Ortmann, in The Physiological Mechanics of Piano Technique, reports forearm weights, supported at the elbow, of adult pianists ranging from 6 to 14 pounds. This book might have something to offer to someone who has the time to read it. We have a long way to go in understanding how pianists experience the instrument. It will not be a one-size-fits-all answer. Assuming a fair level of technique, it seems that smaller and older pianists are more appreciative of smooth weight curves, especially those who like to use the ppp-mp dynamic range. Pianists who only play one instrument become marvelously adapted to horrendous irregularities, and don't know it! What about the students who have to play those pianos? Ed Sutton ----- Original Message ----- From: David Love To: caut at ptg.org Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 10:32 PM Subject: Re: [CAUT] F..riction Equal voicing and ease of escapement I would agree with. I would add overall friction levels generally as evidenced by what you mention about Teflon powder on knuckles and also from the improved feel from a lubrication of the front rail pins (especially), and also uniform aftertouch along with a generally accurate and uniform regulation as Fred Strum suggested. I would question how one can actually tell about something like inertia. Playing a block of chords it's easy to see how touchweight (DW) itself can easily vary by a factor of two in the same voicing if one note is played out near the end of the key while others are played near the fall board. Yet pianists seem to hardly notice that difference at all and routinely adapt to the position of the finger on the key without apparent incident. Since differences in inertia are even less directly perceived than differences in actual static resistance I would wonder how someone could actually tell the difference in inertia that results from a FW difference between two notes of only 10%. In assessing David Stanwood's comments and from my own experience in setting up actions both ways (smooth BW or smooth FW), it's clear that some "floating" is not only always necessary but also goes mostly unnoticed. My current basic procedure is to set a smooth SW curve, survey the action's BW (which also gives a convenient yield of friction readings), calculate what the actual FW should be to achieve a uniform BW based on that survey and then establish a trendline using the excel function for that purpose. That gives a FW curve that best matches the actual BW target rather than trying to find an average action ratio which the Stanwood standard procedure calls for (if I'm not mistaken ) from which you calculate the FW curve. In my procedure, irregularities in the measurement of the BW are smoothed over through the use of the trendline function and a compromise between FW and BW is established to create the least amount of floating for both curves (each serves as a check for the other). If it becomes clear that the sharps and naturals have two different ratios (which they often do) then you can establish two different trendline curves and separate the two. The differences in inertia between the two lines are masked by the fact that the sharps pretty much bear no resemblance in performance to the naturals anyway due to the lever length differences and finger position tendencies. Given that pianists adapt to most everything else this one seems like a no brainer. Of course, since it would appear that pianist have the uncanny ability to adapt to the inherent unevenness in a piano action's performance it would seem like this is overkill. But why stop now. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ed Foote Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2010 4:17 AM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] F..riction I believe evenness to the pianist means equal inertia, equal voicing, and equal ease of escapement. The last is hardest to judge, but jack position, knuckle condition, friction of the drop screw and jack tail on their pads, spring strength, height of balancier, and aftertouch all play a part. Pianists, when playing a ppp levels, will be very mindful of what the escapement is like under soft play, even if they can't describe it. A few drops of lacquer solution on the top of a hammer will make that key feel a lot lighter, a key with 10% more FW than its neighbors will also stand out to some, but if there are a couple of notes that have a "notch" or other hang-upright at escapement, the pianist will mistrust all of the keyboard, and complain that the action is uneven. I have, numerous times, made a huge difference in the feel of "evenness" by simply moving all the jacks to the proper place when they were far distal of where they should be. Jack/knuckle friction is another big influence and the quick rubbing of some Teflon powder across the knuckles also can do wonders in this regard. Ed FooteRegards, Ed Foote RPThttp://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20101209/30e334bb/attachment.htm>
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