Kahane piano breakdown

[David Ilvedson]

Take a wippen from the top and switch, the tension would have to be
increased but it would work for the concert. 

David I.

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 5/28/01 at 10:33 AM James McCormac wrote:

>The AP report of the piano breakdown during a concert of the Los Angeles
>Chamber Orchestra was mystifying. It is scary how we rely on journalism,
be
>it print or broadcast, for information that guides our perceptions on a
>wide
>range of issues, but when they report on something we know well, they get
>it
>all botched up.
>	A staff writer for the L.A. Times interviewed the technician and reported
>the following:
>	A 9-foot Hamburg Steinway broke down while Jeffrey Kahane was conducting
>from the keyboard a performance of the Beethoven Triple Concerto. From the
>wings and to the rescue came Brian P. Alexander, a partner in Pro Piano,
>described as an international firm that rents high-end pianos. The culprit
>was a broken jack. To quote the article: "The whippen, a tiny platform
that
>holds the key-striking levers, was broken -- specifically the repetition
>jack, which allow notes to repeat."
>	I suspect that the jack tender glue joint failed. How the AP arrived at
>their version is anybody's guess.
>	The article does not say what he did to get the concert back and running
>as
>quickly as possible. What would you do -- assuming the jack tender was at
>fault? Or, given the description of the problem from the article, what do
>you think happened and how would you have done a quick fix?
>
>Jim McCormac, RPT
>Fallbrook, CA