>I could not agree more, especially a little friction at the key bushings. This >provides some predictable resistance for the pianist >Ken Sloane, Oberlin Conservatory It's interesting to note that Steinway used to specify both up weight and down weight, for each note across the scale, thereby specifying total friction weight. By changing their upweight to 20g (-2g or + any amount), the have despecified the standards for touchweight... they are less specific. Steinway openly favors "as little friction as possible without side play" in the hammer flange. It would seem that one could argue against this by saying that friction gives control. By the same token one could argue for this by saying that modern hammers are heavier an therefore dynamic friction at the knuckle is higher which, to some effect, would compensate for speculative loss of control by lower flange frictions. In my early days I did alot of extreme hammer lightening and found that hammer flange friction was a major factor in control of the action by the pianist. I even have a useless patent for an adjustable friction hammer flange(too expensive to make). Now with higher hammer weights and adjusting leverage, I'm finding that weight consistancy is the major factor. I don't like to see big differences in strike weight from note to note, and I don't like to see friction inconsistancy causing front weight inconsistancies in the weigh off, otherwise you have unhappy pianists. Just rambling... David C. Stanwood
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