This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment From: Richard Brekne To: pianotech@ptg.org Sent: September 21, 2001 12:13 AM Subject: Re: 1 string, 2 strings, 3 strings or more =20 Well... here (in this scaling issue) you seem to think more like the = technician / engineer... and play up all those incidents of where your = technical insights coincide with comments you hear from musicians.... = and you apparently include ..what ... all pianists ?? Re read your lines = if you will..=20 I include those musicians with which I have had experience. I can't = speak for any others.=20 =20 =20 >>Depends on whether or not those defects of character are audibly = >>offensive to the musician. If they are I see no reason for it to = carry on >>for another 100 years offending the very folks it's supposed = to be >>pleasing when a new bridge(s) and some revised scaling can solve = >>most of the problem. This was why I asked for clarification you see.=20 No, I don't see. Well, what can I say... er... uhhhh... most people I meet seem to = report a more varied experience.=20 That's quite a few, actually. I did a fair amount of so-called concert = work for both Steinway and Baldwin during the 1970s and 1980s meeting = and working with most of the international and national artists active = through that time. While I was with Baldwin I met and worked with quite = a few more. How many in all? I've no idea--I didn't count. Subsequent to = that, while we were building our vertical, I met and worked with many = more musicians from all over the world--roughly 2,000 a year who came to = visit our factory plus a fair number I encountered at various = exhibitions. None of this includes the numerous technicians I've = encountered in the hundreds of classes I've given over the years in the = U.S., Canada and elsewhere.=20 Now, does every musician I've ever encountered report the same = experience? Or complain about the same things? No, of course not. But, = over the years enough have done so to make me start to wonder about the = status quo.... And, enough to make me start to work....=20 I realize this exposure to the musicians of the world is still limited, = but I must work with what I have. Sorry it doesn't qualify as adequate = in your view. Here I am in disagreement with the most of what you say. I do not aggree = that performance is not related to price, or where instruments are made = from. My clients.... musicians.... in general think Steinways have the = best sound and performance around... tho they often wince at the price = tag, and just about all of them have a different idea of how they are to = be voiced or just how the touch is supposed to feel.=20 You're entitled to your opinion. Just don't complain when someone buys a = Petrof because they actually like the way it sounds and when they are = willing to accept the mechanical limitations of the instrument to get = that sound. The mechanical limitations, after all, can mostly be = overcome by a reasonably accomplished technician. The folks buying these = pianos based on their performance are also entitled to their opinions. = And if they manage to save a few thousand in the process...so what? Good = for them. I still maintain that a well designed inexpensive piano can/will = outperform a poorly designed expensive one. It's just that there is a = dearth of well designed pianos available in any price range. (At least = by 2001 design standards. There are quite a few well designed pianos by = 1901 standards.) =20 =20 Well, I could say something like "Your well publicized contempt for = Steinway has been a matter of record for sometime. How do you like it eh = ?".... but I wont.=20 That's good, because I don't have any contempt for Steinway or for their = pianos. I just wish the performance of the Steinway piano lived up to = it's marketing a bit more consistently. I also believe our = industry--including, but not limited to Steinway--can do better. In = fact, I believe if it to survive as an industry, it must. Del ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/d8/09/af/4c/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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