Andre's Front Punchings vs Schimmels

[Richard Brekne]

Hi Paul

I wouldnt count on it being much more easy to understand. One asks the 
question how does a front punching effect the voicing and one 
immediately thinks about the hammer hitting the strings and starts 
scratching ones head.  One idea thats been tossed around here that makes 
a bit of sense to me is that on all but fairly soft blows the key 
bottoms out before the hammer hits the string... before the jack 
actually clears the knuckle.  If this be the case, then the way the key 
bottoms out will be crucial to how the energy in the key is released at 
the capstan. The key is under stress (bending) when played. A soft 
cushion will absorb some of this energy and less energy is used hammer 
side in that last millisecond.  I suppose a catapult is a usable 
analogy. A set of cushions that all behave non-uniformly will inject a 
degree of uneveness to the play and the voicing by the same token.

Then there are the isolated contributions to the overall sound response 
a harder cushion will give as well.  Hitting the bottom creates a sound 
that is also thrown through the system and forms part of the overall 
sound picture similar I suppose to how different shanks frequencies can 
influence the over all sound quite a bit more then we usually are aware 
of. 

On top of all this are the psychological effects of touch / response.  
These things feel different... and so a given touch from the pianist 
will deliver a different feedback loop.... which affects the pianist 
perception of sound.

Cheers
RicB


    Jon, can you explain why this happens? This non-"voicing" voicing is
    quite
    intriguing... and hopefully easier for me to understand than the
    recently
    posted tomes regarding soundboards.

    Thanks,
    Paul Bruesch
    Stillwater, MN