a different piano design...

[Ron Nossaman]

>
>
>Wimblees@aol.com wrote:
>
>> In a message dated 98-02-14 13:54:31 EST, you write:
>>
>> << > My bet is that a hundred years from now it will still
>>  > be made just about the same way,
>>
>>  I sincerely hope not.
>>
>> Del;
>>
>> This brings up an entirely different concept. If you had your way, what would
>> you do different in the design of a piano, not just the action, but the over
>> concept, that would make it better than what we have today?
>>
>> Wim
>>
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>>
>Wim,
>
>I'm often accused of wanting to reinvent the piano. Of wanting to change
the concept of
>the piano we have today. Nothing could be further from the truth. I want to
see the piano
>back on a continual path of evolution and refinement. I want to see it take
full advantage
>of the changes in materials and the labor force that have been the result
of our "modern"
>society. Not suffer from them. Diminishing supplies of musical instrument
grade spruce
>should be viewed as challenges to be exploited, not catastrophes. I want to
see the pianos
>being built today so much better than those that were built 25 years ago
that the present
>owner has a musically compelling reason to trade his 25 (or 100) year old
Steinway in on a
>new one.
>
-----<Agreed with whole-heartedly and deleted for brevity>--------
>Del
>


A tech generally approaches things with an entirely different mind set than
a designer. The tech works with what he/she has, using a set of magic fixes
and processes based on an incomplete and often inaccurate understanding of
the basic problem. The designer says "Why wasn't this corrected in the
design phase?", but generally has his own set of assumptions and
misconceptions which carry past problems into the next generation of design.
What the industry needs at this point is a designer/tech who is in both
worlds and understands the practical ramifications of a design decision, is
brave and hard headed enough to question the basic premises and look for
more logical answers. We've got one. I think Del has both the right attitude
and the right approach to improving the instrument. Now if a good acoustic
design can be competently manufactured in large numbers in the form of a
mid-priced piano, I think it would get some attention. It's technically
possible to do this. The political aspects of getting past stone-headed
human nature are all that is holding the process back. This is a personal
opinion, arrived at through  experience and my own validation of the
involved concepts based on my understanding of mechanics and physics, in no
way reflecting the opinions of the management. Thanks for listening, I'll go
away now.


 Ron Nossaman