[CAUT] rescale bass strings

[Richard Brekne]

A fine posting JD, and a good story about the Brinsmead to boot. Suffice 
to say, as your Bösendorfer example points out that tastes do vary 
greatly. Sometimes beyond our own domain of what seems reasonable.  I 
know folks for example who adamantly believe there should be a distinct 
break between tenor and bass and are not at all pleased with the sound 
of a transition that is overly even. And as I think we agree it is in 
the end not for us to portend to decide over others likes and dislikes.  
Tho to be sure I can also shake my head in wonder from time to time :)

Still... strikes me as a <<better>> road to walk to delight in the 
creative endeavour we take for the value that has in itself and leave it 
at that.  Qualitative comparisons get so iffy (at best) so quickly in 
this world of ours.

Hope ya all had a nice Easter btw !

Cheers
RicB


        At 20:57 +0100 23/3/08, Richard Brekne wrote:

         >...Its probably a good idea to remember that by definition you
        are
         >not going to make any improvements per'se... only alterations.


    Well, with larger pianos it is certainly possible to change the
    character of the bass, and whether or not the change is an
    improvement is certainly a matter of taste and opinion, as you say.
    On the other hand there are scales that are simply misconceived and
    which, when the faults are pointed out to any discriminating hearer,
    no matter what their general preferences may be, will be recognised
    to be faulty.

    If by modifying the scale you can achieve less audible breaks, then
    that is clearly an improvement in anybody's book, and if you can stop
    a note barking by changing the design, so is that.  Any scale that
    requires the steel to exceed the maximum safe tension is also to be
    redesigned.   It would be difficult to find anyone to prefer the
    sound of the over-tight strings to the sound of strings working
    within safe limits, I can assure you.

    I quite agree that to impose one's personal preferences onto all
    scales no matter what the fundamental character of the piano is, is
    to court controversy.  For example I personally detest the sound of a
    Bösendorfer and in particular the bass of a Bösendorfer but when I
    make strings for one of these beasts I follow the essence of the
    Bösendorfer design, because somebody who has chosen a Bösendorfer
    doesn't want it sounding like a Steinway or a Blüthner.  There are
    faults in some of Bösendorfer's scales, as there are in most of
    Steinway's, but these can be corrected without changing the overall
    character of the tone, the balance, the staccato response etc.

    Since this thread began with a question about a George Steck, I'll
    tell you a story of a well-meaning but inexperienced string-maker
    early in his string-making career -- namely me.  I had an order from
    the Blüthner workshops in London, all of whose strings I was by then
    making, for a set of strings for a Steck 5' grand (Aeolian Steck, I
    imagine).  When I measured up those horrible stiff strings and
    calculated those awful tensions, I thought, let's make a set for this
    piano designed like the nice Blüthner 5' Style 4.  Within a week I
    had a phone call to say that those strings for the Steck are just
    flapping away and making hardly any sound.

    Luckily I learned that lesson early, and since then I am most careful
    with any "baby grand" that comes my way to stick pretty closely to
    the type of scaling that the maker used.  The longer the piano is,
    the more scope one has for changing the scale or changing the
    character of the bass, but still one needs to be careful ...

    ... I have recently bought a very nice Brinsmead 5'7" grand from
    about 1905.  As soon as I'd got it I calculated the existing scale
    and wondered if I could get a little more colour from the bass, which
    is very strong in fundamental tone.  Brinsmead's scales,
    incidentally, are very well designed.  Note 25, the top bichord, was
    made on a No. 20 core; I decided to see what it would sound like with
    an 18, which would be more what you'd expect on other pianos.  It was
    obvious as soon as I'd fitted the pair that this would not do at all
    -- the balance of the harmonics was quite wrong and the bass strung
    is such a way would have been quite out of character with the piano
    as a whole.  This Brinsmead was designed to be very strong in
    fundamental and that's the way it has to stay.  If I wanted it
    different, I'd need to fit a re-designed soundboard.

    JD