Dear fellow techs, I just returned from a 3 week trip throughout Germany which included visits to the Grotrian-Steinweg and Steingraeber factories. These two half-day visits were worth the price of the entire trip! At Steingraeber, I met Udo himself, Christian Lacher (plant manager) and Alexander Kerstan (chief technician). These people were very friendly and hospitable and, most importantly, very passionate about pianos. I too was very interested to see, first-hand, the components of the Phoenix system at Steingraeber. Bear in mind that their annual production is very limited (about 75 grands and 75 verticals per year) and they only had one grand in process with the carbon-fibre soundboard, bridge agraffe and adjustable hitch pins. They hadn't heard of the Wapin system so I attempted a simple theoretical description. It seemed as though their Phoenix bridge agraffe enables the string to vibrate in a similar manner. I wouldn't expect that they would make this technology available for retrofit purposes though. The carbon fibre soundboard is, to me, the most interesting innovation as the most immediate benefit is pitch stability in extreme climates (like ours on the Canadian prairie). These 2 mm thick boards can be laminated with wood veneers for cosmetic purposes (if you don't care for the appearance of the carbon fibre matrix) and the spruce ribs are glued with epoxy. I'm reluctant to offer an in-depth analysis of the tonal differences between pianos with this board and those with spruce boards. I simply didn't have enough time to play them, side-by-side and unfortunately the showroom pianos were a little 'verstimmt' (out- of-tune). I was very satisfied, though, with the wide range of tonal color, clarity and sustain throughout all registers. In a nutshell, workers in both of these factories were passionate about pianos (at Grotrian, one worker was approaching retirement and when asked if he was looking forward to it, he said no!), and the attention to detail in every process was extraordinary. I think these technological developments help keep things fresh but may only be small steps in the right direction. I do wish I had had more time to study the patented grand half-blow pedal system. This seems like an innovation which has immediate benefit to advanced performers. Oh ... btw Fred, I'm not sure the spruce soundboards at Steingraeber were 4 mm thick. Alexander, Christian and I chatted briefly at the soundboard tapering station and I believe I recall they said the boards are 9 mm thick, tapering to 6 mm at the edges (from about 20 cm to the perimeter of the boards). My german's not too bad but I might have misunderstood them. Or did you mean the carbon-fibre board laminated with spruce veneer (for cosmetic appearance)? Best regards to all, Stan Kroeker, RPT On 22-Jul-09, at 10:06 PM, Fred Sturm wrote: > I'll echo the pat on the back for the institute committee: very > smoothly and efficiently run, and a great lineup My only complaint > is that I was scheduled to teach opposite Andre Oorebeek, so I > missed his class ;-( Can't really complain, because the institute > team got to attend zero of the classes they lined up. > This convention was an especially interesting one because of some > fairly radical things that were presented, things that I think we > will be seeing for many years to come. A sampling: > > 1) Phoenix Piano Systems/Steingraeber. In short, amazing! The carbon > fiber board was remarkable. The sound had elements that were > different from spruce, but overall it sounded, well, like a good > piano. Like a piano with extra power and carry. When you played > harder, there seemed to be more of a power increase as opposed to > simply voicing gradient compared to a wooden board. > But the Phoenix System bridge termination/coupling system was the > real eye opener. They had four grand pianos set up. One was a > 5'8" (or so) Steingraeber with carbon board and Phoenix bridge. Next > to it an identical piano, but with spruce board, Next to it a > Steingraber concert grand in traditional setup (standard pinned > bridge). And finally a rebuilt Baldwin, with the terminators going > up to near the top of octave 5, standard pinned bridge above. So you > could tell what difference it made very obviously. > My verdict? Wow! Wapin on steroids. Sustain and clarity. And lots > of "side effects" that go along with losing those bridge pins (like > all the complaints we constantly make about them, from noises to > dirty termination to false beats to tuning issues). > Bottom line, I think this is the real thing, well worth the > convention just to see it. This is the invention of some Brits, at http://www.hurstwoodfarmpianos.co.uk/ > . I assume they will be selling/licensing the bridge system, though > the website doesn't talk about that (yet, at least). Retrofit would > require milling a few mms off the bridge top, so it is far more > involved than a Wapin job. > BTW, this system is set up with zero downbearing (the coupling > system makes downbearing unnecessary). The carbon fiber board is > less than 2 mm thick. The spruce board with the Phoenix System was 4 > mm thick. A wee bit revolutionary. > > 2) Weickert felt (a product of the Wurzen felt company licensed > exclusively to Renner), debuting on the Ravenscroft piano. I think > the Weickert felt is very much parallel to the Abel Natural felt, > and that both of these are a real step forward. After nearly 30 > years of watching the latest crazes in hammers come and go, I have > become a bit jaded. But now I think we finally have something real. > A lot