Horowitz piano

[antares@euronet.nl]

On woensdag, mei 7, 2003, at 20:49 Europe/Amsterdam, Richard Brekne 
wrote:

> I had the opportunity to listen to Franz Mohr give a seminar in Seattle
> some years ago, and what he said then was simply that the hammers got
> worn, and then more worn, and then worn through to the wood as the 
> years
> went by. Horowitz simply refused to let anyone change them or change 
> the
> voicing on them. Seemingly his hearing suffered somewhat as time went
> by, and he liked the pling of those rock hard hammers.

And I have a theory that we should actually not file hammers at all or 
at the most just one time. First of all it involves reshaping 88 
hammers. When we reshape them it should be a perfect job. Doing this 
kind of job takes a long time and causes a sever back ache and...... 
afterwards, it will take much more time because the whole balance of 
tone is crewed up. After hammer filing we have to start all over again.
believe me, I have done it myself more than enough.

Besides, when we file hammers really thoroughly, they weigh less and 
give a more shrill tone. There is less 'meat' to stick your needles in 
and it won't hold as long as you would expect.
So what am I saying?

File as little as possible, with a maximum of one time per hammer life, 
then do a hammer change.
result?
Happy customer, happy tech.

A. Oorebeek,
The Netherlands

see my website at : www.concertpianoservice.nl