Sostenuto vs Indidivual sustain

[Richard Moody]

With Ed's explaination below I would like to pose a guestion that has to do with
the origins of the concept of sostenuto.   If I invented the pedal, I would have
said, "You hold down the pedal and it sustains only the notes you play"     Why
would I want to require the player to depress the notes he wants to sustain all
at the same time, THEN hold them down for an instant and THEN depress the pedal?
Why not just have a pedal you hold down and it sustains what ever (but only) the
notes you play, for as long as the pedal is down?
    Why hasn't this idea ever caught on except for player pianos?  It can't be
that difficult to build, in fact it ought to be easier to make than a sostenuto
system. I would think it would cure a bunch of us amatures who use the damper
pedal too much.
    Don't get me wrong, I am  not advocating getting rid of the sos pedal.  Come
to think of it, such a pedal might make the sos pedal even more appealing.  It
could catch the notes you held down with individual sustain without requiring
the agravating "accuracy" of timing the sos pedal.  And BTW I want a dollar for
every piano this is put into.  Thank you.
                 ---ric

----- Original Message -----
From: <A440A@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2001 4:53 AM
Subject: Re: Sostenuto regulation


Keith says,
<<I fail to see how having
the damper stop rail too high would in any fashion mess up the dampers,
and/or the operation of the sostenuto system.>>

Greetings,
   If the underlevers are allowed unlimited upward travel, a strong blow can
send them over the top of the engaged sostenuto rod.  This doesn't happpen
with the unsprung sos. tabs, but the later models will allow the underlever
tab to go above, and when it does, it stays up there!
Regards,
Ed Foote RPTs