Re Soft Pedal Regulation

[Kenneth Sloane]

                      Subject:                              Time:  6:47 PM
  OFFICE MEMO         Re Soft Pedal Regulation              Date:  12/4/95

One reason to *not* regulate the shift pedal so that the hammer misses the
bass side string of a trichord is that the damper is more likely to make an
"oink" as it returns to the string, especially if the pianist allows the
damper to return slowly. In case you're wondering why this "oink" occurs more
readily with the shift pedal engaged, I will excerpt part of an "Editor's
Roundtable Discussion on Damper Problems" that I wrote which appeared in the
May  '95 Journal.

The next time you are at a large grand piano, preferably a nine foot, engage
the shift pedal and strike some of the tenor
notes. If the hammer is regulated to miss the bass side string, you can see
the
other two strings actually start to vibrate (because of the large amplitude of
the long strings) in a vertical plane. For some reason I'm not certain of, the
unstruck, bass-side string will soon start to vibrate sympathetically but
usually in a diagonal or horizontal plane. After this occurs, release the key
slowly. If there is a trichord wedge on the front of the damper for the note,
you can see the different directions in the amplitude of the strings trying to
"shake" the damper in opposing ways, thus creating the "oink". One way to try
and diminish the prominence of the "oink" is to regulate the damper so that
rear
felt (if it is a block) will hit slightly before the wedge, though damping
will
often suffer a bit.

Different damper felt configurations have different effects on the
"oinkability"
of a piano. In the area of the piano that has a wedge and a block on the
damper,
Boesendorfer puts the wedge in the rear. I think this helps the problem a
little
(I have tried it on sone Steinways). Certainly two block felts as opposed to a
block and a wedge or two wedges will make the "oink" less likely to happen,
but
poorer damping is the trade off. Also the shape of the wedge is a factor.

One important thing to check out if you have a real bad "oinking" problem is
the
density and "crusting" of the felt in the wedge.  This can often be caused or
at
least aggravated by the permeation of hardening agents from the hammer getting
into the damper felt. I have removed wedges from real bad "oinkers" and have
found the area at the string contact point to be actually sort of lumpy. A
wedge
in this condition can frequently be salvaged by pricking and pulling at the
hard
area with a needle and then carefully cutting away with scissors the crusted
area you have raised.

Plain and simple, the felt on the wedge needs to be soft, or the oink is
likely
to occur.

Ken Sloane, Oberlin Conservatory