performance piano - student psychopathology 101

[Kent Swafford]

Ed, you're probably right, but there _is_ an identifiable mechanism by  
which glover's needles might damage hammer felt, and that is that they  
have sharp corners that appear to be sharp enough to slice fibers  
rather than simply spread fibers as regular sewing needles do. I still  
think glover's needles probably have no place in piano hammers.

Kent


On Wednesday, September 17, 2003, at 04:37  PM, A440A@aol.com wrote:

> Kent writes:
>
> << I'd go farther. Glovers needles don't exacerbate the problem; they
> _cause_ the problem in the first place.
>
> Trash the glover's needles, stick with some good "sharps", and I bet
> hammers won't split. >>
>
> Greetings,
>    I have seen hammers split before, and it didn't seem to be because  
> of any
> particular type of needle, but rather, how they were applied.
>    When a voicer continues softening a really hard hammer by needling  
> on
> either side of the crown,  they can cut enough fiber to allow the  
> compression
> under the strike point to pull the hammer apart.  I did this once,  
> myself.  If the
> hammer is that compressed, it is necesary to release some of the  
> compression
> under the strike point as well as softening shoulders.
>     After the shoulders are somewhat relaxed, and no apparent change  
> of tone
> is forthcoming, it is time to drive a couple or three deep needles  
> into the
> crown,all  the way to the core.  Trying to get a mellow sound out of  
> really hard
> hammers without this will usually lead the acupuncturist to destroy the
> continuity of the felt on the sides.  Once this is done,  the  
> compression will
> resolve itself in this localized area on either side of the strike  
> point by
> pulling the hammer apart.
>    On the other hand, ignoring the shoulders and just needling the  
> crown will
> also destroy the hammer, in a hurry.  Getting a gradual change of  
> density
> means working almost all of the felt.
>     Renner hammers don't seem to suffer quite so much from this, but I  
> have
> noticed Yamaha hammers, as well as some of the other Asian imports  
> will.
>    Don't be afraid to go for the heart, that is where the tone is most  
> easily
> manipulated.
>
>
>
> Ed Foote RPT
> www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/
> www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
>  <A  
> HREF="http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/399/ 
> six_degrees_of_tonality.html">
> MP3.com: Six Degrees of Tonality</A>
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