[CAUT] Lacquered hammers

[Ed Sutton]

Each year at NAMM I discover how much the world is not what it would be if I 
were in charge.
Gradually I am learning that it is what it is, and that I need to respect 
that what exists is at least able to exist.

People (including people in power at colleges) say many ignorant things 
about pianos, but years ago I realized that if everybody dumber than me got 
as smart as me, I'd be at the bottom percentile, not a thought that pleases 
me. People mostly repeat what they were told, so change is usually slow and 
capricious.

Meanwhile, if you want to see pianos made according to more current 
technology, go to Indonesia and visit the Samick plant. They are already 
making bellies and cases (now called "tone bodies") for increasingly 
prestigious-named companies (who are rather secretive about it...wonder 
why?). And they own one third of Steinway.

By the way, placebos do work, by reducing the stress hormones in the brain. 
What makes a placebo work better? Bigger, more colorful, more expensive, 
used by somebody famous, just plain belief, everybody knows it's good. These 
are from double-blind tests of sugar pills. Do you suppose it doesn't apply 
to pianists, piano dealers, and piano technicians? Truth is our brains can't 
keep up, and we got no choice but to keep huffing or drop out.

Let me know when the world is fixed.
Meanwhile, let me know if I'm being human, more or less.

Ed Sutton


> If nobody wants to play it, it  won't get played, period. It will be a 
> failure, period. No matter how  much of your life's blood you have given 
> to make it the best it can be  (in your opinion).
> Dragging the state of the art back to the stone age? Well, the state  of 
> the art has to please the state of the art. Meaning the modern  piano has 
> to please the modern pianist, and the concert piano has to  please its 
> wide range of users. If the "state of the art" of piano  redesign is 
> capable of doing that, it will be a resounding success. If  not, not.
> Are there examples of redesigned concert pianos that have met with 
> consensus success at their institutions? If so, those are the  instruments 
> to examine to discover what portions of redesign are most  fruitful. 
> (Redesign for the individual is a completely different  animal).
>
> Regards,
> Fred Sturm
> fssturm at unm.edu
> "Since everything is in our heads, we had better not lose them." Coco 
> Chanel
>