hammer weight

[Gordon Wilson]

On Fri, 21 Jul 1995, Helmut Wabnig wrote:

> Michael,
>
> you worked a lot on Fourier. So you obviously know more
> than I do. Surely you are joking.
>
> Will a lighter hammer produce more attack noise?
> Less loudness, brighter sound?
> After a time the string will have ist characteristic movement. (Your
> words).Would the sound be different in the beginning? How long is the time
> span?
>
> On my desk is a pile of piano books.
> They talk of a lot of details, exept hammer weight
> (mass). One textbook even says explicitely: to talk
> about hammer weight is not necessary!
> That is the reason why I put this on the list
> and so far I received a lot of interesting input.
> The only problem left for me is to find access
> to sources like "July 1756 edition of Firefly Watch
> Journal pages 1447-1449".
>
> The hammer weight is the last question I will put here.
> How does it influence the piano sound.
> If you can help me with reachable sources, please...
> I promise not to overload the list with my inputs
> any more.
>
> By the way:
> (if you allow a lastlast question)
> How does the arrival of the digital piano
> influence the piano technicians. I think, the digital piano is the future!
> (Except high end top level super
> pianos.)Have some electronics training!
>
> Don't say, they cannot deliver timbre, or sensitive sound modulation. Recall
> what a mechanical piano
> can do: the player presses a key, either slow or
> fast. Then he releases the key and the tone ends.
> That's it all! The only way to influence
> the piano sound is the speed of the keypress/release.
> And this action can be sensed by electronic switches.
> According to the measured speed the sound will be
> processed. Today's cutbacks are not a good counterargument e.g. passive
> string resonance (if I hold down a key and play some other keys, don't know
> better english words..)is only a software problem and will eventually be there.
>
> I have seen pianists approaching with contempt and
> laughter and leaving lost in thought, from the digital thing.
>
> Yours
> Helmut Wabnig
> wabi@net4you.co.at
>
>
>
>
>
Helmut:

My personal experience/reaction to your "lastlast question":

It was very refreshing to hear someone bring up the digital piano issue...
In reference to a previous post, I have been both spidering and squirreling
most of my life.  As a result, I have the audacity to try to be a
"renaissance man" as we approach the 21st century.

Continuing the squirrel analogy:  my tree of nuts has branched from
piano study to teaching piano which in turn branched (or forked) into
music sales, piano tuning and repair.  Then I added electronic organ
repair (while occasinally going out on a limb in a pipe-organ chamber).
The next fork added computers and such, since I was trying to keep up
with the organs evolving more and more into digital instruments.

The end result has been that I refuse to align myself with either the
"old ways are always the best" camp or the "nothing but new technology"
camp.  Forgive my capsule autobiography, but I wanted to show how I
arrived where I am: I guess it's not surprising that I always try to
attain the best of ALL worlds!

Of course, with all of the above, I also sell, broker, and recommend
pianos, organs, computers and all the "software" that goes with them.
It goes without saying that I am self employed...where could I find
a job that would use all of my skills? (I'm open to any offers out
there!)

Your comments hinted at what I always recommend to my customers:

At today's rates. if you have less than $2-3000 to spend on a piano, you
should at least consider digital which could very well be better than
a corresponding "acoustic" piano.  By the same token: $50,000 might buy
2 or three ranks of pipes but it could buy much more in an electronic
instrument.

Yes, many will bring up the issue of "touch".  When I was growing up
in the 40's and 50's, I played every imaginable instrument with keys
as we know them.  As a result, I learned that humans are adaptable.


I offer the same variety to my students:  I teach a man in his 70's
and a girl of 12, both of whom practice on very basic electronic
keyboards without touch sensitivity and then take their lessons
on a studio upright piano.  I had a student once who practiced on
a cardboard keyboard because his father would accept nothing but
a "real" piano which he couldn't afford.  Needless to say, the little
boy finally gave up.

I have the utmost respect for someone who can spend his entire life on
action geometry.  We desparately need these dedicated people. However,
if I tried to focus to that point, I'd be even "insaner" than I am!

Thanks to Helmut and all for reading this.  I hope it provokes some
thought and discussion.

GORDON WILSON
Keyboard Studio
Urbana, Illinois