[pianotech] What is bloom,

[Ron Nossaman]

On 3/18/2011 7:52 PM, Dale Erwin wrote:
> Ron
> How about sound pressure, partial balance and clarity. The short
> subjective version is that when I puck a string to test sustain I alwasy
> try to pluck lightly with the same amount of force. If I pluck lightly
> and it just seems to be like a horse that wants to run free and easy...I
> like it...a lot. If I pluck a string lightly and there seems to be a
> resistance to vibrating freely...then that dog just won't hunt.
> Does that clear it all up?

Well, no, it doesn't by far. Killer octave and above problems tend to 
manifest at dynamic levels far beyond anything plucking will reveal. I 
find plucking to be the most optimistic, and among the least revealing 
of tests in the soundboard diagnostic arsenal. Almost everything sounds 
acceptable at pluck level, except total basket cases.

So how has JD's observation now gone from lifting dampers after playing 
a chord, to "bloom" within a single played note, to assessing a 
soundboard by string plucking? It seems to be gravitating from an 
interesting and potentially educational curiosity, to personal marketing 
copy. Or am I imagining it?

Ron N