<!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 5.50.4134.600" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000080 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=ANRPiano@AOL.COM =
href="mailto:ANRPiano@AOL.COM">ANRPiano@AOL.COM</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> March 22, 2002 5:32 =
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Floating =
soundboard</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 =
FAMILY="SANSSERIF">List,<BR><BR>I must have missed something a while =
back. <BR><BR>What is a floating soundboard?<BR><BR>It seems to
mentioned frequently in reference to the bass. I was hoping I =
could
eventually figure out what was meant but the synapses aren't making =
the right
connections.</FONT></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=2>The practice of cutting some section =
of the
soundboard free of the inner rim. Usually the bass, but not always. In =
certain
situations I've also done this along the treble side. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=2>The idea is to free the edge of the =
soundboard
close to the bridge and allow more mobility to the system. It allows the =
bridge/soundboard system to more closely track the motion of the =
string(s) at
very low frequencies. The benefit, if done well, will be more =
energy at the
fundamental frequency in the wave envelope. In other words, a cleaner =
more
articulate sounding bass tone. The down side, if not done well, can be a =
considerably shortened sustain time, albeit a tone with a stronger bass =
at the
fundamental frequencies while it's quickly dieing out.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=2>Though it would be gratifying to =
claim this as a
modern development the practice actually goes back at least to the early =
1800s.
A flat-strung Broadwood from the 1830s that we put a new board in a =
couple of
years back had a version of this with a cut-away section on the =
straight
bass side extending some distance away from the region in which the bass =
bridge
terminated. It looked like a pretty well worked out feature and I'd =
guess the
idea goes back some further than that.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=2>I've been playing around with the =
practice ever
since I discovered it in the Rippen pianos of the 1970s. The 122 cm =
vertical I
designed and built in the early 90s had a version of this feature. As do =
most of
the smaller (say, shorter than 200 to 210 cm grands) that we
remanufacture.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=2>With any luck I'll have a 175 cm =
grand
remanufactured in time for my class--the all-day one--in Chicago this =
year. It
will have this feature. Even without the piano the feature will be =
discussed
along with one or two others.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=2>Del</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>