adding a few comments > I have written quite a lot about Wurzen felt on this list > (and other e-mail places) but usually there is hardly any response, > despite the importance of this matter. Only a few techs have responded > at all and I suspect it has to do with the difference in voicing between > America and Europe and the use of hammer dopes in the USA. > In Europe it is not a common practice to use 'soft' hammers > and then dope them with a hardener. We even try to avoid the refelting of hammers because use of dope is then sometime unavoidable. > I personally prefer a hammer with as little hammer dope as > possible. > Why? because hammer dopes kill the natural elasticity in > the fibers, thereby definitely changing certain 'lively' aspects in a tone. If we look at the ESTONIAN piano site, they produced a machine to test the springiness response of the hammers,. see http://www.cs.ioc.ee/%7Estulov/music.htm where it is said : "A piano hammer is a rather complicated object. First, relationships of dynamic force versus hammer deformation show the significant influence of hysteresys, i.e. the loading and unloading of the hammer are not alike. Furthermore, the force-compression relationships of the hammer are essentially nonlinear, and the slope of the dynamic force-compression curve is strongly dependent on the hammer velocity." A model of the hammer that takes into account all the dynamical features of the hammer was derived in the paper: A. Stulov, "Hysteretic model of the grand piano hammer felt", J. Acoust. Soc. Am. v. 97 (4), 2577- 2585, 1995. According to this model the piano hammer possesses history-dependent properties or just, in other words, is made of the material with memory. In this case two additional hereditary parameters are involved to describe the hysteretic behavior of the hammer. " They produce a nice setup shown on the site that allows to test the characteristics of hammers - I don't pretend understanding clearly what is expressed there, but the fact that the piano hammer felt is remembering the way it was treated (from the start probably) and react accordingly all the time it is used is well adding a bit of water to what says Andre about the "definitive" first voicing. Nowadays some of these characteristics are lost when lacquering is due for a reason or another, in many factories lacquering a serial of hammers mean calling the Renner factory an ask what the hell is going there ! > In the past all the hammers of the great European builders > were covered with a felt that was lively, with very elastic fibers, but > yet firm and with a very satisfying tone. On some older untouched Steinways, > Bechsteins, Schiedmayers, Blüthners and Bösendorfers we may > still find this marvelous Wurzen felt. The name of the felt was WEICKERT in this time (name of the factory) it is also seen on old Pleyels, Gaveau or such French pianos, usually a stamp on the first bass hammer side. from the http://www.filzfabrik-wurzen.de/eng.htm<<The company was founded in 1783 under the name J.D. Weickert. Later, the company became world famous for its legendary piano felts under the name of J.D. Weickert Pianoforte Felt Factory. Today, the company is the oldest existing felt factory in the world. After Germany reunification in 1989, the company was renamed Felt Factory of Wurzen Ltd. (FFW) and re-privatized by Klaus Brand in 1991 with a firm commitment to its long standing tradition and future. > It is not too hard and not too soft and thus requires both some > needling and hardener in the extreme treble and bass. > If I understand it well, Americans just work the other way > around : a very soft hammer, to be hardened to the right level of > crispness and hardness with 'a' hammer hardener. > I honestly think that both the Americans and the Europeans seek the > same kind of tone but in a different way as they both have > different traditions and backgrounds. I believe a little differently that because of our slightly different musical culture and environment the tone we are used to is a bit different - may be we could try to say that we aim in Europe for a tone that is supposed to be build by the pianist (and the tuner !) while another approach is to give a ready to use tone, that can be played with more or less volume, but where the most of the coloration is given by the strings/soundboard, the hammers having lesser a role in the story. I've heard that a very good concert piano played by a brutal pianist can be awful to the point I wandered if the piano was properly tuned, while after that played by a sensible and experienced artist it singed and was mellow. > Anyway, Abel hammers are louder because the felt is much > more dense and Abel does not share the preferences Renner customers have, > whereas the Wurzen hammers produced by Renner are more open structured > and require less needling. The sound between the hammers produced by these > factories is completely different. I really find not much "body" in the tone provided, but they have a brilliant quality that can pleases some who like brilliance I just noticed that the density is not easy to turn in mellowness or tone power. I've heard they aim for kind of "pre voiced" hammers, not sure I understand ... > I have my own rather strong opinion but I certainly wish to > respect the preference of people who have a different opinion. > There are many different wines so to speak, but I was just > wondering why so few technicians react to this issue as it actually one of the > very aspects of our trade..... I too have much respect for any way some can like the tone he likes, I just wish to have more material to listen, so I could compare and have a better idea on what is where. I've listened to a Chickering grand (in a poor state) lately, and it certainly could have been a very musical instrument, probably more near of the Viennese tone than the German one way less of a percussive instrument than many. I suspect that the treatment of the attack and the percussive part of the tone is what differ mostly in the way we listen and appreciate the tone of the instruments. Experiences have shown that if we listen to piano tone without this attack they hardly are recognized by the listeners. I suspect also that non hardened hammers, softer or harder, are more prone to give more coloration than lacquered ones, probably because of more variation in the excitation they can provide to the acoustic system (strings/board/rim/etc) Pfff..... With much respect and best wishes to all colleagues. Isaac OLEG
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC