Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:14:31 -0700 Cy Shuster <cy at shusterpiano.com> > After letoff, with aftertouch the hammer rises a second time. Doesn't > the amount of drop keep the hammer out of the string's vibration on > second rise? > > --Cy-- Cy, I think that Will Truitt explained that rather well in his excellent post. But then, what is this "second rise" that you write about? It doesn't happen when you play the piano - the hammer goes into check. We only make it happen when we regulate - in order to clearly see the relationship between letoff and drop (and, I suppose, check on aftertouch). But the piano isn't played that way... But, you say, what about on a very soft blow, when the hammer might not check? Again there is no issue. If you regulate the letoff to be outside that string vibration envelope (which is the absolute minimum allowable letoff distance - otherwise some very weird things will happen on quickly repeated hard blows) then the tiniest drop position that is below letoff will automatically take care of that problem. That is, if the rest of the regulation is correct. As Will explained so well, the hammer will get into the strings a second time (when the piano is played) if there is a problem with the repetition spring being too strong vis-a-vis rep lever pinning.or if you have excessive aftertouch. To this list I add poorly functioning backchecks (misregulated or worn) which might be a contributing factor... In a properly regulated, well-functioning piano the only reason to increase drop distance over the bare minimum, as Will wrote, is as a safety factor for weather changes in actions that do not receive frequent attention - as is true for most pianos that aren't on concert stages or in music departments of universities, conservatories and colleges with regular piano technicians on staff or on contract. I suppose that when doing a Q & D (Quick and Dirty) regulation on a PSO (Piano Shaped Object) with bobbling hammers and a mile keydip one might crank the drop down to keep the bobbling hammers away from the strings if one does not want to spend the time dealing with such niceties as proper aftertouch and rep lever pinning. But I really don't recommend this... By the way, that line about drop distance being dependent on "how close you live to the piano" should be attributed to its rightful author - Susan Kline of Oregon, who posted it during a discussion of the advisability of "hair trigger" regulations in home pianos. It's a great line, and it has become quite widespread... Israel Stein
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