Ric: What do you do with the Rachmaninof Prelude in C# minor? (The only piece I ever played that needed the sostenuto). After you play the low C# octaves, then hold the pedal, you DON'T want the other notes you play to continue as long as the C#s. The whole point is to have notes that sustain, and other notes that don't. dave *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** On 2/7/01 at 11:50 PM Richard Moody wrote: >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 David M. Porritt dporritt@swbell.net Meadows School of the Arts Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275
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