A little more explanation of what you did...? David Ilvedson, RPT Pacifica, CA 94044 ----- Original message ---------------------------------------- From: "John Delacour" <JD at Pianomaker.co.uk> To: pianotech at ptg.org Received: 12/30/2008 3:23:38 PM Subject: Re: [pianotech] Sustain >At 15:58 -0600 30/12/08, Ron Nossaman wrote: >>...The tonal envelope in the "short sustain" section had a sharp >>short attack spike, with the dwell and decay considerably quieter. >>The impression, even though the total duration was similar, was that >>the sustain was short. What worked best on this piano was side >>needling high shoulders. I had him listen while I worked a hammer >>and he could hear the attack peak lessen, and extend further into >>the tonal envelope, blend more smoothly with the dwell and decay. >>The impression was a longer sustain, but it was just a >>redistribution of the power curve. >I had a very similar experience this year with a very old but quite >nicely rebuilt big Blthner when I was called in by some London >colleagues to tone and regulate it in order to satisfy a "very fussy" >"prima donna" type who was due to give a recital on it. My >preconceptions and my initial impressions of the piano led me to >think that I would not end up satisfying the man and saving my >colleagues' reputation and pocket. I demonstrated to the man what I >saw as the problem, namely a short attack followed by an uneven and >too rapid decay and he was able to hear what I was showing him. >Politics did not allow me to tell him I doubted if I could make much >improvement. >By the end of the job, which took about 16 hours including a lot of >regulation work, he was delighted with the piano and I myself thought >I wouldn't mind having it at home. Exactly how it works I'm not >sure, but I accounted for it rather as you have described. Somehow >the attack, although it was not terribly metallic, was stealing from >the dwell and sustain. Contrary to my initial fears, there was no >significant energy being lost in the resonant structure, and once the >tonal envelope was rectified the soundboard sang like a goodun in >spite of its 120 years. The hammers were plain off-the-shelf Abels >and not what I would have used myself, but the result was fine. >I must say that I find that sort of job the most rewarding of all, >not least because one has first to listen very carefully to the >client and translate his or her artistic ramblings into usable data >for the progress of the work. In this case the pianist was indeed >fussy and full of artistic soul but he knew something was wrong and >as the work progressed I found out exactly how to satisfy him and >myself into the bargain. >JD
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