[CAUT] Scientific Testing

[central]

Jim Ellis,
    Please forgive my statement which was too extreme and does not properly
convey what I meant.  Scientific testing is an excellent thing and should be
used to test everything that is testable.  It should also be used to test
those things not testable to determine as much as possible how true
something is.  In other words, your work is of much value to the profession.
     What I meant is that there are some things which may exist and not be
testable.  One could be the affect of tuning the rear duplexes on overall
tone and how tones interact and work together in a soundboard to create an
overall resonance.  A single note might not show any measurable change, but
there could still be change when they are all played together.
   So how does one scientifically test the sum total of the resonance of
piano tone with the pedal down playing Chopin so the whole piano is one big
ringing mass?  Specifically how does one test the affect of tuned vs.
untuned rear duplexes on this overall piano tone?  Perhaps with a
reproducing piano on could at least get the pianist to play it reasonably
exactly the same repeatedly.  Then one would have to make certain that no
other changes to the piano which could affect tone were accidentally made
when retuning and detuning the duplexes.  Would a decibel meter provide a
true picture?  Would just listening be scientific?   Would it affect only
certain sections?  
   One experience I recall was an objectionable ringing on of a note in the
killer octave area caused by an unmuted duplex in the tenor area on our D
which happened to be at that pitch.   The lingering tone was an obscure
unclear tone like that of a string which is tuned an octave flat and it
lingered on about 1/2 second after the damper cut off the tone.  Muting it
I "thought" some tone was lost on that upper note as well.   It made me
wonder if these rear duplexes contribute to "swell" which I have understood
to be an increase in tone after promptsound which seems present in good
pianos.  Could these duplexes aid upper notes by ringing sympathetically,
and then transferring that energy into the lower middle of the board to
resonate?  When they do ring, is it true sympathetic ringing or is it just
energy traveling down the bridge and throughout the board which string
segments respond to?  Would that string segment being at that pitch aid the
board to vibrate better at that frequency in any way?
    I find your work fascinating and hope you will accept my firm apology
for my former statement.
My highest regards to you and your work,
Sincerely, 
-Mike Jorgensen  


> Mike, I do have
> the equipment and the ability to do it.  But to be publicly told that
> "scientific testing is inadequate to prove false a claim made by many
> experienced persons" is the most discouraging thing I have ever been told
> since I have been in this business.
> 
> Sincerely, Jim Ellis
> 
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