<!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 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>----- Original Message ----- <DIV>From: "Clyde Hollinger" <<A = href="mailto:cedel@supernet.com"><FONT color=#000000>cedel@supernet.com</FONT></A>></DIV> <DIV>To: <<A href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org"><FONT color=#000000>pianotech@ptg.org</FONT></A>></DIV> <DIV>Sent: June 19, 2003 3:30 AM</DIV> <DIV>Subject: piano design question</DIV></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>> