<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2668" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Ed,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Do you mean that you sometimes add or remove a thin front punching here or there, when regulating the after touch at the crucial moment of hammer distance fine regulation?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I've sometimes found that even if my let off distance and key dip are perfectly set (at least I try to ;-)  on every note, by the time of fine hammer blow regulation, I sometimes feel that a paper punching has to be removed on some notes to get exactly the same aftertouch everywhere.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>When pressing this particular key with its neighbour and comparing the height of the keytops with my finger when the keys are down on their front punchings, I can feel this paper removal creates a small difference, but this difference is required if I want to have a perfect aftertouch with my even let off and hammer blow regulation.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I would not say I do it all the time, but I sometimes do.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This week I checked the regulation of the Yamaha S6 we rent for concerts here, and when refining the regulation of aftertouch, I removed 1 blue punching (the thinest ones from Yamaha) on - let's say- 3 or 4 keys to get what I wanted.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What do you think about this?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Quentin</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ed foote wrote:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>Inre aftertouch, increasing depth has much the same effect as raising hammer <BR>height.  <BR>     I believe that your occasional mushy note on a Steinway is due to <BR>manufacturing tolerances being so poorly controlled.  Variables in these actions are <BR>due to the placement of the balance pin and/or capstan, the whimsical <BR>consistancy of the cove cuts on the flanges, poorly drilled action rails, knuckle <BR>placement and dimesions that are often no more than distantly related to their <BR>neighbors, keys with binding balance mortices, and all the other things that <BR>make this the "standard" piano of the world.  <BR>   If you are setting dip by direct measurement of the key depression, you <BR>also will have any key height variances added to the overall effect.  <BR>      I set dip by aftertouch priority method, and whereas the typical <BR>Yamaha, Kawai, Bose, Bech, etc. piano will have virtually the same key dip for <BR>identical aftertouch, the Steinways are all over the place.  That is why on high <BR>level Steinway regulation, I find that the best feel comes when the <BR>inconsistancies are split between keydip and hammer blow.  I allow a .008" variation in <BR>key dip before I raise or lower the hammer to achieve the same aftertouch.  This <BR>leaves a hammer line and keydip that is slightly irregular, but an extemely <BR>close aftertouch consistancy.  Artists are able to judge the consistancy of <BR>aftertouch a hell of a lot closer than they are to the actual amount of key <BR>travel, and their reaction to an aftertouch priority regulation has supported this. <BR> <BR>Regards, <BR><BR><BR><BR>Ed Foote RPT <BR><A href="http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html">http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html</A><BR>www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html<BR> <BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>