"Fish"....my best guess...

Terry terry@farrellpiano.com
Sat, 19 Feb 2005 15:29:13 -0500


Nawwwwwwwwwww. Your skipping rope is just like the speaking length of a
piano string. You pluck it or whack it and it vibrates. Period. It vibrates.
The length of time it vibrates will vary directly with the
solidity/immobility of the speaking length terminations (a cast iron capo
bar works better than a hunk of loose rubber). Similar with the soundboard.
It vibrates. The more solid/immobile/massive the rim, the less the
soundboard can vibrate the rim, and the less energy is lost at the rim. I
really don't think there are things zipping back and forth and bouncing off
this or that. I do know that it makes for great graphics in four-color
brochures. That kind of thinking is consistent with the thinking that bridge
wood/laminations need to have the grain oriented a certain way so the sound
energy can pass through the bridge from the strings to the soundboard. Don't
think so.

Terry Farrell


> Hi Terry,
>
> Take a skipping rope. Tie it to a concrete wall or some other massive
> object. Put a pound of tension on it. Now "pluck" it. Does the wave
> dissipate when it strikes the wall or does it "reflect" back from the
fixed
> end of the rope? I'm certain that it is part of the reason that pianos
with
> massive rims generally exhibit good sustain.
>
> At 11:31 AM 19/02/2005 -0500, you wrote:
> >   What do you base this on? Does anyone know the
> >origin of this kind of thinking?
> > Not even Steinway marketing would agree with  this:
> >Terry Farrell
>
> Regards,
> Don Rose,



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