<!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 6.00.2900.2180" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So Ryan, how many of Ed's pianos = have you run into?   I haven't seen a one in the Bay Area.  I = suppose the North Coast has a few...?  Does Ed still do this sort of = thing?   </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>David I.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE 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=pianorye@yahoo.com href="mailto:pianorye@yahoo.com">Ryan = Sowers</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, August 27, 2004 = 6:45 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> How much friction? = (was friction.... yet another attempt)</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>antares <<A = href="mailto:antares@euronet.nl">antares@euronet.nl</A>></EM></STRON= G> wrote</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV>Your mentioning the rep springs and the lacquered hammers have = nothing <BR>to do with it. Light is light, either in weight or because of = low <BR>friction.</DIV> <DIV><BR> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV dir=ltr>Andre,</DIV> <DIV dir=ltr> </DIV> <DIV>I have to entirely disagree on this point in particular, for 2 reasons:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>1. It sounds like you are saying that increased down = weight that results from increased friction is the same as increasing = the down weight by manipulating the weight of action parts. Lowering = friction will increase the up weight of the key, while decreasing the down = weight at the sometime. Adding friction does the opposite.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Adding lead to the front of the key will will decrease = the down weight and decrease the up weight. A very different effect on the = touch of the piano to be sure. You can have actions with equal down weight that = feel very different.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Don't forget that inertia plays an important role in the = players perception of the touch. Ed McMorrow's (author of "the Educated = Piano") pianos are a perfect example. People perceive his actions as light but he gets his down weight toward 60 grams (if I'm remembering = properly). The lower inertia he achieves by drastically removing hammer mass = (and also key leads)  produces the sensation of a = light touch despite a 60gram down weight. Interestingly Ed also recommended = (in his book) pinning the hammers a little on the tight side (which goes back = to our previous subject on pinning)!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>2. Lacquered hammers have plenty to do with it! There is a strong = connection between voicing and touch perception. A player will many = times perceive an action with soft hammers that require greater velocity to = gain fortissimo tone as heavier than an action with hard, less resilient = hammers. I've had clients be amazed at how I changed the touch of their piano = by only working with the hammers. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>:</DIV> <P class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px = solid"><BR> </P></DIV><BR><BR>Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter<BR>Pianova Piano Service<BR>Olympia, = WA <P> <HR SIZE=1> Do you Yahoo!?<BR>Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! <A = href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=26640/*http://promotions.yahoo.com/g= oldrush">Enter now</A>.</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>