[pianotech] High tension, low tension?

[Albert Picknell]

Thanks Del.  That's much clearer to me now.
Cheers,
Bert

--- On Tue, 2/28/12, Delwin D Fandrich <del at fandrichpiano.com> wrote:





No, it was not a cut and paste error. I went on to say “In both cases, of course, these [meaning those having lower tensions] strings will be comparatively shorter than their high-tensioned counterparts.”
 
That is, the lower-tensioned strings will both be shorter than their higher-tensioned counterparts. The long, thin high-tension string will be longer than the long, thin low-tension string and the short, thick high-tension string will be longer than the short, thick low-tension string. 
 
Consider note A-49. 
(Example #1) If the speaking length is 17.7” and the wire has a diameter of 0.036” the tension will be 181 lbf. We’ll call this a relatively long, thin high-tension string. 
(Example #2) Make the speaking length 16.4” long and give the wire a diameter of 0.039” the tension will stay the same, 181 lbf, but we will now have a short, thick high-tension string. 
(Example #3) If the speaking length is 16.4” and the wire diameter is 0.036” the tension will be 155 lbf and it would be considered a long, thin low-tension string. 
(Example #4) If the speaking length is made 15.1” and the wire diameter is 0.039” the tension will still be 155 lbf and we will have a short, thick low-tension scaling. 
Examples #3 and #4 are shorter than Examples #1 and #2 respectively.
 
My point being that understanding the tone qualities of the varying scale types is not as simple as labeling them as “high-tension” scales or “low-tension” scales. You have long and short, thick and thin and many gradations in between to consider. Each these is going to produce different tone qualities.
 
ddf
 
Delwin D Fandrich
Piano Design & Fabrication
6939 Foothill Court SW, Olympia, Washington 98512 USA
Phone  360.515.0119 — Cell  360.388.6525
del at fandrichpiano.com — ddfandrich at gmail.com
 
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Albert Picknell
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 3:01 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] High tension, low tension?
 





Del, am I missing something?  You said: "Very simplistically, a high-tensioned scale can be achieved by using a relatively long, thin wire or a somewhat shorter, thicker wire."  And then in the next paragraph you said: "Conversely a low-tensioned scale can be achieved by using a relatively long, thin wire or a somewhat shorter, thicker wire."  Did you actually mean to say that one can achieve both high- and low-tensioned scales by the same means?  Copy & paste error?

 

Bert
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