Dear list, This backcheck thread reminds me of an experience I had in the Hamburg Steinway factory that may be in some way analagous. Several years ago, in one of the Hamburg voicing rooms Stephan Knupfer demonstrated to me that he could get a noticable difference in tone quality in a Steinway D by changing the front rail felts. The piano was one of their circulating concert instruments, only about 18 months old. By changing an 18 month old, not visably worn, front rail felt with a new one (controlling carefully that the touch depth was not altered), he demonstrated that the tone became significantly more warm sounding. He could move the new punching from one note to another without my looking and I could find it every time by it's distinctive sound. Stephan didn't have an explanation at the time, but after several years of reflection I tend to believe that the difference comes from the fact that the percussive impact of the key against the front key rail (and key bed) is resonating through the piano body, and is more of a part of the piano tone then we generally realize. The slight difference in changing to a brand new, softer felt is sufficient to make a change in the total sound! This is why I take Andre perfectly seriously, and offer the following hypothesis: Altering the back check configuration may be changing the nature of a similar impact sound that is occuring just after the strings are excited, and is resonating through the key and keybed. I would imagine that the closer this impact approaches the moment when the stings are struck, the more it would conribute to the general power of the instrument. Anyone buy that? Jerry Anderson Paris >If the backcheck does not touch the hammer on the way up to the >string, it can have absolutely no effect on the tone of the piano. >or far away, so it can make no decisions as to good tone or dead >tone.
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