Bird-Cage pianos question

[Robert Wilson]

--- Susan Kline <sckline@attbi.com> wrote:
> I see two reasons and one possible side-effect for
> the overdamping system:
> 
> 1. The dampers work by weight instead of by springs,
> like grand dampers.
> Del Fandrich has an interesting observation about
> the quality of damping
> by springs versus weight.
> 
> 2. By hanging the dampers over the hammers, they
> could make the soft pedal
> system work. A strip of fairly stiff felt glued at
> the bottom edge to a
> slat is suspended between two dowels under the
> strike line, and is
> moved between the hammers and the strings when the
> pedal is depressed.
> Normally, this space would be occupied by
> underdampers. The quality
> of tone is quite different than a normal upright
> soft pedal, and the
> touch doesn't have to get sloppy when the left pedal
> is being used.
> 
> 3. The overdampers don't damp as completely as
> underdampers. Perhaps
> they wanted the glow. Looking at very big, FANCY,
> elaborate, standard uprights
> which still had little bitty short bass wedges has
> led me to think
> that the makers wanted more subtle (though even)
> damping than we like today.
> 
> Okay, Roger -- give.
> 
> Susan
> 
I can agree with all of this.  However, we must not
think that the makers of the day chose overdamping in
preference to the design we know today.  Overdamping
was the standard piano action type in those days.  You
find a lot of variations where different designs were
tried and discarded.  The birdcage was the norm and
eventually was overtaken by the underdamper.  The
celeste felt type soft pedal could be rather unmusical
by introducing too drastic a change, but at least it
did not interfere with the pressure of touch by
introducing lost motion.  However, for all its faults,
the half blow was thought superior and taken up. It
has now become the norm through general usage.  Maybe
one day it will be superceded by something better -
everything is evolving, even pianos!

I think Joe has some other reasoning behind the
overdamper design that we haven't thought of, and I,
like everyone else, am waiting for enlightenment.

Bob Wilson
London

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