Hello list. For what it is worth, here is my method of regulating action. Hope it will raise comments. I start from standard specifications, with all the friction issues resolved, and with a blow distance that works everywhere. I give special care at the exact spring tension, so the whippen barely but fully lifts the hammer. Any rebound of the hammer is carefully avoided. Then, I minimize the drop this way : I lift the dampers, I play the note, release pressure on the key in order to lift the hammer, then I press very hard again on the key to achieve the maximum upward movement of the hammer. If the hammer then is distant from the string, I reduce the drop. If I reduced too much, eventually, the hammer comes in contact with the string, indicating that I went too far, and I go back just a tiny bit. Then, I fine tune the let off this way : I lift the dampers and depress very slowly the key until I feel that the jack hits it's let off button, and the key stops in this place. Then, I add the absolute minimal pressure on the key in order to go through the let off (this is the pianists absolute pianissimo blow). If I hear no sound from the string, I regulate the letoff higher. Eventually, the absolute pianissimo will produce a sound from the string, but at this level, the hammer will wobble a tiny bit on a normal piano blow. So, from this point, I take my regulating tool in one hand and play the note with my other hand, with the dampers still lift, and playing piano, and I turn the let off button until I get an absolutely clear touch. This is very obvious, as until then you feel a kind of double shock in the bottom of the key, corresponding to the jack to knuckle wobbling and the bottom of dip. When this is done, I redo with dampers lift the slow key motion until the jack hits the let off button, make a stop there, and then press normally the key through the let off process, concentrating now on the distance of aftertouch, which is easy to compare by feel with the neighbouring notes. Here comes the time I add or subtract punching papers to equalize the touch feel, and maybe, in last resort, change the blow distance if I'm completely out with the dip. Then I minimize the hammer check distance. I like the hammers to check as high as possible, but still allowing for the drop to happen. Usually, at this place, there is a feeling of hard landing in the key. If really ennoying, I go back a bit. This process is a bit lengthy, but the action then repeats like a machine gun, and allows the best pianississimo playing possible (by far better than with the standard regulation), which I happen to like very much. My piano teacher used to say : if you want to make a passage really loud, simply play the other passages quieter. So, in some way, this pianississimo regulation can increase drastically the feel of power, or at least the extreme dynamics ratio. The touch feel is a bit harder than with the standard regulating, and the regulation needs quicker to be touched up, but the playing possibilities are so agreable... As I said, comments heartly welcome. Best regards. Stéphane Collin.
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