Re Light Action (HELP)

[stanwood]

>Ken Sloane wrote:
>
>To sum up, I find that DW/UW specs are not nearly as important as the presence
>of the "right amount" of inertia in the action. Unfortunately for the
>technician, however, it is very hard (if not, practically speaking,
>impossible) to quantitate. Not only is the actual mass of the components in
>the action critical but also the distance of the components from their pivot
>points and the ratios built into the levers of the action.>This may sound
>incredibly unscientific, but I feel I can determine if the inertia level in a
>piano will be acceptable to a majority of pianists by using certain licks.<
>
>Comment:
>(The highlight of the last sentence is my own)
>Naturally, actions are a primary concern of mine as they obviously are with
>many others on the list; I generally try to follow and understand the
>discussions as they appear.

>The above statement is one of the few  I have seen on the subject that I agree
>with.  Those who believe that greater understanding of actions is arrived at
>through more and more detailed quantification should take more piano lessons.
>Three pages of spreadsheets will not reveal as much about a piano as three
>measures of playing by educated fingers.

I agree with you and Ken that it is practically impossible to directly
quantitate inertia. However, I know from experience and from the experience
of my study group that it is possible and practical to measure action
parameters that are proportional to inertia, namely - strike weight and
strike ratio.

I also know from extensive experience that graphs of spreadsheets provide a
great deal of knowledge that we can put to practical use.  The value of this
scientific method should not be put down.  It sounds like your saying,
greater understanding is NOT arrived at through more detailed quantification
of the action.

I find that the best approach is to look at both quantitave and qualitative
data then decide what to do.  In other words listen to the pianist and use
the numbers to help interpret what the pianist is talking about.  Draw
information from as many sources as possible.

One persons idea of heavy or light may be entirely different from the average.


David C. Stanwood

http://www.tiac.net/users/stanwood/st&co.htm