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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Andre,</FONT></DIV><FONT =
color=#0000ff>
<DIV><BR>It was then that he said "wow! I can play anything on this one, =
but it
is a dangerous instrument because it is too fast, and it also is too
brilliant!<BR><BR>So he bought the beautiful instrument with a lot of =
friction,
and not the 'easy' and brilliant one which had almost no friction left =
at
all.<BR><BR>The lesson for me was :<BR>1. The cheater will be =
cheated<BR>2. An
instrument with hardly any friction at all is perceived as "slippery,
untrustworthy, dangerous, and uncontrollable.<BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000>3. Someone making a major investment is more =
likely to
stick with a known standard, even though his gut tells him that =
something else
is sexier or more appealing.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000>4. Any pianist worth his salt knows that =
he'll be
playing pianos besides his own. In order to play those other =
pianos, he's
going to have to practice on pianos with similar performance
properties. If a practice piano is too dangerously "fast," =
then he's
only going to get himself in trouble when playing slower pianos. =
If you
can't take your practice piano everywhere with you (like Horowitz), =
you'd better
have a piano that resembles what you're going to perform =
on!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000>Incidentally, I've known pianists to make =
their pianos
intentionally heavy and klunky, just so they would have the performance =
edge
when playing on any other piano. It's like running with weights on =
to
practice for the race.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000>But yes, your story does help me to =
understand the
dynamics of this preference. It's an interesting story, to be
sure!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000>Peace,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000>Sarah</FONT></DIV>
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