<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: [CAUT] excessive pedaling?</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> On 3/19/05 8:33 PM, "Wimblees@aol.com" <W= imblees@aol.com> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE>I have another questio= n regarding the pedaling. As I said on one of my posts, I really don't hear = any difference when the piano player squeezes the pedal just a hair, or goes= to one of about four different position, other than fully depressed. On a p= roperly voiced hammer, there isn't supposed to be any harsh sounds. But what= I am hearing is all the same sound, until the string hits only 2 strings. S= houldn't the piano player also be trying to play a little different when usi= ng the una corde? I mean, it doesn't seem to do much good to press the pedal= , while still playing at the same volume. Isn't that defeating the purpose, = a little? That's like stepping on the brake while accelerating.   Wim </BLOCKQUOTE> Hi Wim,     There will be a difference in sound if you have voi= ced the hammer for that purpose. For instance, if you use the una corda voic= ing tool the Steinway folks use – four needles close together in a ham= mer shank (I prefer a piece of Renner hornbeam packing strip, with five hole= s evenly spaced drilled in a end and needles inserted. Spaces the needles a = little farther apart), and roll them on the surface of the hammer next to th= e string grooves (just to the left), again a little deeper midway between st= ring grooves, and one final time deepest at the final una corda position, yo= u will have a nice gradient of different timbres. Similar effects can be had= using a single needle or any number of other needling arrangements. As, for= instance, angled insertion of the needles as I suggested in an earlier post= .     The point is that this is something the technician = has to do. That’s what una corda voicing is. If all you do is rely on = the difference created over time by playing the hammer, the differences will= often be negligible (until you have a fairly deep groove. Which you won&#82= 17;t let happen on a concert or piano faculty studio instrument). Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico </BODY> </HTML>