prepared piano...

[CRANE@TWSUVM.UC.TWSU.EDU]

Ken Sloane's reference to the piece "Voices of the Great Whales" (?)
by George Crumb rings true at this corner of the globe as well.
The work is powerful and beautiful at once.

It was recently performed here at WSU using our best Steinway D
but only after I OK'd the use of the chisel called for in the score.
The pianist, Dr. Andy Trechak, had gone out and gotten
a *masonry chisel* instead of a wood or cold (metal cutting) chisel.
Both the cold chisel, which is sharp and *hard*, and the wood chisel,
which is *really* sharp and hard, have IMHO great potential to
damage piano wire (as well as other parts if a 'slip' occurs).
The masonry chisel appeared to be of a softer metal and had
a nicely rounded 'edge' on the blade.  Its potential for damage to
strings as used in the Crumb piece is, I think, not significant and I
had no qualms concerning its use in very capable hands.  Had the artist
been a visitor, student, etc., I might have had other ideas. I think
a brass tool would probably be acoustically equivalent in this
particular case and I much prefer the use of this softer metal.

Thanks to all who have sent posts on this subject.  I am *still* in the
process of writing a piano policy for WSU and this discussion is all
proving very useful.

Alan Crane, RPT
Wichita State University
crane@twsuvm.uc.twsu.edu