Feeling the Hammers when playing

[Bill Ballard]

At 11:49 PM +0200 6/30/02, antares wrote:
>Hello Brekman!
>
>>  So how do you explain this "tingling" sensation at the key ? Specifically,
>>  exactly when during the hammers travel from just at sting impact to checking
>>  does this happen, and what is the duration of the sensation ?
>
>It's simple Ricky, you just strike a key, you hit the bottom which is the
>front rail punching right? you then clearly feel the energy from the impact
>of the hammer against the string.

Sounds like a seven millisecond event to me, right? The point where 
the hammer and shank form a rigid conductor of vibes, with its head 
pressed hard against he string (for 7 mlsec's), and firmly fastened 
to the action frame.

>>What do you have
>>  to say about the fact Joe brings up that the key is not coupled to 
>>the hammer
>>  at the moment of string impact ?

It may not be coupled but it has just experienced a force which has 
robbed it of all its forward velocity. That force (all 7 mlsec's of 
it), would definitely speed back down through the keystick and bump 
your finger. Without any competition from the tingling (the 
mechanical vibration carried by the entire case), which will take the 
next full second or so to fully bloom.

>I'll explain.
>Some time ago I was in Korea at the Samick factory
>
>Why does a tone get louder when you replace the front punching with a more
>dense one?
>We have to compare it with a seasaw on which two little children sit.
>
>One child pushes off from the ground, the other hits the ground.
>The ground is soft because it is sand so the impact is not painful.
>OK..I can see that you already got it.
>Now we replace the sand...it is hard cement. The child coming down hits the
>cement BAM! it hurts! and the other child on the other end of the the seasaw
>is almost catapulted off  into the sky.
>The difference lies in the hardness of the ground, which, in our case is the
>front punching.

This sounds like a Viennese action, in that what sends the hammer 
home to the string is the abrupt halt in the key (in the Prell 
Mechanik, at the back end, and here, at the front rail punching).

>So...the harder the hammer, the harder the impact, the more you can feel the
>vibrations.

It's our job to bring pianos alive.

>However, a stone hard new hammer causes less absorbtion of
>energy through the keys.

Did I describe something like this, the failure of improperly matched 
strings and hammers to return to the hammer the maximum escape 
velocity?

>A well voiced hammer, but not too much please, sort of 'spreads' energy
>better and that we can feel easily in our sensitive fingers.

This impression at our fingertips mirrors what's happening acoustically

>Using this method amplifies our perception during the voicing process and we
>would be stupid not to use it.

..er, insensitive?

Bill Ballard RPT
NH Chapter, P.T.G.

"Can you check out this middle C?. It "whangs' - (or twangs?)
     Thanks so much, Ginger"
     ...........Service Request
+++++++++++++++++++++