[CAUT] Unauthorized "prepared pianos"

[Fred Sturm]

On Apr 15, 2008, at 5:52 PM, David Ilvedson wrote:

> "Hitting a string with a marimba mallet is a
> different story, so there I would want to set limits."
>
> Why?   Isn't that a cloth covered mallet?   I don't see a problem  
> unless they want to smash the mallet against the strings...
>
> David Ilvedson, RPT
> Pacifica, CA  94044

	I was referring not to damage, but to potential for upsetting the  
tuning. A hard blow to the middle of a string causes wider excursion,  
and is quite likely to have a tuning impact greater than playing the  
instrument hard from the keys. And the acceleration of those mallets  
isn't as limited as a piano's hammers, as they can be accelerated over  
a good deal more distance than our 45 mm norm. And percussion folks  
can get a bit carried away <G>. At least that is my experience.
	I wouldn't want a concert instrument that had been concert tuned to  
be played with mallets on the strings, then used for another piece or  
another concert without re-tuning. I guess as a part timer, my  
perspective is that of needing a tuning to last through a lot of  
concerts. Hard playing I can handle. But sometimes there are some  
really crazy isolated unisons, and I strongly suspect something was  
done that I didn't hear about.

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu