<!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 6.00.2800.1505" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Stephen Birkett said: "<FONT = face="Times New Roman" size=3>>The problem with that particular piano has ever been the = "hanging <BR>>on" since the dampers were totally inefficient by modern = standards. <BR>>That said Schubert, played on a Fortepiano, is a joy to hear! <BR>>Schubert obviously used the defects of these pianos to his advantage.<BR><BR>Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. These aren't = defects. They are <BR>exactly the characteristics considered desirable at the = time. The end <BR>of the sound was just as important as the beginning. To throttle = it <BR>with highly efficient dampers would have been considered plain = crude. <BR>Just as we shouldn't try to extrapolate their aesthetics forwards in = <BR>time to define our piano concept, extrapolating our aesthetics = <BR>backwards is not valid either"</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>AT LAST! Someone actually gets = it!<G> I've been beating on that drum....Forever! The above statement should be = Stenciled on the forefront of every technician's cerebellum that attempts to make a = Square Grand/Square/OverDamper Piano sound like a "modern" piano!!!!! Thank You = Stephen!!!!!!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Joe Garrett, R.P.T.<BR>Captain, Tool Police<BR>Squares R I</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>