<html> Richard- Did you try accessing the ISMA document? When I go to their website I find links going back only to 1996. Also couldn't find quoted bulletin at Petrof.  Looks interesting. Thanks. David Skolnik New York, NY skolnik@attglobal.net At 09:29 PM 01/24/2002 +0100, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>  Hi folks. This subject has been up from time to time with varying opinions about its worth, and questions about whether or not factories use it, and why.  I like to try and ask people directly if I can, and I got this back from one of the fellows at the research department at Petrof. Thought you might like to hear what he had to say.     <dl> <dd>"Dear Richard <dd>We are using EMA for piano design. Most of all we are observing modal shapes <dd>of soundboard with / without bridge in free conditions. We have also <dd>laboratory brass frame for fixed piano soundboard conditions (can be seen in <dd>our web bulletin No 01/2000). Ocassionally we make also EMA of grand outer <dd>rim. It can be helpfull for construction changes results observing . For <dd>instance comparing of modal shape amplitude between soundboard and rim can <dd>say something about acoustic efficiency of new prototype. <dd>We made some works on computer modelling of piano soundboard by FEM and <dd>comparing Fem model modeshape results with real soundboards from EMA. Some <dd>results of my colleague work You can see at proceedings of ISMA 1995 France, <dd>Dourdan - <dd>Alois Raffaj: Vibrations of piano soundboards, pg 373." </dl> -- Richard Brekne RPT, N.P.T.F. Bergen, Norway <a href="mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no">mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no</a> <a href="http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html" eudora="autourl">http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html</a>   </blockquote></html>