raising damper lift to lighten touch

[Michael Gamble]

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Hello Dave - you said: =20
"some pianos have tricord dampers with fingers that extend far below the =
level of the string."=20
S&S maintain that the split damper felts should be cut to show "no =
winking" below the strings. Not only does this dispense with that =
"friction" you mention, but that same friction induces a "shushing" =
noise which is unacceptable in a recording.=20
Regards
Michael G.(UK)
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Piannaman@aol.com=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Saturday, July 30, 2005 2:26 PM
  Subject: Re: raising damper lift to lighten touch


  Greg,

  It is plain to me from the work I did on the Seiler that there is a =
noticeable difference when the dampers lift later.  I did a downweight =
check on a few keys, and the difference was around 5-6 grams.

  The thing that made me consider doing it at all was this:  some pianos =
have tricord dampers with fingers that extend far below the level of the =
string.  This creates a fair amount of friction.  It's easy to find by =
pushing the key slowly.  Compare keys with over-long tricord dampers to =
keys with blocks.  Big difference in feel!  It was obvious to me from =
that observation that dampers indeed play a role in key touchweight.

  I experimented with a few consecutive dampers before I did the whole =
piano, and did a blind test with two of the store salesmen.  I had them =
try two contiguous white keys, one  with adjusted lift, and one before =
adjustment.  We could all feel the difference, especially with =
pianissimo playing.

  It may not be the ideal solution for a heavy touchweight, but given =
that the piano hadn't been sold yet, I didn't want to do something that =
would have been more difficult to reverse.

  Thanks for the input,

  Dave Stahl



  a message dated 7/30/05 12:15:27 AM Pacific Daylight Time, =
grahampianos@yahoo.com writes:
    Does damper timing impact touch at normal playing
    speeds?  (We are talking about grand pianos here).

    My chapter held a lengthy technical last month on
    touchweight.  The dampers were lifted by the pedal
    when using gram weights on the keys to check up and
    down weight, thus eliminating damper weight from the
    equations. =20

    Someone asked the instructor about the effect of the
    dampers.  The answer was:

    "The touchweight we feel at normal playing speed is
    mostly inertial, getting the hammer and shank up to
    speed.  By the time the key hits the damper
    underlever, inertia of the key does the work of
    lifting the dampers, the hammer is moving close to
    full speed, the initial inertial load has dropped, and
    you hardly feel the damper at all."  =20

    Inertial effects and "real" touchweight at playing
    speeds are much harder to measure than slow-motion or
    static weights, so we rely on our sense of touch.  I'm
    not sensitive enough yet to feel small differences, so
    I have a hard time proving or disputing the claim
    above.

    In light of our very detailed analysis of the action
    we worked on, hammer weight and key leading are the
    first things to check, and the easiest to change, if
    an action is too heavy (assuming friction and geometry
    problems have been ruled out).  Dampers didn't make it
    to the top ten.

    Damper timing does have a significant effect on the
    ability to play legato or staccato.  Early lift makes
    it easier to play legato.  Some jazz pianists prefer a
    late lift for lots of separation, articulation, or
    "bite".  At least that is the opinion of a few of our
    chapter's more senior techs.  Sounds reasonable to me.


    Greg Graham
    PTG Associate Member, Lehigh Valley PA
    (written and tech exam passed, tuning yet to go)



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