[CAUT] Fwd: Steinway sound-Hammer weights

[Fred Sturm]

On Mar 2, 2011, at 11:06 PM, Dale Erwin wrote:

>  "Good stuff" as you cynically mock me in terms of felt is  as Joe  
> defined it,... was a sound that required neither extensive needling  
> or much juice.  This along with appropriate pressing  defines a  
> "good" or workable  hammer
>    I don't really know you yet, but Frankly, you may be redefining  
> contrarian. Give some one credit for having some experience other  
> than yourself.


Hi Dale,
	Let me start by asking you to back off your touchiness meter a good  
bit. The whole purpose of a list like this is to have a number of  
people with their own unique experiences give contrasting views. We  
all learn from one another. If what you want is a list where everyone  
treats you as the expert, you've come to the wrong place. Disagreement  
about piano matters is not a personal thing, though some take it  
personally. I give you credit for having a lot more experience in the  
rebuilding field than I will ever have. You might give me credit for  
having, probably, more experience on the concert stage, both as a  
technician and as a performing pianist. I have a perspective that not  
many on this list have, and do my best to present that perspective in  
a clear and non-confrontational way, though some take it as  
confrontational.
	I do not mock anyone who says that the felt produced today by Mr.  
Brand under the Weickert name is excellent. It is. So is the felt used  
by Abel for Brooks natural. So are lots of other felts in use today.  
What I DO take issue with is over-simplification, where people start  
to think that if they use a hammer made with the "best" felt, they  
will automatically get the best results. Absolutely not true, as I'm  
sure many of us can testify.
	Similarly, if the best felt is pressed in the "best way," that is,  
soft pressed like it was in the "good old days," that also does not  
lead automatically to the best results. In the "good old days," the  
key/action ratio was higher and hammers were lighter. So a good tonal  
spectrum was produced by those relatively soft hammers. Put the same  
density of felt on heavier hammers with a lower ratio, and you don't  
get the range. It will probably work fine from PPP to mf, then take  
quite a bit more force to get to a forte, and fail altogether to get  
to a FF, let alone FFF. I am talking about tonal spectrum, not sound  
pressure (decibels).
	This is true because of the change of weight combined with the change  
in ratio. I have found that the Weickert felt pressed a little harder  
as Renner does, or the Abel felt as in Brooks natural, both give  
results that are better for today's heavier hammers: they produce a  
better and larger tonal spectrum, with fairly minimal needling. The  
softer hammer may make some customers very, very happy, but I don't  
think it works in the concert hall, or in the professional pianist's  
studio (or as the serious student's practice instrument). Perhaps  
there are exceptions, and if so I'd like to hear about them.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
fssturm at unm.edu
“Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to  
shape it.” Brecht

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