Glosario pianistico

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 10/25/99 6:18:21 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
roberto_rovira@ciudad.com.ar (Roberto Rovira)
 writes:

<< Hi all,
 I prefer to use the word aftertouch even in spanish.There are some words you
 can not translate . I prefer that to "distancia recorrida por la tecla luego
 de haberse producido el escape". I also like to use:"capstan" and "voicing"
 
 Roberto Rovira
 Buenos Aires >>

It's the age old dilemma.  In both France and Quebec but especially in Quebec 
where the English language has been slowly eating away at and consuming the 
French, every effort has been made to find French language equivilants for 
popular American words and phrases.  The government has come up with things 
that the people think are ridiculous such as "chien chaud" for "hot dog" and 
"hambourgeoise au frommage" for "cheeseburger" but virtually no one uses 
those words.

Most technicians in Quebec and Mexico have learned everything they know about 
piano technology from books that come from the United States and also PTG 
publications that have been written by Americans.  I have heard such phrases 
as "J'ai rébushé les flanges"  and "Il y a trop d'aftertouche".  Both the 
words "flange" and "wippen" have been difficult to translate.  (Recently, it 
came to light that the word "wippen" is  German verb meaning "to rock".  
Therefore, "la berceuse" seems to be a good word in French.  Also, the word 
is most properly spelled without the "h" in English).

I have heard Mexicans toss in English words too.  "El backcheck" and "el 
flanche" (flange) and yes, of course, "el aftertouch" and also "el 
aftertoque" are common examples.  The Japanese also use many English words 
without translating them too.  So if no good Spanish and French words are 
found for certain terms coined in the good old USA, it won't be the end of 
the world.

I would like to see this glossary printed in the Journal once it is deemed 
complete.  Even though the Journal is an English language publication, there 
are many who read it who live in Spanish speaking areas and who communicate 
with Spanish speaking customers.  Also, PTG's territory includes Puerto Rico 
and Mexico.  While there is still no chapter in Mexico, PTG members have been 
going there for many years.  There have been seminars much like those in the 
US.  Danny Boone was instrumental in this.  The very first thing they did at 
those seminars I attended was to have a Nomenclature session.  There were 
often multiple terms that people used, including American English ones.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin