Feeling the Hammers when playing!!!!!

[Keith Roberts]

Ric
Any vibration I feel at the front of the key and usually the client wants me
to eliminate the buzz associated with it.
Try taking a new tennis ball and an old one and hit them against a wall. The
old one you only can hit it hard or you get nothing. The new one feels
effortless. A quick wrist slap or even just blocking it sends it to the wall
and back easier even though the ball has more velocity. The difference in
timing is probably more noticeable at first. Then, the shorter, quicker
stroke because of less wind up and recovery.
A good rebounding hammer will be caught deeper and sooner by the rep
spring/lever, in turn giving more umph back toward the string. The action is
going to come alive. Of course the difference is noticable, it's not an
illusion. The illusion is that you're feeling the vibratrion transmitted
down the shank. I think that vibration is lost in the wash of vibration
produced by the piano. Changing the voice by needling will change the
overall vibration of the piano hence any change in vibration at the key top.
I would like hear more about "developing the cushion" needling you wrote
about. The biggest change in voice on my piano (an old upright) came when I
rebushed the keys, polished pins and refelted. The ability to "feel" the
weight of the hammer and control the "throw" has made the single biggest
difference in the sound of this piano.
Keith R

----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Brekne" <richard.brekne@grieg.uib.no>
To: "PTG" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 2:19 PM
Subject: Re: Feeling the Hammers when playing!!!!!


> Friends ... Jim and Joe, and Ed too especially on this one.
>
> Ok... a couple days go by, and I get a chance to review your replies and
take
> them to the nearest grand and think about things.... and I am definatly
> scratching my head more now then before. I know I know...so what else is
new ?
>
> But hear.... I am bedaffled if you cant somehow feel the hardness of the
hammer
> somehow in the stroke.... tho after clarifying my origional question about
the
> actual moment of impact I see now that that is problematic at best...
still how
> can one feel the hammer hardness at all unless somehow or another the
impact is
> also felt.
>
> So I am left wondering about a couple things...
>
> The hammer hits the string and of course both the string and the hammer /
> hammershank are effected by the hardness of that collision. The string
does
> what it does and we all hear that no problem... and no doubt the shanks
> vibrations are similiarily affected tho the vibration is not directly
coupled
> for that millisecond or so to the rest of the key. But is that decoupled
state
> long enough to prevent the vibrations going on in the shank to be
transmitted
> down the system to the key front ? The shank will obviously not just
vibrate
> one cycle and stop... but the energy will dissipate quickly...but how
quickly
> ?...
>
> Secondly how much of the vibration energy traveling down the shank can get
back
> into the key itself in other routes ? There is a more or less direct
coupling
> through the jack tail... tho this obviously cant account for much if any
> leaking through... then there is the whole key frame and bed...but then
you
> should be able to feel (or measure) the same result from touching nearly
> anywhere
>
> The third thought is of course that the whole thing is some kind of weird
> illusion... but I have real difficulty accepting this... it just feels to
real.
>
> Lastly I wonder (and here I am in this space again) then just how much has
> actually been thoroughly checked out and can be said to be "known".  Has
anyone
> actually proven one way or another that pianists / technicians are
actually
> capable of feeling in anysense the hardness of hammers ?
>
> Looks like I got yet another item of my increasing list of things I want
to
> find out for sure
>
> Perhaps this subject has already died out...but I would welcome any
further
> thoughts on the matter.
>
> Still pondering...:)
>
> RicB
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Richard Brekne
> RPT NPTF
> Griegakadamiet UiB
>
>