I would agree with David on this one. A recording of Bach Partitas by Richard Goode on a really good piano comes to mind. You might think with Bach and the type of playing involved for the music that it wouldn't matter much. Yet there is an immediacy, a presence, a "standing up" quality to the tone that makes the music sound energetic and absolutely delightful. And Goode (as good as he is - ouch!) is taking full advantage of it in his playing. I think that comes from well voiced hammers that elicit the most sustain (and a piano that has lots of sustain). The hammer is exiting from the string quickly and damping the string the least. The effect that these hammers have starts at the very beginning of the note, at the beginning of the attack. Will Truitt From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Porritt, David Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 6:32 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] New stuff at the convention? Harpsichords have very little sustain that makes even the fastest notes still seem choppy to me - but then I don't particularly like the sound of a harpsichord. Even if you are not sustaining the notes very long, the decay rate is still obvious during the brief time the note is played. I've played some board-collapsed pianos where octave 5 & 6 sound all too much like a harpsichord. Even if the piece doesn't need 3 seconds of sustain, the decay rate makes an obvious difference to the sound. dp David M. Porritt, RPT <mailto:dporritt at smu.edu> dporritt at smu.edu From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of wimblees at aol.com Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 10:01 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] New stuff at the convention? David I'm not sure what you're getting at. What I'm basically saying is that most notes played are of a very short duration, which do not last long enough to hear if there is much sustain or not. How does a harpsichord make that any different? I'm not trying to be smart aleck. I just don't understand your point. Wim -----Original Message----- From: Porritt, David <dporritt at mail.smu.edu> To: pianotech at ptg.org <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Wed, Jul 22, 2009 11:05 am Subject: Re: [pianotech] New stuff at the convention? OK, play your 98% piece on harpsichord and see if you hear any difference. dp David M. Porritt, RPT <mailto:dporritt at smu.edu> dporritt at smu.edu From: <mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org> pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [ <mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org?> mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of <mailto:wimblees at aol.com> wimblees at aol.com Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 1:48 PM To: <mailto:pianotech at ptg.org> pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] New stuff at the convention? I'm going to play devil's advocate here. I'm guessing that 98% of the music played on a piano last less than a fraction of a second. 1.9% of the music is held for maybe a second or two. At the end of a piece of music, the final chord might last 3 or 4 seconds. So the only time we would hear the real affect of an agraffe and bridge with the tone lasting 5 or 6 seconds, is once in a great while. So why all the fuss? OK, be easy one me. Wim -----Original Message----- From: Ron Nossaman < <mailto:rnossaman at cox.net> rnossaman at cox.net> To: <mailto:pianotech at ptg.org> pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Wed, Jul 22, 2009 8:35 am Subject: Re: [pianotech] New stuff at the convention? Joe Goss wrote: > Hi Bridge agraffes? Did the bass have a side slot in them? <http://www.hurstwoodfarmpianos.co.uk/news.php?news_id=24> http://www.hurstwoodfarmpianos.co.uk/news.php?news_id=24 Ron N _____ <http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1223096155x1201715982/aol?redir=htt p:%2F%2Faltfarm.mediaplex.com%2Fad%2Fck%2F12309%2D81939%2D1629%2D6> Dell Deals: Treat yourself to a sweet deal on popular laptops! _____ <http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1223096155x1201715982/aol?redir=htt p:%2F%2Faltfarm.mediaplex.com%2Fad%2Fck%2F12309%2D81939%2D1629%2D6> Dell Deals: Treat yourself to a sweet deal on popular laptops! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090723/0764f1b3/attachment-0001.htm>
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