Wapin revisited

[Ric Brekne]

Hi folks

One of the best bits for me at this years Rochester convention was 
getting invited by Tim Coates to watch part of an Wapin installation he 
was doing for Eastman school.  This was followed up later in our trip 
this year by a visit to his shop out in Sioux Falls.  In Rochester I got 
to hear right up front a freshly finished installasjon and  boy what a 
result !  I mean I could not hear any loss of what I expected in terms 
of power... but there was definantly a good deal more sustain ... and 
clarity of sustain then what I am used to hearing in a piano.  A lot of 
unanswered questions remain in my head about just what is going on.  
Seems like the origional back bridge pin becomes actually superflous and 
could be removed, which then raises questions around why pianos 
traditionally choose so much space between front and back bridge pins.  
Then there is this bit about sidebearing... or lack there of.  Ok there 
is sidebearing in the wapin... but the initial pulse is not inhibited 
nearly so much vertically as with a slanted pin.  I've read back and 
forth comparisons between Wapin and bridge agraffes employed by Stuart 
and others and it struck me that this is at least one point they have a 
bit in common.  In a traditional slanted bridge pin the pulse reflection 
is to no small degree affected by that angle. It exerts a somewhat 
sideways force on the string which might think right off would be itself 
conducive to longer sustain. After all the soundboard moves more readily 
up and down and would quickly absorb most strictly vertical motion... as 
the reasoning goes.  Yet there it is. In both the Wapin and the bridge 
agraffe the vertical element is significantly less restrained... and in 
both cases sustain goes up with no apparent loss of power... at least in 
the case of the Wapin. 

I'd like to hear any musings any of you might have on the wapin... even 
tho much has already been mused around here.  I have an older Kawaii I 
think I might give this a whirl on.  Might be interesting at that.

Cheers
RicB