old ood versus new wood.

[andré oorebeek]

On Oct 24, 2008, at 11:22 AM, John Delacour wrote:

> At 22:46 +0200 23/10/08, andré oorebeek wrote:
>
>> What I have to say about it, is that, in - my - experience,  
>> installing a new board always sounded much better than putting new  
>> ribs on an old board.
>> You know me, I know you, we are old hands in this business, we know  
>> what we are talking about.
>
> Maybe, but that is quite different from saying that the wood of  
> which the old board is made has deteriorated through age.  Provided  
> it has not been damaged by compression, the wood of the original  
> board could be used to make a new (thinner) board for, say, a  
> harpsichord or antique pianoforte and the result would be as good as  
> or better than new wood.   The proposition that age alone causes  
> wood to deteriorate is nonsense.  It is the soundboard as a  
> mechanical structure that can deteriorate if it is made in certain  
> ways, but there are many soundboards in very old pianos that are as  
> good as they were 120 or 140 years ago because they were properly  
> designed.
>
> The very title of this topic "the finite life of wood grain" is  
> meaningless.
>
> JD


And yet I do not agree, I am sorry.
Old wood has maybe not deteriorated, but it has certainly changed,  
whatever you call it, it does not matter.
It has changed. Nobody can deny that.
It has sort of petrified. The juices are long gone, the cellular  
structure has become different, it has become more brittle, it has  
aged and corroded.
That does not mean that it is a bad piece of wood! No, it means it's  
different.
That means that old wood will give a different sound.

Old violins sound completely different compared to new ones.
I remember hearing a wonderful experiment :
It was an experiment with a baroque string orchestra.
All string instruments were brand new!
It sounded fabulous!
I have heard many old boards with new ribs from mainly Bechstein  
grands, Bösendorfer and Steinway grands.
I have also heard many newly made boards in old instruments.

Today I worked on a brand new Bösendorfer 2.14. I optimized the  
regulation, tuned it, did not even need extra voicing.
It has become a jewel.
Based on my experience I say again : If I had the choice, give me a  
new instrument.

OK Richard Brekne grinnnnnn , how about it? (; >))


friendly greetings
from
André Oorebeek

Antoni van Leeuwenhoekweg 15
1401 VW, Bussum
the Netherlands

tel :    +31 35 6975840
gsm : +31 652 388008

"where Music is, no harm can be"




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