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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Jeff my friend, I just don't know how =
to respond to
such hysteria. Chris</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=jlolson@cal.net href="mailto:jlolson@cal.net">Jeff =
Olson</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=caut@ptg.org
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">College and University Technicians</A> =
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, March 24, 2005 =
12:22
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [CAUT] More Thoughts =
on
Pedaling</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=2>Fred S. commented:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT size=2>"If I don’t provide pianos that have had a good =
una corda
voicing, as one example, the piano students who play them won’t =
learn what the
possibilities are, and they will be unaware of being =
unaware."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Not to flog a semi-comatose ungulate, but if ideal =
piano
performance is not possible without a qualitative reduction in volume, =
as is
theoretically caused by the una corda pedal on properly voiced =
hammers, why
would ideal piano performance not also require a qualitative increase =
in
volume via, say, a pedal which shifts the hammers' striking point to a =
(voiced) harder portion of the hammer?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>In other words, why the bias to an artificially =
induced
softness as opposed to an artificially induced loudness? If one is =
deemed
desirable, why not the other?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Imagine instead of shifting the action to strike one =
string
(as it did originally), the default was one string, and the shift =
caused two
strings to be struck. Is there any reason, other than subjective =
preference,
for one to exist and not the other? For that matter, if a mechanically =
induced
softness is desirable, why not employ a "mute" pedal (one that places =
a strip
of felt between hammers and strings)? Surely that would dramatically =
alter the
timbre (harmonic series emphasis), and thus be a good thing? =
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Incidentally, I don't believe there were any pedal =
markings on
music prior to the 1790s. CPEB died shortly before then, so, assuming =
I'm
correct about pedal markings, would it be unfair to suggest that Wim's =
professor was out in his own private la-la land in una cording the =
heck out of
a CPE piece (the only mention about pedals I recall from CPE's tome,
"</FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>Essay on the True Art of =
Playing
Keyboard Instruments," was a reference to enjoying the undamped =
register of
the forte piano).</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>I'm not suggesting you guys are all wrong, by the =
way --
merely that the present state of affairs (including the predominant =
modern
pedal arrangement) perhaps isn't quite as self-evident as it's being =
portrayed
here. A few changes of inventive serendipity here and there, and we =
might have
more pedals, or pedals that perform at least slightly different =
functions from
their current incarnation; it seems to me that there's a built-in bias =
toward
that which did evolve, and an underestimation of the role of chance in =
that
evolution. (See the evolution of the modern computer keyboard, =
which is
known to be biomechanically inferior, for an example of =
that.)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>But then perhaps this is all, as Chris has =
suggested, the
result of a feverishly unaware midsummer night's dream on my part =
(this is
certainly the wrong season to have such a dream). </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>In any case, I have been inspired to more =
meticulously adjust
the una corda pedal and voice the hammers accordingly on my own =
personal
grands, so please excuse me while I gather my hammer hardening lacquer =
and set
to work. I'm really looking forward to that shift to a brighter tone, =
where I
can at long last bring out the true brilliance of Bach (JS)....
;-)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Best,</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Jeff 0.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2></FONT> </P>
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