hammers

[antares@euronet.nl]

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On maandag, jun 2, 2003, at 11:03 Europe/Amsterdam, Dave Nereson wrote:
> =A0
> =A0=A0=A0 What??=A0 The Steinways I've seen have always had an =
egg-shaped=20
> hammer.=A0 Aren't we sposeta file trying to remove only one layer of=20=

> felt, or enough to remove the string grooves, without changing the=20
> shape of the whole hammer (unless it's a grossly misshapen mess due to=20=

> someone else's botch job)?=A0

Alright Dave, my explanation..........

Let me first state the following : I have only limited experience with=20=

Steinways built in New York, so the Steinways I am talking about are=20
Hamburg Steinways and they ARE different.
The Steinways built in Hamburg have Renner hammers with Wurzen felt.
Those hammers are very round from the beginning and after first voicing=20=

they are filed into a diamond shape, and much more 'diamondy' then you=20=

(or I) would have imagined (it is actually frightening at first to see=20=

how small a STW becomes after first filing.
This filing process is pretty extreme, but it does give the STW's a=20
certain 'edge' and brilliance you won't get if you leave them=20
un-diamond-filed.


> =A0=A0=A0 And why would a Bechstein change for the worse with a=20
> diamond-shaped hammer?=A0

Because certain instruments ask for a hammer shape that causes more or=20=

less overtones.
The Bechstein grand piano does not ask for a hammer which causes extra=20=

brilliancy as the instrument itself  already has a certain type of high=20=

overtone sound. Give it more or too much, and you will make it an ugly=20=

yelling monster with a pierced and shrill voice.


> =A0
> =A0=A0=A0 At Yamaha's Little Red Schoolhouse, they explained that =
Yamaha=20
> purposely shapes their hammers with more of a diamond- than an=20
> egg-shape.=A0

Sure, but look at the older type Yamaha's please and the hammers you=20
order for those instruments. You will notice that they are round and=20
pear shaped from the beginning.
The hammers for Yamaha's started to change into a more diamondy shape=20
with the introduction of the CFIII-S and at the same the introduction=20
of the Wurzen felt, mind you.
The Wurzen felt is a much different kind of felt than the felt Yamaha=20
uses on the  regular - not hand made - models. It causes a different=20
tone and asks for a different treatment too. I can tell you this=20
because I had (private)  lessons in Wurzen felt voicing in the Yamaha=20
CFIII-S department (within the factory), the Steinway factory in=20
Hamburg and the Bechstein factory in Berlin.
(At one time I met the technical director of Yamaha in Hamburg - Herr=20
Professor Dokter L=FCdemann (ja ja) - and I proudlu told him about 'my=20=

discovery' of the 'new' Wurzen felt, to which he sneered by telling me=20=

that already some time ago he had made the same discovery and that=20
already they had proto-type CFIII-S actions with Wurzen hammers! Later=20=

that year, while being in Hamburg, he summoned me to a secret place=20
where he showed me one of those 'Wurzen hammer' actions.
At Yamaha they are now changing there hammers because they have also=20
changed their models. Those things go hand in hand.


> =A0=A0=A0 Are we saying that if the felt is on the soft side =
(Steinway,=20
> especially early ones, and even late ones, compared to Asian hammers),=20=

> it will compress too much on a hard blow, flattening out and=20
> cancelling partials, giving a dull tone, so we should=A0file them to=20=

> more of a diamond shape?=A0 How do you do that without cutting across=20=

> layers of felt in the hammer?=A0

There is difference in felt making between felt makers. One of the=20
hammer makers pre-sands its hammers and makes its felt is much and much=20=

more dense. This causes a brilliant tone from the beginning but after a=20=

year or two the instruments quickly lose their erstwhile beauty because=20=

the fibers in the hammers, which were much more massed up together in=20
the first place (and thereby lost a lot of their natural resilience)=20
become kind of hard thudding dead clonkers, to be replaced as soon as=20
possible. Those clonkers are dead lumps if felt, there is no more=20
'life' in them.
I have experience with those clonkers for instance on Fazioli's and=20
Seilers.
Especially one Fazioli concert grand (and initially a nice Seiler too)=20=

I remember very well. It was a gift from, I think, a bank to a brand=20
new Theater somewhere here in Holland. The Fazioli became - extremely -=20=

ugly within 3 years and was given away!, to be replaced by a brand new=20=

Steinway D (although I wish that I could have heard/played one of Ron=20
Overs' grands as he is, according to me, one of the leading piano=20
makers in the world).
The Wurzen felt is not sanded from the beginning and the highly=20
resilient felt layers stay intact, causing the same very lively tone=20
that the early Steinways had in earlier days.

