On Fri, 21 Jul 1995, Helmut Wabnig wrote: > Michael, > > you worked a lot on Fourier. So you obviously know more > than I do. Surely you are joking. > > Will a lighter hammer produce more attack noise? > Less loudness, brighter sound? > After a time the string will have ist characteristic movement. (Your > words).Would the sound be different in the beginning? How long is the time > span? > > On my desk is a pile of piano books. > They talk of a lot of details, exept hammer weight > (mass). One textbook even says explicitely: to talk > about hammer weight is not necessary! > That is the reason why I put this on the list > and so far I received a lot of interesting input. > The only problem left for me is to find access > to sources like "July 1756 edition of Firefly Watch > Journal pages 1447-1449". > > The hammer weight is the last question I will put here. > How does it influence the piano sound. > If you can help me with reachable sources, please... > I promise not to overload the list with my inputs > any more. > > By the way: > (if you allow a lastlast question) > How does the arrival of the digital piano > influence the piano technicians. I think, the digital piano is the future! > (Except high end top level super > pianos.)Have some electronics training! > > Don't say, they cannot deliver timbre, or sensitive sound modulation. Recall > what a mechanical piano > can do: the player presses a key, either slow or > fast. Then he releases the key and the tone ends. > That's it all! The only way to influence > the piano sound is the speed of the keypress/release. > And this action can be sensed by electronic switches. > According to the measured speed the sound will be > processed. Today's cutbacks are not a good counterargument e.g. passive > string resonance (if I hold down a key and play some other keys, don't know > better english words..)is only a software problem and will eventually be there. > > I have seen pianists approaching with contempt and > laughter and leaving lost in thought, from the digital thing. > > Yours > Helmut Wabnig > wabi@net4you.co.at > > > > > Helmut: My personal experience/reaction to your "lastlast question": It was very refreshing to hear someone bring up the digital piano issue... In reference to a previous post, I have been both spidering and squirreling most of my life. As a result, I have the audacity to try to be a "renaissance man" as we approach the 21st century. Continuing the squirrel analogy: my tree of nuts has branched from piano study to teaching piano which in turn branched (or forked) into music sales, piano tuning and repair. Then I added electronic organ repair (while occasinally going out on a limb in a pipe-organ chamber). The next fork added computers and such, since I was trying to keep up with the organs evolving more and more into digital instruments. The end result has been that I refuse to align myself with either the "old ways are always the best" camp or the "nothing but new technology" camp. Forgive my capsule autobiography, but I wanted to show how I arrived where I am: I guess it's not surprising that I always try to attain the best of ALL worlds! Of course, with all of the above, I also sell, broker, and recommend pianos, organs, computers and all the "software" that goes with them. It goes without saying that I am self employed...where could I find a job that would use all of my skills? (I'm open to any offers out there!) Your comments hinted at what I always recommend to my customers: At today's rates. if you have less than $2-3000 to spend on a piano, you should at least consider digital which could very well be better than a corresponding "acoustic" piano. By the same token: $50,000 might buy 2 or three ranks of pipes but it could buy much more in an electronic instrument. Yes, many will bring up the issue of "touch". When I was growing up in the 40's and 50's, I played every imaginable instrument with keys as we know them. As a result, I learned that humans are adaptable. I offer the same variety to my students: I teach a man in his 70's and a girl of 12, both of whom practice on very basic electronic keyboards without touch sensitivity and then take their lessons on a studio upright piano. I had a student once who practiced on a cardboard keyboard because his father would accept nothing but a "real" piano which he couldn't afford. Needless to say, the little boy finally gave up. I have the utmost respect for someone who can spend his entire life on action geometry. We desparately need these dedicated people. However, if I tried to focus to that point, I'd be even "insaner" than I am! Thanks to Helmut and all for reading this. I hope it provokes some thought and discussion. GORDON WILSON Keyboard Studio Urbana, Illinois
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