[CAUT] beginning luck

[Dale Erwin]

Hi Brent
  Thanks for clarifying all that.
 Actually I have said many of the same things you were just saying would be good discussion points....and  Basically that is that I am trying to do in my work is..... enhance and focus the best components of the Steinway sound and remove what many see as inherent weaknesses. ie weak 6 th octaves and rough bass tenor breaks as well as enhancing the overall sustain and color possibility's within that realm. I don't always succeed  as well as I would like but on other occasions exceeded the goal for my ears at least and then let others decide. Actually many of us cauts are trying to exceed Steinway tonal standards all the time. I think most of us would agree that this is accomplished by applying excellent technical skills in the attempt to maximize the voice we have in front of us.
 
  For the record.....I am very fond of the historic Steinway sound in its best form, as are many of the professors and students we all work for, and yet, many are not fans of its inconsistencies/deficiencies and tone in its worst forms.  

  Speaking only for myself I don't really think that we are that far apart in our likes and dislikes of that tone and I don't think there is a disconnect between this rebuilder and faculty. I do however find that many fine pianist have ears that are leading them intuitively on a  tonal safari that they are compelled to take because are not finding what they need in the tonal jungle in many of the garden variety Steinways they have to work with. It is important to listen to them too. Sometimes its the piano that has issues and sometimes its the lack of budget and sometimes its us. 
 
I am all for the suggestion you outlined in the part below which I underlined regarding small venue musical events. This is where my heart is at this stage of my career.  Put it out there and enjoy it and get feedback whatever it might be. David Andersen and I have done this for quite a while at his Atelier venue in Santa Monica. We put custom restored instruments in many iterations in front of people with great players and it is a ball.
  
As to your last comment I underlined.
   Everyday people are refining products that others have patents on, that they did not invent, but, what they did do is work hard to take that product to a higher level, or a different level, more features or a divergent performance level,...why not the piano or the Steinway for that matter?,.... and that's where I feel the rub is here in these discussions is that some,  are offended by that. It certainly is easy in the e-mail forum to mistake enthusiasm for ego Certainly we are all proud of our skills and efforts.  I believe in affirming people & there gifts and not posturing for the sake of pride. As for me I am not an extremist personality  & not and ego freak who has to say its better, bigger, badder. I realize one of posts came off like that.
  And yet....... I've heard things.........that are outside the box because I have availed myself to them when the opportunity arose. And as any person experimenting with experimental designs,...sometime a qualitative break thru occurs and we want to share it and have others bench mark it so it doesn't' come off as if we are just blowing our own horns.  That's what I would like to do,... with out ego, without bashing the company as it were....., just be able to share these thing with enthusiasm, but call spades spades. Ok? 
  FWIW....This is where  I am coming from

 

 Dale S. Erwin
www.Erwinspiano.com

-
From: Brent Fischer <brent.fischer at yahoo.com>
To: caut at ptg.org
Sent: Sun, Feb 27, 2011 9:35 pm
Subject: Re: [CAUT] beginning luck








     What working towards the center for mutual gain means to me 
would be for example,  introducing a re-designed Steinway into
a smaller recital setting, perhaps meant for more ensemble work that
would promote clarity and projection with a palette of color not
usually heard in the larger hall needing an edge. That's the 
disconnect I am talking about here that I have yet to read over
the past weeks including the premise that your redesign should
be within some tolerance of the norm without the ego that says "this is 
the best I've ever heard." Ya, I would say there's some bias when 
it sounds like a few are linked into " A Legend in my own Mind.com." 
How about joining forces with tradition to improve clarity, sustain, and 
power without taking credit for re-inventing the wheel, just improving on it?


Brent

--- On Sun, 2/27/11, Dale Erwin <erwinspiano at aol.com> wrote:


From: Dale Erwin <erwinspiano at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [CAUT] beginning luck
To: caut at ptg.org
Date: Sunday, February 27, 2011, 9:02 PM


  Hey Brent
 Disconnect? What disconnect?  
 I guess I missed that one . So, (this designer/re-designer of a variety of types of board structures),..... was too busy working at the college.
 Am I pickin up some continuous undercurrent of bias.?

 

Dale S. Erwin
www.Erwinspiano.com




 
-----Original Message-----
From: Brent Fischer <brent.fischer at yahoo.com>
To: caut at ptg.org
Sent: Sun, Feb 27, 2011 7:26 pm
Subject: Re: [CAUT] beginning luck




Hey Fred,


   It's ironic to me that the same disconnect between "re-designers" and
institutions parallels in much the same way as the Steinway lack of
technical follow up after an "All-Steinway" school has paid a million
for the designation
Brent 







--- On Sun, 2/27/11, Fred Sturm <fssturm at unm.edu> wrote:


From: Fred Sturm <fssturm at unm.edu>
Subject: Re: [CAUT] beginning luck
To: caut at ptg.org
Date: Sunday, February 27, 2011, 2:20 PM


On Feb 26, 2011, at 4:13 PM, Brent Fischer wrote:

>  secondly get to Steinway
> factory sessions often and mostly get to their C&A training in the basement
> and come away with their endorsement of your work, and leave your
> electronic tuning aid at home when you go.


Hi Brent,
    I think the C & A training (if you mean the final of the four regular one-week sessions) has changed quite a bit since you went. A couple years ago when I went, there were four of us in the usual room, and the only real difference between it and the "tone regulation" session was that we had Bs and Ds instead of smaller pianos. No work in the basement. I was disappointed, as I had heard there would only be two students, and there would be some work with the C & A guys, maybe in the basement. Of course, since then Kent Webb has taken over the "Academy" so it might have changed again.
    No need to leave the ETD behind, in fact better not to, as tuning was done by all four simultaneously, with only flimsy doors dividing us. Oh, and "their endorsement of your work" is at best informal. It is made clear that you are not certified by Steinway, though I did actually get a certificate for the last session. But it said something like "attended the concert prep session," not even weak wording like "completed." Obviously you can let people know you did the training, but you are not supposed to imply anything beyond that. The world changes.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu










      
 




      
 
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