On Oct 20, 2005, at 12:30 PM, Jeff Tanner wrote: > > Yes, this piece specifies distance from dampers to within 1/16", > like you say. But oddly, given such precise measurements, I don't > understand why he didn't go ahead and specify what size screws? > exactly what he meant by "piece of plastic", "large piece of > bamboo", and "two thicknesses of woolen material"? The woolen material is that stuff that used to be used for weather stripping: about 1/8" thick by about 3/4" wide I'm thinking, that grey stuff with threads of other colors, made from used fibers. It's fairly course, so muting felt is not a great substitute. Maybe some of that dense, hard understring felt or the like. I agree with you in being frustrated by his lack of detail in saying "screw," "bolt," etc. Sometimes you have to use your best guess. Eg, "bamboo" would have to be of a size to actually fit between the strings specified. Plastic would be something available in the 40's (or 30's to 50's, or whenever the piece was composed) - meaning probably something hard. I don't think there were any soft plastics readily available then (I could well be wrong). The Well-Prepared Piano will have more and better details. I looked through a copy once, but haven't had access for a long time. > > His genius has been touted, yet he didn't have the foresight to > consider what effects would be brought about by performing on > larger or smaller instruments (or instruments with a strut in the > way). Yes, the strut in the way is a big issue with all "inside the piano" work. I think most musicians - composers of this ilk - just never paid enough attention to know there was a significant difference between models. The up side to this is that a very, very good argument can be made for the position that a D (or other concert size) is not appropriate for this kind of music - it doesn't meet the needs of the performer or fulfill the intent of the composer. This is the kind of argument that resonates with the general faculty, more than the "pianos should only be played using the keys" or "keep those durned screws out of my piano" type argument. > > Is there enough scale difference between an O and an L to make his > measurements incorrect for an L? > Jeff An L would be better than a D, for sure. It would depend how precisely you were measuring. In the end, you would adjust the precise position by experiment anyway, shifting a wee bit in each direction and listening. (What exactly are you listening for? That's a good question <g>. Whatever sounds "best" - maybe most pronounced). If your student has an L available for practice purposes (or at least for experiment), the sounds could be used as a basis for deciding where to place things in a D. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico fssturm@unm.edu "Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it." Bertolt Brecht
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