[CAUT] Should performers rule? (Was Lacquered hammers)

[David Love]

Before I comment let me just clarify that anything I say about "redesigns"
are referring to my own pianos and not Nossaman's since I've never heard one
and wouldn't presume to comment on them.  But I am aware that I have
followed similar protocols on many of my own pianos, though not on any D's.
I do think that this conversation is slipping back and forth between large
hall performance pianos and other pianos and that can be confusing as the
requirements, as many have mentioned, can be quite different.

On the redesigns that I have done the extended range is definitely at the
pianissimo end.  I just tuned one of mine today, Model O, full wrap around
bass cut-off, treble fish, 60 degree grain angle, bass float, very light
radial rib scale, duplex gone, transition, yada, yada, yada.  The piano has
Ronsen Bacon Felt hammers on it and there is not one ounce of lacquer in
those hammers and there doesn't need to be and, in fact, shouldn't be, I
don't think it would work well.  The piano can be played loud (though not
bright and not with a sharp attack), and the pianissimo can be played down
to a whisper.  The customer loves it.

But if the ideas incorporated on this particular instrument were extended to
a concert instrument there would be something missing.  It's a question that
I've asked about these for awhile:  what do you do if you need that upper
end brilliance, sharp percussive attack, really varied timbre that goes
along with that for all the reasons that Fred mentioned in his previous
post.  You have a hard time getting it, at least I have, without it becoming
something ugly.  Fred's comment about cold pressed hammers is very germane
here because these designs want for cold pressed and pretty unadulterated
hammers.  With a light rib scale (which they tend to get) that's all you
need.  But the consistency of the hammer which matches well the requirements
of the belly also then limits that sharp accent that brings with it the
development of dominant upper partials that give the piano the cut that it
needs etc., (Fred described it better than I can).  

I think one has to recognize the limits of these designs no less than one
has to recognize the limits of concerto piano to be appealing to someone who
wants an extended pianissimo range.  It's not just audience versus
performer, it's more complicated than that even.  It's always performer
first because they have to play it and they have to have some confidence
that what they wish to communicate will get through.  It's audience,
repertoire and venue second, I think, because that's at the forefront of the
psychology of the performer.  But it's always the performer first whether
that's in a concert hall or a living room.  The concert hall has other
challenges, solo, chamber, concerto, types of music, that make it impossible
for one piano to suit everyone or every performance.  But if you only have
one piano then you have to give the piano the best chance to appeal to the
broadest repertoire and let the pianists adapt from there.  That argues for
something that has the ability to project and cut through when needed.  If
you have the luxury of several pianos, then one would be smart to choose a
broader range.  Undoubtedly through force of habit and comfort level more
pianists will gravitate toward a particular style instrument (probably) but
that doesn't diminish the value of a broader range of choices, the need to
recognize what that broader range should represent or the contribution of
each.   

  

David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com


-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ron
Nossaman
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 7:37 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Should performers rule? (Was Lacquered hammers)

On 2/22/2011 8:53 PM, Fred Sturm wrote:
>That fits the comment that Ron N made about customers
> saying the piano made them sound better than they were: They are
> protected from making harsh and strident sounds at the top of the
> spectrum, and because they don't have a lot of control and generally use
> too much force, they sound better.

No. None of the people I've heard the comment from were pounding on the 
piano. Their comment, according to them, had more to do with control 
throughout the dynamic range, particularly the pianissimo.

Ron N