<!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 5.50.4522.1800" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV> Hammer maker’s corner     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.   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 …   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.   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.   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.   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.   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.   Thanks for reading this, I’ll try to have something to write = every so often and I promise not to put you to sleep. Ari Isaac.</DIV></BODY></HTML>