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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Interesting topic. I've played all my =
life and just
recently have been able to play actions of different geometries. The =
S&S B
with all new keys didn't call for any lead in the keys from about C5 to =
C6. The
comment was (by my mentor) that he didn't like the feel of the keys in =
that
octave, that they tended to freewheel and sure enough those keys seemed =
to fly
up as you did a riff across those keys. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Today I played the L and the D for a =
good half an
hour. All new/restored. The L with 60 grams of down weight played like a =
dream.
I could play soft and it sang or I could over power it without a =
great
amount of effort. It is leveraged on the positive side for the weight =
it's
throwing and it still had a feel of something to push against. I liked =
it.
Atamian probably would have liked it better than that Baldwin. I moved =
right
over to the D and immediately thought it was heavier. It has 52 grams of =
down
weight. As I played it I realized I was not working quite as hard as on =
the L
and the heaviness was in the total mass of the system and gave the =
action the
feeling of pushing against something. I think the reason I wasn't =
working as
hard was because the sound the D made was so much bigger I didn't =
try to
play as hard. I liked it too. It seemed much more deliberate. I'll have =
to play
it with speed/repetition in mind as well as inertia/mass resistance. The =
knuckle
placement might move. The original placement was duplicated at =
</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>15 1/2 mm. Should be fun to compare the before and =
after
feels. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Of course a musician like Atamian is =
like a highly
trained athlete. Take a finely built bicycle and gear it the way we like =
it and
Lance Armstrong will only use the top three gears. If that. He would =
hate
it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Keith R</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 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=edwithen@oregontrail.net =
href="mailto:edwithen@oregontrail.net">Ed
Carwithen</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> Thursday, February 20, =
2003 2:23
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> artist's touch</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Oregon East Symphony performed =
Tchaikovsky's
1st Piano Concerto this past weekend with Dickran Atamian at the =
piano.
He was VERY unhappy with the piano. Fortunately for me, =
another
technician was the tuner for this instrument. He complained that =
there
was no "resistance" to the action. Everything was way too =
limber.
In soft passages he had trouble controlling the lightness of his =
playing
because the tone sounded almost before he was ready for it. In =
loud
passages (and there was PLENTY of loud), there was nothing to =
push
against.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>He was also unhappy with the way that =
the ivories
kept "drying up." He had some kind of lotion in a sort of sachet =
that he
kept gripping with his hand, and would then run his hands up and down =
the
keyboard to get the keys more slick.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> I should mention that the piano =
is an 9'
Baldwin. It has been restrung several years past, but while not =
new, it
is in pretty fair condition. It is not new, but it is kept up, =
and
regularly serviced by a very fine RPT in our area. I don't think =
that
there was any unhappiness about the work of the tech, only the =
condition of
the piano.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> I should also mention that =
Atamian plays
at or beyond the threshold of pain for volume a great deal of the =
time.
I am amazed that there were no strings or hammers broken. He =
certainly
did his best to pound the double H out of it. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> He didn't seem to have any =
complaint about
the tuning itself, just the "freeness" of the action. How the =
piano held
it's tuning through his banging is a major miracle. He did tell =
all and
sundry that the piano was a "piece of junk," and the management =
should
get rid of it rather than having any professional try to make music on =
it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> His performance was of the =
highest
caliber, and he deserved the standing O that he got. In =
rehearsal and in
performance it was obvious that he is highly gifted and dedicated, as =
well as
knowledgeable to the point of obsession about the Tchaikovsky =
concerto.
It is just that his concerns about the piano were curious to
me.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> What steps could a tech make =
to put more
resistance in the piano? Especially between Friday night and =
Saturday
afternoon? Is this a common complaint with artists? How =
about the
business with the keys being dry. I thought that artists wished =
the keys
to be clean and dry so their fingers didn't slide. That is the =
opposite
of what he wanted.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Has anyone had experience tuning for =
Mr. Atamian,
and how was it?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Inquiring minds want to =
know.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ed Carwithen</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>John Day,
OR</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>