<!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 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002>Hello = Ari Isaac,</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><SPAN = class=810194919-20092002></SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002><FONT = face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN = class=810194919-20092002>I've heard of your hammers by my friend Arno Patin, are they imported in Europe ?</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN = class=810194919-20092002>Could you please explain how layers are made when the standard hammer's felt is = made ? I cant get the picture of it.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN = class=810194919-20092002>Are not the sheet- used usually more dense in the treble from the start ? that was = my impression on the few I've seen.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN = class=810194919-20092002>There where many very good cold pressed hammers in the 30' and before WWII in = Europe.  Actually the felt used on most of the French refelting jobs is laoureux = felt and it does not produce enough tone and no strength, but it is also due to = the way it is used of course.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN = class=810194919-20092002>I suspect that your idea is that if the felt has not been needled the tone will = stay longer, and the voicing will then be more = stable.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN = class=810194919-20092002>Are you selling your felt only eventually ? That could be of some interest to = try it for our hammer maker , Desfougeres, if only he cares for that.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN = class=810194919-20092002>Are you offering more or less pressed hammers on desire ? I guess it can be = better to have some possibilities with the needle, than to work with hardening = agents ?</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN = class=810194919-20092002>Best regards.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN = class=810194919-20092002>Isaac OLEG</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN = class=810194919-20092002> <P><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial = color=#0000ff></FONT><BR>PianoTech<BR>19 rue Jules Ferry<BR>94400 VITRY sur SEINE<BR>FRANCE<BR>tel : 033 01 47 18 06 98<BR>fax : 033 01 47 18 06 90<BR>cell: 06 60 42 58 77 </FONT></P></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=810194919-20092002> </SPAN>-----Message d'origine-----<BR><B>De :</B> pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]<B>De la part de</B> isaacah<BR><B>Envoyé :</B> vendredi 20 septembre 2002 18:01<BR><B>À :</B> pianotech@ptg.org<BR><B>Objet :</B> re: = hammer maker's corner<BR><BR></DIV></FONT></FONT> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px = solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV> <P>Hammer maker’s corner </P> <P><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P> <P><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P> <P>From my twenty-year experience of making hammers I have learned = there are only two methods of making hammers: one method makes hammers to fit = production equipment, the other is building equipment to fit hammer tone = production. Most hammer makers around the world today use the former method; a few = small makers use the latter.</P> <P><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P> <P>Franz Mohr, at that time working for Steinways, told me once ‘The = need for voicing equals poor hammers’. Years ago, he said, you didn’t need = to do extensive voicing right after hammer installation, all that was needed = was some evening out, today …</P> <P><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P> <P>Those hammer makers using the former method rely on the technician = to, as part of hammer installation, do the voicing necessary to get the = musical tone piano players will want, more often than not this means a good deal of = voicing. </P> <P><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </P> <P>I, too, was aware of the truth of Franz Mohr’s observation. Also, = during the years when I had my rebuilding business I distinctly remember how = I hated having to spend hours voicing this or that make of hammer – I tried = them all. So when I decided to make Isaac Cadenza hammers I had two priorities; = first, that the hammers would make the piano speak, musically, second, that = Cadenza hammers would not require much voicing either as part of the = installation or during the rest of their life span. </P> <P><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P> <P>To do this I could see only one way: to develop a sheet of hammer = felt which reflects the string scale in a significant way and to construct = pressing and shaping equipment to press and shape Cadenza hammers while = maintaining the integrity of the felt.</P> <P><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P> <P>The felt sheets we – Earl Dunlap and I – developed are = different from all others because of two characteristics: there are no layers, the wool = fibers are felted throughout so that you get something like a three = dimensional grid of interlocked fibers and the felt density, the amount of wool fiber = per cubic volume, increases from bass to treble. The increase in felt density = matches the increase in string taughtness from bass to treble so that when = Cadenza hammers are installed they will have the musical color range as well = as the power range without the need for voicing for those characteristics. = Playing the hammers in - 5/10 hours, is a big part of voicing = Cadenzas. Where additional brightness is wanted a few drops of hardener, any hardener, = applied slightly above the shoulders will be all that is needed. </P> <P><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P> <P>Cadenza hammers hitting the strings function like a tennis ball = hitting a wall. In the case of a tennis ball the energy hurling it towards the = wall is, upon impact, reversed and flings it as far as it came, maybe further. = In the case of Cadenza hammers much of the energy hurling them to the strings = is transferred to the strings, this is so because the strings are not = completely rigid. The beauty of a hammer functioning like a tennis ball hitting a = wall is the automatic result of a wide range of musical color without the need = for voicing. The reason for this is the flexing of the hammer from strike = point to staple or pin. This flexing will be greater or lesser depending upon = the intensity of playing – bingo! Color range. It can happen only if the = felt is made to flex. </P> <P><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P> <P>Thanks for reading this, I’ll try to have something to write = every so often and I promise not to put you to sleep. </P> <P>Ari Isaac.</P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>