not sharp, and you can't even detect any string grooves, so I don't think that's the problem. The broken strings are not limited to one wire size, so it wasn't just a faulty batch of wire either, and like I said, some have been replaced twice now. She is a heavy hitter, but claims these broke while playing mezzo forte or softer - which leads to my theory. If you have any suggestions at all why else this piano might be breaking strings, I'm entertaining all comers. Thanks, Jeff Jeff Tanner, RPT School Of Music University of South Carolina _______________________________________________ caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/d5/06/34/cc/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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