Hey there Fred. I pretty much thought this was where you were coming from. And I agree one hundred percent. There are really quite a few exceptions to the rules out there... pianos that really sound wonderfull in their own right what ought to sound horrible if we are to believe all that we get served up. Thats a real can of worms I know... and its one of my pet peeves... allowing large enough room for differences in .... taste. A funny story I heard running around here in Europe a few years back told about how most of the European manufacturers let themselves get too influenced by K.Fenner whom of course was a very capable designer in his own right and had very definate ideas about how a piano ought to be built.... what principles to lay to ground as it were. The result was that many of these same instruments started to loose their own sound and instead sounded more and more like each other. A few brands held out and survived. I guess the main point is that there are a lot of ways to do things... and we probably can explain a lot less then we think we can. And there are certainly an awfull lot of exceptions to some of the absolute truths that have been handed down through the years up to and including the present. I for one, am really glad for the variety. Cheers RicB Hi Ric, I'm not really making any strong claims one way or another. Simply observing that experience often contradicts "wisdom." I know we've all probably heard that more DB = stronger attack, less sustain. Less DB = less attack, more sustain. It makes sense in terms of physics, at least I believe it does. But going out in the field and measuring pianos is a different kettle of fish. I listen to the piano, come to a conclusion about its tonal output. Now I measure. I often don't find what I have been led to expect. I often enough find the opposite. Cognitive dissonance, I think is the appropriate word. People can be pretty suggestible, and hear what they expect. Which is why I try to listen first, then measure. I do realize that measuring a strung piano at pitch doesn't tell the whole story. Problem is, that's all most of us have in front of us to measure. At any rate, I intended no particular strong point of view. I was just trying to state what I have observed, which doesn't always coincide with accepted wisdom. Pianos are pretty complex creatures, I think <g>. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico On 3/7/06 3:32 AM, "Ric Brekne" <ricbrek at broadpark.no> wrote: > That said... I think I understand where Fred is comming from and if I > understand that correctly... well I'd aggree. Fred... if you'd care to > specify more closely what was on your mind I for one would find it > interesting. > > Cheers > RicB
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