friction.... another attempt

Sarah Fox sarah@graphic-fusion.com
Thu, 26 Aug 2004 18:18:00 -0400


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Hi Andre,

It was then that he said "wow! I can play anything on this one, but it =
is a dangerous instrument because it is too fast, and it also is too =
brilliant!

So he bought the beautiful instrument with a lot of friction, and not =
the 'easy' and brilliant one which had almost no friction left at all.

The lesson for me was :
1. The cheater will be cheated
2. An instrument with hardly any friction at all is perceived as =
"slippery, untrustworthy, dangerous, and uncontrollable.

3. Someone making a major investment is more likely to stick with a =
known standard, even though his gut tells him that something else is =
sexier or more appealing.

4. Any pianist worth his salt knows that he'll be playing pianos besides =
his own.  In order to play those other pianos, he's going to have to =
practice on pianos with similar performance properties.  If a practice =
piano is too dangerously "fast," then he's only going to get himself in =
trouble when playing slower pianos.  If you can't take your practice =
piano everywhere with you (like Horowitz), you'd better have a piano =
that resembles what you're going to perform on!

Incidentally, I've known pianists to make their pianos intentionally =
heavy and klunky, just so they would have the performance edge when =
playing on any other piano.  It's like running with weights on to =
practice for the race.

But yes, your story does help me to understand the dynamics of this =
preference.  It's an interesting story, to be sure!

Peace,
Sarah

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