Jeff: We have a heritage of string breakers here. It's common. Strings break at the capo bar because that's where they pass their elastic limit on a hard blow. The string eventually gets work hardened and breaks when it's ready and not necessarily on a hard blow. That always surprises them when it happens on an mf note and gives them ammunition for their "it's nothing I'm doing" argument. One professor here believes that if you don't break a string every once in a while you're not getting all the dynamic range that you might get. His famous saying "your piano means nothing if your forte isn't forte" expresses his view quite well. I'm more amazed that pianos that have been in use for 11 years have not broken strings! I've certainly not ever had that experience! dave David M. Porritt dporritt@smu.edu -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Tanner Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 4:46 PM To: College Technicians 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
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