false beats, real jazz and satisfaction

[ed440 at mindspring.com]

The half-blow effect can be very effective if it is designed properly.  Fazioli offers a half-blow pedal; combined with the front weighted keys it works well. Similar for the old Ivors and Pond lost motion compensator.  The Fandrich vertical offers a half-blow that works by raising the back rail to partially lift the keys. In all of these cases there is no lost motion added by the pedal.

The standard vertical left pedal offers a small value because it allows practicing using the left foot when preparing a piece that will later be played on a grand piano.  In such an instance the excess lost motion can be very agitating; perhaps it would be better to disconnect the rod and just use the pedal for "toe practice."

The moderator would have been Mozart's closest equivalent to the "una corda" and I wonder if a moderator with thin cloth would not be a better choice than the half-blow for vertical pianos. 

Ed Sutton

-----Original Message-----
>From: Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com>
>Sent: Jan 13, 2007 8:45 PM
>To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
>Subject: Re: false beats, real jazz and satisfaction
>
>IMHO, you are correct. The soft (left) pedal on most vertical pianos is 
>nothing more than a marketing effort, on the part of manufacturers, to paint 
>their vertical piano "the same as" a grand piano.
>
>Terry Farrell
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>> >From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com>
>>>The soft pedal of most uprights is the one that pushes the hammer rail 
>>>forward. I suspect the "moderator rail" is the mute rail - usually the 
>>>middle pedal on verticals equipped with that feature (if one can call it 
>>>that - I have several four-letter-word descriptions for those #%&$s).
>>>
>>>Terry Farrell
>>
>>
>> Correct. The moderator is the "mute rail" (middle pedal in uprights). The 
>> soft pedal is the left pedal which makes nothing except pushing the hammer 
>> rail forward, which is definitlely not audible. Many customers ask me: the 
>> left pedal doesn´t work. Could you fix it? My answer is always: It works, 
>> but you can´t hear anything!
>>
>> In my opinion the left pedal in uprights  is just an an attempt to copy 
>> the effect of the left pedal in grands. Obivously, it doesn´t work and 
>> won´t ever work. The theory is: shorter way, lesser energy, quiet sound. 
>> In praxis it means: shorter way, no idea as to energy, same sound. I work 
>> as psychologist at the university in my hometown (making my PhD) and am 
>> toying around with the idea to test that in a scientific way. But I have 
>> not the technical possibillities to realize it. An idea could be to use 
>> Yamaha discPiano and make subjects listen to the same song with and 
>> without soft pedal and to compare the results. Anyway: the left pedal in 
>> uprights produces no audible effect. Other opinions?
>>
>> Gregor 
>
>