<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <html><head><style type="text/css"></style><title>Re: Transposing Piano</title></head><body> <div><font face="Arial">Hi all,</font></div> <div><font face="Arial"><br></font></div> <div><font face="Arial">In a message dated 8/23/02 4:36:52 PM Pacific Daylight Time, davidlovepianos@earthlink.net writes:</font></div> <div><font face="Arial"><br></font></div> <div><font face="Arial"><br></font></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial">I have a customer with an Ibach Transposing Piano.  I haven't seen it yet.  What is it and basically, how does it work.</font></blockquote> <div><font face="Arial" size="-1"><br></font></div> <div>These Ibach transposers are interesting. The one in Sydney we maintain is owned by the Faber-Castell family (of pencil fame).</div> <div><br></div> <div>There is a lever under the keyboard (under the treble end) which is depressed then shifted to a new position to relocate the rest position of the action (to select the desired key). When the 'shift' lever is first depressed, it lifts the damper tray to avoid damper lever damage when the action is shifted.</div> <div><br></div> <div>The one we maintain, when at the 'key of C' position, has a standard compass from A1 to A 85. The 'key position' can be adjusted four semitones up and down from the C position. So the lowest note in the bass is the F below A1 while the highest in the treble is C88. There are extra notes either side of the bass/treble break which are required when the action is shifted from the standard 'key of C' position. The plate is made with a capo bar which extends through the entire compass of the instrument, inverted agraffes are inserted into the capo to enable the string positions to be evenly spaced from the bass/treble break to the very highest note. The plate struts are quite elevated to allow for the strings to be located under the struts where necessary.</div> <div><br></div> <div>Tuning these instruments is an interesting exercise, since the 'scale' is laid in the C position, then as the bass/treble break is approached one needs to 'change gears' to the lowest key to tune all strings in the tenor. Once the tenor is tuned one has to 'change gears' again to the highest key, to tune the highest notes in the bass section. Then 'low gear' needs to be found again the lowest notes in the bass.</div> <div><br></div> <div>All in all, these 'formula 1' style tunings should attract a higher fee. But then again, it makes a tuning day a little more interesting than usual.</div> <div><br></div> <div>Best regards,</div> <div>Ron O.</div> <x-sigsep><pre>-- </pre></x-sigsep> <div>_______________________<br> <br> OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY<br> Grand Piano Manufacturers<br> <br> Web: http://overspianos.com.au<br> mailto:info@overspianos.com.au<br> _______________________</div> </body> </html>