The pianists view

[Jim Coleman, Sr.]

Hi Thomas:

I congratulate you on your willingness to keep in mind the limitations of
the piano. If you are a concert artist, you know how debilitating it is to
have to finish a recital or concerto with a damaged instrument.

There is something which can be done immediately to the design of the piano,
however, most would not like the results. If the general tension level is
lowered at the design stage, more string breakage could be avoided, but,
the clarity of the tone and the duration of the tone would be hampered. 
There just are certain limitations in life. Most of the major producers of
fine pianos have empirically determined where the best trade-off lies.

Jim Coleman, Sr.

On Mon, 31 Aug 1998, Martin, Thomas N (MARTITN5) wrote:

> Hello list,
> 	I would like to thank everyone who answered my question on broken
> strings in my C3.  Now I'd like to remind everyone that every person has a
> different way of looking at things.  Many technicians, it seems, wish to
> reducible players who have broken strings as bangers without technique.  I
> disagree I have been at the concerts where the artist has broken strings and
> pianists famous for their sensitivity and technique have broken strings as
> well.  I don't think it is a good things to break strings all the time just
> because Liszt did it.  I think it is important to recognize the limits of
> the instrument at hand and respect that (a 6' piano will never have the
> sound of a 9' no matter how much you want that kind of volume in
> crescendos).  I do intend on keeping this in mind when playing - the
> instrument isn't perfect.  However perhaps this is something that can be
> "improved" There was a string not long ago about the need for new technical
> advances in piano design - perhaps this is something to consider. 
> Tom Martin
> 
> http://www.geocities.com/hotsprings/villa/4107
> martitn5@juniata.edu
>