Many years ago I asked a resident artist for an explanation of the violent raising of her hands on a pianissimo note. In her Viennese accent, she replied "for a pure tone, Beel." (Austrian accent for Bill) I thought about this for 10 years while tuning pianos. The answer was difficult for a piano "mechanic". One day it came to me. Slowly depress the key till it lets off, then pound it with another finger. She was eliminating the sound of the key striking the front rail felt. That sound is part of the sound of the piano. In that last millisecond of travel she could stop the travel of her finger and eliminate that particular percussion sound. Some of the conflicting reactions to the different felt is probably due to what someone has become accustomed to. If a pianist's technique is used to one type, another is unwelcome and not comfortable. Plain and simple, whatever the customer likes is correct for that piano. I have also discovered that the Viennese action is more comfortable for some pianists. Obsolete? Maybe from a mechanic's point of view but the owner is the final judge. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20081221/92c6e70c/attachment.html>
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