[CAUT] 1850's Pleyel Grand

[Richard Brekne]

Hi Fred..

er... ah... grin.. sorry bout that. Ed also wrote a reply I had fired 
off an answer too. Coulda been worse... I could have called you both "Fed" !

As for the other Ed you bring into this.... one of my favorite persons 
in the world ! I've heard a few of his pianos and they do very well 
indeed. Especially the ones he rebellies. I am unsure of whether or not 
he has any special belly methods in mind to match his light hammer 
philosophy.  Last I saw him I was quite a bit more young and dumb then I 
am now.

Put in the light of older pianos and the touch considerations you 
mention... his <<extremes>> suddenly sound less extreme. Grin.. just 
when you think you've decided you have decided on something somebody has 
to go and shake your ladder... thanks a lot Fred :) 

Looks like I'm not going to get any real response going on the basic 
belly questions I raised.  Sigh...  what was it we were talking about 
earlier.... something about how easy it was (or wasnt) to learn on your 
own ? 

btw... I didnt take your post as an argument against Stanwood 
methodology. Your comments went (if I understood them correctly) in the 
direction of raising some degree of skepticism to some application 
tendencies.

Cheers
RicB


    Hi Ric,
        It was Fred, not Ed. I should clarify that I am not arguing
    against  
    David Stanwood's methods, which work for whatever ratio you choose. I  
    am arguing against a tendency to get stuck with some default standard  
    that then gets applied to every piano. I think there is a lot to be  
    said for McMorrow's light hammer arguments, for example. A light  
    hammer propelled at a high ratio will have the potential for a greater  
    tonal spectrum because it can reach greater velocity (more felt  
    compression on impact), and the player can shade the velocity more.  
    Obviously this depends on the player and lots of other factors.
        But I would like to see more variety of method, and since the  
    manufacturers seem to be pretty much converging, that leaves it to us  
    techs <g>.
    Regards,
    Fred Sturm
    University of New Mexico
    fssturm at unm.edu