Transposing Piano

[Ron Overs]

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Hi all,

In a message dated 8/23/02 4:36:52 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
davidlovepianos@earthlink.net writes:


>I have a customer with an Ibach Transposing Piano.  I haven't seen 
>it yet.  What is it and basically, how does it work.

These Ibach transposers are interesting. The one in Sydney we 
maintain is owned by the Faber-Castell family (of pencil fame).

There is a lever under the keyboard (under the treble end) which is 
depressed then shifted to a new position to relocate the rest 
position of the action (to select the desired key). When the 'shift' 
lever is first depressed, it lifts the damper tray to avoid damper 
lever damage when the action is shifted.

The one we maintain, when at the 'key of C' position, has a standard 
compass from A1 to A 85. The 'key position' can be adjusted four 
semitones up and down from the C position. So the lowest note in the 
bass is the F below A1 while the highest in the treble is C88. There 
are extra notes either side of the bass/treble break which are 
required when the action is shifted from the standard 'key of C' 
position. The plate is made with a capo bar which extends through the 
entire compass of the instrument, inverted agraffes are inserted into 
the capo to enable the string positions to be evenly spaced from the 
bass/treble break to the very highest note. The plate struts are 
quite elevated to allow for the strings to be located under the 
struts where necessary.

Tuning these instruments is an interesting exercise, since the 
'scale' is laid in the C position, then as the bass/treble break is 
approached one needs to 'change gears' to the lowest key to tune all 
strings in the tenor. Once the tenor is tuned one has to 'change 
gears' again to the highest key, to tune the highest notes in the 
bass section. Then 'low gear' needs to be found again the lowest 
notes in the bass.

All in all, these 'formula 1' style tunings should attract a higher 
fee. But then again, it makes a tuning day a little more interesting 
than usual.

Best regards,
Ron O.
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OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY
Grand Piano Manufacturers

Web: http://overspianos.com.au
mailto:info@overspianos.com.au
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