> But I'm not quite clear on one matter. How is it >that three strings are louder than two, are louder than one, given >exactly the same energy input into the system? Try it, if you have a piano you can abuse some. Take out a string spanning two trichord unisons, leaving two strings in each. Then take out a string providing two strings of a trichord unison, leaving one string. Retune as necessary. Now play up and down the scale past those unisons and listen to the volume changes. It's the string mass and unison tension mix that makes the difference. >From what area of the >sound envelope is the energy taken, and distributed to where, to >increase apparent loudness? Are attack and sustain areas modified >through impedance/mass balancing to give a similar timbre/loudness in >the transition between monochord unisons and bichord unisons? Attack and sustain characteristics come mostly from the impedance balance between the strings and the soundboard assembly. Too low a soundboard impedance gets you a loud attack and short sustain, while too high an impedance gets you less attack volume and long sustain. It's a matter of how quickly the string's energy dumps to the board. Blending the monochords into the bichords is usually more a matter of keeping unison tensions similar across the transition and not making enormous changes in core diameters. That's scaling. Blending tone across the bass / tenor break is an exercise in both soundboard/scale impedance balancing, and good scaling practice. > I understand and like the idea that voicing is disaster (damage) >control. Only needed to compensate for variations in felt resiliency/ >density or uneven design/manufacturing (or even room) characteristics. It's usually an attempt to compensate for poor scaling, poor scale/soundboard impedance matching, or both. The softest, most resilient hammers available rarely need more than a few minutes voicing after installation if the scaling and soundboard are working together. The hammers get blamed for everything, but the soundboard and scale determine what the hammers have to be. > However, me >thinks there are more than four corners to the puzzle. The picture on >the box is faded, some extra pieces included, and some important ones >missing. You bet your Bippy there's more. Scour the archives for string scaling and soundboard impedance discussions (lots), and read all of Del Fandrich's Journal articles, available with 20 years of PTJ on CD at a guild near you. Then wade on in. We're making our own pieces here, and there is still a lot for us to learn. > (You mean, you can tell >me the secret of the decoder ring and not have to kill me afterwards?!) > >Kevin Riggs, We won't have to. You'll probably hear enough conflicting secrets to confuse you into harmlessness. Ron N
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