Snug bushings that keep the hammer flying straight are
good. But what amount of friction they exert upon the
pin is another thing altogether. I'm with Sarah in
that I think utterly slop-free bushings with minimal
friction would be ideal. It would be nice if the
"control" the pianist feels at the instrument were
primarily due to weight and leverages, not friction. I
think.
( Hey! But what do I know?)
Thump
--- Richard Brekne <Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no>
wrote:
> Grin... Ok Keith... its now
>
> 2 to the rest of the world... :)
>
> Cheers
> RicB
>
> Sarah Fox wrote:
>
> > Hi Ryan,
> >
> > >I knew I'd get in trouble for my comments! : )
> >
> > And indeed you did! ;-) Your preference for
> free-swinging hammers is
> > absolutely wrong-headed. it flies in the face of
> what almost every
> > technician will tell you -- that friction is a
> *good* thing.
> >
> > Having said that, I'll side with you and Horowitz
> on this one. To me,
> > frictiony hammers are like a new pair of tennis
> shoes. They're not
> > yet in their prime. Surely we aren't the only
> ones who have this
> > bizarre preference. However, it's a preference
> that is perhaps as
> > gauche as preferring a frosty glass of Coca Cola
> to a fine wine. Me?
> > I'm Sarah Fox, and I'm a Cocaholic.
> >
> > In this world, people are all too timid to state
> their preferences --
> > all too prepared to be told they are wrong. These
> are the same people
> > who accept that this or that cannot be done. I
> guess I learned long
> > ago not to listen to people who told me I was
> foolish or wrong.
> > Learning to listen to myself and regard my own
> thoughts as valid is
> > the single, most important factor underlying what
> successes I have had
> > in my life. (How else would a dyslexic, ADD kid
> who was identified in
> > the first grade as mentally retarded go on to get
> her Ph.D. and make a
> > few contributions to the field of theoretical
> bioacoustics that
> > everyone told her were theoretically impossible?)
> I would suggest the
> > same thing was true for one very celebrated (but
> wrongheaded) Russian
> > pianist, not to mention other notables, such as a
> wacko German
> > physicist, also "mentally retarded," who changed
> the way we look at
> > the universe. I'm am grateful that there are at
> least a few people
> > who don't listen when others tell them they're
> wrong.
> >
> > Rather than for others to harp on why you are
> wrong, it would be
> > wonderful if discussion were to center on
> overcoming the challenges,
> > if any, of a low-friction action -- or on what the
> tradeoffs are with
> > other parameters of the action.
>
> Sarah... read my last paragraph... I open up for
> exactly that. I do
> question the <<scientific basis>> ryan opened up
> with tho. Thats
> quantifiable... so lets see the quantities
> documented before we stated
> they are or are not. so.
>
> >
> > Finally, you are quite right about the difference
> between "free" and
> > "loose." If you were to equip those hammer shanks
> with high-quality
> > ceramic bearings, they would be both rock-solid
> and slippery-free.
> > Perhaps Steinway wasn't entirely on the wrong
> track with their teflon
> > bushings. Perhaps it was simply a good idea,
> poorly implemented, and
> > ahead of its time. I wonder if we shouldn't give
> it another go --
> > this time with teflon-lined carbon fiber flanges
> and shanks?
>
> They are on that track today as well, with very low
> friction levels in
> their hammershank flanges At least in New York
> they operate this
> way. Hamburg is more traditional.
>
> >
> > Yours in peace and heresy,
> > Sarah
> >
>
> Cheers
> RicB
>
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
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