of the "fads" have focused on the hammer pressing operation, > from cold to hot to in between, hard to soft to medium. And results > have been pretty unpredictable, at least in my limited experience. > Both Renner Weickert and Abel Natural are going back to basics of > felt making. Both reject the use of acids and bleaches in processing > the wool (both of which are bound to damage fibers). Both take extra > care to the details of felt making: laying out the carded fibers so > that the fibers are aligned (meaning layers of felt around the > hammer molding, thus control of tension and compression); carefully > controlled felting process so that there is extraordinary > consistency in density and interlocking of fibers; control of > dimension, so that the sheet has just the right taper to go into the > cutting and pressing without sanding; a controlled gradient of > density from bass to treble. The result is a very consistent felt, > that makes a very consistent hammer. The raw sound is already quite > nice, and tone gradient can be developed by a very consistent > needling technique. > > 3) WNG parts. We have all heard about a number of their new products > in the past few months, and have all received promo materials. They > are still moving ahead at a rapid pace. Coming up are shanks with > adjustable knuckles: like with wippens and heels, the knuckles can > be glued to fit into a range of notches to get something like 15 to > 19 mm in half mm increments (buy one set and experiment, and then > set it up the way you want to). Also on the horizon is a new hard > bushing, of a teflon like material. They have tested it to some > number of million swings and found friction to move very little, > while firmness stays the same. Set in plastic flanges, humidity will > obviously not be a factor. They also have sets of burnishers and > reamers by .0005" (half thousandths) with lovely handles. > > 4) Stanwood's adjustable key ratio invention. This allows for a > fulcrum to be moved under each key (all of them moved the same > amount at once), somewhat on the same theory as using split felt > punchings to adjust where the key pivots. The device allows for > action ratio to be changed between 5:1 and 6:1 (moving the fulcra > about 4-5 mm). The result is very interesting, and it confirms > experimentally some thoughts that have been expressed (by myself > among others) about the probable effect on tone and tonal control > (due to different acceleration possibilities). > This was installed on David's personal M&H A, with fairly light, > fairly mellow hammers. In the class I attended, it was played by a > couple pianists, and it was quite obvious which ratio was which just > by listening. In comparison, the 5:1 sounded like a subtle muffler > felt had been placed between the hammers and the strings. The higher > ratio made for a more singing tone, and for more of a gradient > between melody and accompaniment. This, of course, should be taken > with a grain of salt, as applying to this particular setup. In any > case, a remarkable experiment, allowing us to hear the results of a > single change that is otherwise difficult to achieve. Whether or not > this turns into a widespread devise (I'm sure it will have at least > a niche market), its educational uses are invaluable. > > 5) On a smaller scale, those who have read Oorebeek's book and > watched the DVD, will have seen that sandpaper he describes as mylar > backed which he used for filing hammers. I saw and read, and I went > looking, and found nothing available. Jurgen of Pianoforte Supply > has made it available. Expensive, but wonderful stuff (at least on > first use, and I think it will hold up very, very well). It is > micron graded abrasives, so you get ratings of size rather than > number per area. It is an industrial product, aimed at use for > machining things like crankshafts, best I have been able to figure > out. Anyway, for practical, everyday use, this is something that > will certainly change my life for the better. Cuts beautifully, very > stable backing, so it can be controlled very well for fine results. > > Lots more. Those are just a selection of things that stuck out > particularly for me. The state of the piano manufacturing industry > is very shaky, but the state of piano technology is seemingly in > fast forward mode. > > Regards, > Fred Sturm > University of New Mexico > fssturm at unm.edu > > > > On Jul 21, 2009, at 4:40 PM, Jim Busby wrote: > >> All, >> >> As one of the assistant directors on the institute team, I want to >> thank everyone who taught, helped out, and/or attended the Annual >> Convention and Institute in Grand Rapids. Ward did a great job as >> director, and generally, I thought it was a very successful event. >> Kudos to him! >> >> Being the “newbie” on the institute team I was amazed at the amount >> of work done “behind the scenes”. 5:30 am daily to sometimes 10:00 >> pm. The pedometer of one worker counted over 110 miles in those few >> days. As far as I know, nothing was lost, broken, or otherwise >> damaged. While nothing is ever perfect and we can certainly >> improve, I believe this convention and institute was well thought >> out and effectively run. Jeff Hickey, our very capable director for >> next year is already starting to get ready for next year! Me, I’m >> going on vacation for a week! >> >> Thanks again. >> >> Sincerely, >> Jim Busby >> Assistant Institute Director > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20090723/7cd4cca5/attachment-0001.htm>
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