[pianotech] Journal Nomenclature List

[Israel Stein]

Hello,

Speaking of odd-ball nomenclature, I see 
on this nomenclature list the term "capo 
d'astro bar" - which is probably the 
oddest bit of nomenclature we have, 
since literally (in Italian) it means 
something like "head of the star bar". 
While some of the other odd-ball 
(oddball? odd ball?) terms have some 
anchor in reality, this one makes 
absolutely not one bit of sense at all 
(except for the "bar" part, of course). 
Fortunately, the etymology is traceable.

The original term for that v-shaped bar 
was "capo tasto". "Tasto" in Italian 
means "fret" - which makes sense, since 
this bar acts as a fret on a bunch of 
strings. "Capo" means "head" or "chief" 
or "main" or "biggest" - as in "capo di 
tutti capi" in gangland...  So the 
original terminology meant something 
like "one hell of a giant fret". Some 
marketing genius at Steinway (which, by 
the way, introduced the term "capo 
d'astro") possibly invented the 
similarly sounding "capo d'astro" 
probably because of its "heavenly" 
implication and because it sounds a lot 
cooler than "capo tasto". Or someone in 
the front office who knew little about 
pianos or Italian might have heard "capo 
d'astro" when the foreman said "capo 
tasto" - and the term stuck because of 
its "heavenly" implication and because 
it sounds a lot cooler than "capo 
tasto". Or something of that sort. In 
any case, it's a danged big fret - not a 
chief of the stars, folks...

Israel Stein

On 11:59 AM, Carlos Ralon wrote:
> We are not the only proffession with 
> odd-ball nomenclature. I am told the 
> Navy and Merchant Marine ships carry 
> only ONE piece of ROPE. To ring the 
> ships bell. Everything else is a LINE. 
> But, what do I know... I'm an oiler in 
> the engine room, and our triple 
> expansion engine uses ECCENTRICS.  
> Does that mean we are off balance? 
> Never mind!
> Carlos Ralon, RPT
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     *From:* John R. Granholm
>     <mailto:jtuner at qwestoffice.net>
>     *To:* pianotech at ptg.org
>     <mailto:pianotech at ptg.org>
>     *Sent:* Tuesday, November 16, 2010
>     3:48 PM
>     *Subject:* [pianotech] Journal
>     Nomenclature List
>
>     In response to a couple requests,
>     here's the current Journal
>     nomenclature list, along with the
>     text I sent to David Porritt:
>
>     The major issue we faced doing
>     this list was the large number of
>     compound words in piano
>     nomenclature, and how to deal with
>     them where there is no established
>     standard.  Then we decided that if
>     there's any medium that
>     _should_ work toward establishing
>     that standard, it would be an
>     "official" technical publication
>     such as the Journal.
>     I remember editing one article and
>     seeing /keybed/, /key-bed/, and
>     /key bed,/ all used within a a few
>     paragraphs. /Let off, let-off,
>     /and/ letoff /also appear at times
>     from a single author.  That's what
>     did it for me.  Had to get things
>     under control.
>     Editorial staff uses the list, and
>     we provide it to authors who send
>     us queries about articles.  You
>     are welcome to share if it proves
>     useful to you.
>
>     John Granholm
>
>     ----------------------------------------
>
>     ----------------------------------------
>     In response to a couple requests,
>     here's the current Journal
>     nomenclature list, along with the
>     text I sent to David Porritt:
>
>     The major issue we faced doing
>     this list was the large number of
>     compound words in piano
>     nomenclature, and how to deal with
>     them where there is no established
>     standard.  Then we decided that if
>     there's any medium that should
>     work toward establishing that
>     standard, it would be an
>     "official" technical publication
>     such as the Journal.
>
>     I remember editing one article and
>     seeing keybed, key-bed, and key
>     bed, all used within a a few
>     paragraphs.  Let off, let-off, and
>     letoff also appear at times from a
>     single author.  That's what did it
>     for me.  Had to get things under
>     control.
>
>     Editorial staff uses the list, and
>     we provide it to authors who send
>     us queries about articles.  You
>     are welcome to share if it proves
>     useful to you.
>
>     John Granholm
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101117/8b5ee17b/attachment.htm>