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Bill -<br><br>
Thanks for the additional information. I'd be curious to read and /
or see what you have, if I can ever get myself to a conference
again. Sorry to ask...what's LOL?<br><br>
David Skolnik<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
At 01:53 AM 2/15/2004 -0500, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>David:<br>
<br>
The agraffe-like hardware devices which you refer to were an important
part of the "Centennial Grand". I feature an 1875
"Style 5" Centennial Grand in my "Early Steinway
Grand" program. The first-generation (early 1870's) front
duplex had a very low draft angle, and included agraffes to the top of
the piano. On the first-generation front duplexing, the string
front termination was at the agraffe, and the round hole may not have
been effective at consistently leaking...maybe it was too good at
clamping..... The 1875 patent idea was the first front duplex
system I know of to terminate the string with a round bar, and the first
time the front duplexing looked at all like the modern
Steinway. It wasn't the first time Steinway introduced
a duplexing idea with expensive hardware and later included the concept
in simple plate casting later; the first generation duplexing was
introduced in the same way, with duplex inserts which design later became
part of the casting.<br>
<br>
Ask Webb to have me give the program at MARC when I come -LOL - the
classes are all scheduled already - I have my theories about this stuff,
some of which I blame on Del, but which he might distance himself
from....Steinway's duplexing efforts in the 1870's are part of a
little-observed, larger reality which should be brought to the fore and
result in a revision of the history of piano technology. It's
sort of the climax of my "Early Steinway Grand" program....and
possibly a yet-to-be-written journal article....and I believe it should
have an impact on the history of piano technology, oh, lofty
stuff... Well, I'll have my laptop at MARC and would be happy to
share some of the pics with you there if you're interested.<br>
<br>
As for the initial question about capo/tasto/disastro nomenclature,
hmmm....can't say I've cleared the waters any, though you've pointed to
CFT's use of the terms...<br>
<br>
Bill Shull<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
In a message dated 2/14/2004 7:49:27 PM Pacific Standard Time,
davidskolnik@optonline.net writes:<br>
<dl>
<dd>Garret & others,<br><br>
<dd>The recent discussion titled "Capo bars", which extended
from 1/28 to 2/02, was attempting to address both etymology and
consistency of nomenclature. Of the first I have nothing to add,
however, looking into the second proved illuminating.<br><br>
<dd>At 04:11 PM 1/31/2004 -0500, Garret wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>
<dd>Del wrote: There is a drawing in one of my PT Journal articles
illustrating what I mean.<br><br>
<dd>Does someone know off hand what PT Journal issue that was?<br><br>
<dd>Garret</blockquote><br>
<dd>You may have already found this information, but I don't see that
anyone replied to your request on list. I believe the article Del
was referring to was in the August 1995 issue, titled "The
Designer's Notebook-- Front Duplex Stringing Scales". This was
a second installment, the first having appeared in the June issue, and
both being in response to a round-table discussion regarding capo
d'astros which appeared in the February 1995 issue. <br><br>
<dd>There seems to be some confusion regarding the term capo d'astro and
capo tastro. I hadn't previously come across capo tastro, <br>
</i>
<dd>and, in any case, the element seems most often simply referred to as
"capo bar". <br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>
<dd>Delwin D Fandrich <fandrich@pianobuilders.com></i></b> wrote:
<br>
<dd>The capo tastro bar and the V-bar are two different things even if
they are most often part of the same casting. The capo-tastro bar is
formed in the bottom part of the mold, the V-bar in the top.
</blockquote><br>
<dd>Vince Myrkalo then asked:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>
<dd>Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 17:47:26 -0800 (PST)<br>
<dd>From: madelyn mrykalo <madvinmryk@yahoo.com><br>
<dd>Subject: RE: Capo bars<br><br>
<dd>Is there a difference between capo tastro and capo
d'astro?</blockquote><br>
<dd>and Del (I think) sent the following:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>
<dd>Date: Mon, 02 Feb 2004 08:25:13 -0800<br>
<dd>From: Delwin D Fandrich <fandrich@pianobuilders.com><br>
<dd>Subject: RE: Capo bars</blockquote><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>
<dd><font face="Comic Sans MS" color="#0000FF">According to Giraffes,
Black Dragons, and Other Pianos by Edwin M. Good (Second Edition, 2001.
Published by the Stanford University Press, ), capo d' astro is
essentially a meaningless term (at least as applied to the piano) meaning
"cap of the star." In other words it was a marketing term. Capo
tastro is Italian for "cap of the key" which at least has some
relationship to a component of the piano. Probably a more meaningful term
would be "capotasto," also from Italian, meaning "head of
the fingerboard." (According to the Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate
Dictionary.)</font></blockquote><br><br>
<br>
<dd>I found the Steinway patent # 170,646 (C.F. Theodore Steinway -
October 20, 1875) titled "Improvement in Agraffes For
Piano-Fortes" relevantly interesting in this matter. It's
actually a patent for individual capodastro. These were like
large brass machine thread screws which were installed from beneath into
what Steinway referred to simply as a transverse bar. The wide slot
in the head of this screw then received a round steel
"face", which was hammered into place, He claimed this
modification "reduced the width of the bearing surfaces of the
capodastros ... and at the same time the strings are prevented from
wearing into the faces of the capodastros."</i> It
seems that he was referring to the capodastro as the member that would
normally</i> be contacting the strings, like the V bar. Does anyone
know whether any pianos were actually produced with this feature?
<br><br>
<br>
<dd>David Skolnik<br>
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