> =A0=A0=A0 And if the felt is dense (Asian and others) and already=20
> diamond-shaped (Yamaha and other Asian pianos), then it should have a=20=

> richer tone because it does not flatten out and cancel partials?=A0 =
But=20
> you said=A0YAM's change for the=A0worse with a diamond=A0shape.=A0=A0 =
What do=20
> you mean, "change"?=A0 They already have the diamond shape....???

YAM's change for the worse if you re-shape their hammers as if they are=20=

modern (Hamburg) STW's. Why? because it alters the tone in the wrong=20
way. The tone becomes overstrained and hyper, with the emphasis on the=20=

higher partials which the Yamaha does not need as they are already=20
pretty brilliant. If we take the development of Yamaha's into=20
consideration we may notice that the early Yamaha's were shrill and=20
tinkly instruments. They clearly were accepted by the Japanese=20
consumers (at the time) but Yamaha had to adapt to a more 'Western=20
taste' of listening, which, over the years, resulted in a neutral kind=20=

of Steinway clone, but without the 'boom' and richness of said STW.=20
(they are built completely different in the end and have gone their own=20=

way)
In my perception of, and experience with, piano sounds, the shape of a=20=

hammer has to adapt to the characteristics of a soundboard. The=20
soundboard (and the strings), asks for a certain 'commotion', by in=20
fact a very specific kind of hammer strike, that will cause it to sound=20=

in such a way that we as listeners will like and thus approve of. A=20
Bechstein with a sharp protruding diamond shape hammers will definitely=20=

sound different than with a more rounded off, egg shaped, hammer. A STW=20=

with a Bechstein hammer will sound a little dull, without the specific=20=

STW brilliance and color gradation we expect from it. A B=F6sendorfer=20
with a STW hammer will 'speak too loud' and thereby lose its romantic=20
harmonics.
A Fazioli would definitely be a more interesting instrument, musically=20=

speaking, with Wurzen hammers. One of the much heard complaints about=20
Fazioli's is that they sound so very loud and too uniform, without any=20=

change of 'color', which makes especially Bechsteins and B=F6sendorfers=20=

so attractive and magically divers.
Instead, the Fazioli maker wishes for his instruments to SOUND and=20
SOUND, as it were to prove that a Fazioli has unlimited power, just=20
like, or even more, than a Steinway.
A Yamaha CFIII-S basically does not give that same avalanche of=20
loudness although they may 'thunder' (the legendary S. Richter for=20
instance on a unique instrument built for him only. They have become=20
more subtle because they have, just like the others, a long history of=20=

piano making behind them and an adapted taste. That's exactly why a YAM=20=

CFIII-S 'can be' magnificent, masterly, and truly satisfying because=20
the instrument is balanced and rightly developed. They brought together=20=

the right materials and they have learned through experience how to=20
treat those materials.
I am more than convinced that Fazioli eventually will find its true=20
course. I am definitely not saying that Fazioli is a mediocre=20
instrument, on the contrary! They have, I think, a great deal of=20
possibilities and technically speaking they are superb. It is just a=20
matter of more time.

Some Asian piano makers (I am not talking about Yamaha and Kawai)  also=20=

have not found their true course. The Koreans are rapidly developing=20
ways to flood the World with even more low cost pianos. I was there in=20=

the Samick factories in Incheon and Djakarta and I was amazed by the=20
speed and the quantities of instruments leaving the factory(great=20
guitars too). They basically have good material (Wurzen hammers from=20
Renner, soundboards from Italy, Keyboards from Germany), but they still=20=

have to find a stable course. Maybe Bechstein (50% take over) will be=20
of great influence? The Chinese make all the stuff in the World. They=20
make literally everything and they make it in a very inexpensive way. I=20=

have seen, and worked on, several Chinese 'Perzina' uprights.
They amazed me by their already reasonable quality but they still have=20=

a long time to go, unless they can buy the right people for a lot of=20
dollares to make very fast  competitive changes.

Anyway....my little story turned out a little longer than expected.
Hopefully it made any sense at all?

Antares,
The Netherlands

see my website at : www.concertpianoservice.nl

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