How much whip there is-or is not-in the hammershank depends quite a lot on the force of the key strike. It also depends on the stiffness of the shank, the mass of the hammer and the exact physical relationship between the hammer and the shank, of course, but even with a given hammer and hammershank the amount of whip-and, hence, its interaction with the strings-is anything but consistent as the key force is varied from pianissimo to forte. It is tempting to make universal assumptions about phenomena such as hammershank distortion based on available high-speed video clips but these clips are not at all exhaustive. While we may observe some particular amount of whip in one hammer and shank assembly and with some certain amount of key force what happens at some other amount of key force will most certainly be something else altogether. Not to mention what might be happening two or three octaves up or down the compass. ddf Delwin D Fandrich Piano Design & Fabrication 620 South Tower Avenue Centralia, Washington 98531 USA del at fandrichpiano.com ddfandrich at gmail.com Phone 360.736.7563 From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of rwest1 at unl.edu Sent: Monday, February 28, 2011 9:24 AM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway sound Dale, I don't have a current project going, but I've always wondered what it would be like to go with early designs. And I don't particularly like the way Steinway is going with its current designs. In particular I've wondered about the whipping effect a lighter, longer shank might provide. It seems like the difference between a catapult and a trebuchet. I know the leverage is totally different, but my point is whipping versus jamming the hammer toward the string. I've seen the high speed videos and I was amazed at how much the hammer shank bends on a hard blow. In fact the hammer doesn't strike at 90 degrees because it tilts back so far, then scrubs the string a couple of times before it's finally clear. Amazing and thought provoking. Richard West -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/20110228/d07e9af7/attachment.htm>
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