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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no
href="mailto:Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no">Richard Brekne</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> September 24, 2003 12:55 =
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Heavy Hammers / =
High Ratio /
Ric</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<P><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT><FONT =
face="Comic Sans MS"
color=#000080></FONT><BR>Compliance yes... but will the higher ratio =
yield
higher hammer velocity for same hammer weight ? At what hammer weight =
(given
action parts materials) will compliance become such an issue that it =
defeats
any increase in action ratio ? </P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>I don't know. =
You'll have to
set up the test yourself. Back when I was measuring this stuff I used a =
single
action and varied only the hammer mass. </FONT>
<P dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT>
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<P>And doesnt the stored energy in compliance flex have to be released =
some
how regardless... doesnt some of this end up coming out on the hammer =
/ string
impact end of the <<equation>> ? </P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Yes it does =
... and, no it
doesn't. Once the action saturation point has been reached the excess =
energy is
released after the hammer has struck the strings and has rebounded to =
check.
After that it no longer matters how much energy is stored in the key and =
action
mechanism.</FONT>
<P dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
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<P>Then... action saturation.... when is too early ?? or is there such =
a thing
as too early or too late saturation ?... </P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>I'd say it is =
too early any
time the key bottoms out before the hammer strikes the string(s) under =
"normal"
playing conditions. I'll leave the pounder trying desperately to destroy =
the
piano with a great and marvelous display of his or her great virtuosity =
and
utter lack of musicality out of the discussion. But even with normal =
playing
some lag between the key motion and the hammer motion is inevitable with =
any
mechanical action made up of compliant materials and springy levers. =
Only by
reducing the compliance and/or bendability of the various components you =
can
delay action saturation. But by doing so you also make it harder on the =
hands
and arms of the pianist.</FONT>
<P dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" =
color=#000080>Del</FONT></P></BODY></HTML>