Practical Concert Work

[Fred Sturm]

Hi Richard,
	I've got to say that there are more highly questionable assertions in that 
article than in any I've seen in a long, long time. Certainly Hudson's 
assertion that "no one can distinguish between 0.125 in. and 0.0615 in." 
let-off is utter hooey, to be very charitable. Any decent pianist can 
distinguish between 1/8 and 1/16" let-off, and also between 1/16 and 1/32", 
and will vastly prefer the last. And for my part I have never seen humidity 
change cause significant blocking problems in a concert instrument I 
regulated to 1/32". Maybe I don't see drastic enough humidity change to 
share that experience, but I have never had a problem keeping let-off close 
enough that you can "play off the jacks (meaning slowly pressing the keys 
to the point where resistence increases - ie, let-off button and drop screw 
are contacted, then a rapid pressure of the keys will create a very fine 
pianissimo blow). I do keep my regulating button felt nice and flat, as 
regulating with dimples in the felt will always lead to blocking. But, that 
said, I think that humidity will swell those felts enough to compensate for 
string rise and fall, hammer felt swelling or whatever humidity change 
might do.
	I also think your average concert pianist appreciates key bushings without 
slop. If you are having problems with sluggishness due to humidity rise, 
probably the cloth you bushed with was too thick. It's a very touchy thing, 
choosing just the right cloth, but it makes absolutely all the difference. 
With the right cloth, good lubrication and polishing, and precision 
ironing, very tight tolerances can be achieved without causing problems in 
more humid conditions. Granted, I live in a dry climate, but I see rises 
from under 10% to over 60% on a regular basis, so I think my experience is 
pretty valid.
	Better to contour a hammer to an out of level string than to level the 
strings? Utter hogwash! Get your strings level (and the straight-mate from 
Pianotek makes that job just that much easier, along with Joe Goss's string 
level), file your hammers nicely (and travel and square them well), and 
mating is a non-issue. Leave the strings wherever they might be and adapt 
the hammers to them, and you've entered on a fool's waste of time (in my oh 
so very humble opinion).
	Hudson's comments on voicing are a mixed bag, but he sure doesn't 
understand the hard-pressed hammer and hasn't worked with it enough if he 
can write, "I have never accomplished much by working the shoulders to 
'release tension.'" Granted, the biggest bang for the buck comes in that 
last couple millimeters away from the strike point, but if you haven't 
worked the shoulders, you'll never develop the tonal spectrum, at least in 
my experience.
	So there are a few quick reactions to the article to kick start a 
discussion. Or maybe to fade into complete silence, especially considering 
the time of year <g>
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico

--On Wednesday, May 26, 2004 7:07 PM +0200 Richard Brekne 
<Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no> wrote:

> Hi lists
>
> Just got my June issue of the Journal and read with interest the article
> by  Jim Hudson, RPT  "Practical Concert Work".  This article should be
> read by all of you, and it seems to me it yields plenty of  fertile
> ground for discussion on the lists.  Much of his voicing philosophy
> strikes me as echoing Franz Mohrs thinking. Given the recent discussions
> on voicing and hammer felt this is good stuff to bounce back and forth.
> I'm sure Dale would find much that harmonizes with his thinking.
>
> One point I'd like to throw out right off is the statement he makes early
> on in this Part 2 of his article series.  Jim says
>
>     "A good concert regulation is a safe regulation. Let off is set at
>     0.125 (3,175 mm), with liberal but not excessive aftertouch..."
>
> While I certainly understand some of the problems that can arrise with a
> borderline tolerance regulation... it strikes me that 3+ mm  is overly
> carefull and will result in immediat problems for pianist requireing the
> most sensitive of pianisimo touch possiblities at their disposal.
>
> Still, the close tolerance regulation with respect to letoff does have
> its trade-off concerns--- and I would love to hear the lists thoughts on
> these, let off  tolerances in general, and how to deal with consequences
> of choices made in respect to let-off distance.
>
> Cheers
> RicB
>
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