Korean Dip

[BobDavis88 at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/30/2008 3:41:06 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
paulrevenkojones at aol.com writes:

Aftertouch, as a component and resultant of regulation, becomes so apparent!

I've always thought that the various effects of aftertouch were underrated. 
When I was first learning, it was presented as a "safety factor" in case of 
compaction of the knuckles, etc., so the action would still have escapement. 
However, other things happen. For instance, if we increase the aftertouch - and 
let's take the simplest case of removing a punching at the front rail - the 
repetition travels farther, pushing the hammer into the string after letoff. To 
correct it, we lower the drop screw. However, that means it's on the drop screw 
longer before letoff occurs, it compresses the spring more, and tends to have 
more resistance and a spongier feel. Conversely, shortening aftertouch makes 
the contact with the drop screw later in the sequence, and speeds up the 
repetition.
 
I also haven't seen mention of its effect on checking. If the checking is as 
high as possible without the hammer tail dragging on the check on the way up, 
then we allow the key to go down farther, the backcheck moves farther, 
catching the hammer higher, which is also good for repetition. As everything in the 
piano, a tradeoff.
 
I don't have a fixed distance for aftertouch - it's dependent upon how the 
action feels. Over the last two days, I have regulated a new Kawai RX-3 and a 
new Mason & Hamlin A. For a variety of reasons, the Kawai would accept more 
aftertouch than the M&H without balking, although it wasn't necessary. The jack 
drag in the M&H was great enough that the minimum seemed the only choice.
 
On a performance instrument, I usually start without very much aftertouch, 
maybe .025-.030. Some pianists feel insecure without the resistance at the 
bottom, and for them, it's usually enough to put the hammer line up 2-3 mm and run 
the drop back up, which doesn't take long, and they don't usually notice the 
loss of power. There's usually not time in a concert situation to change the 
dip.
 
Anyway, there's more going on than "safety factor."
 
Bob D



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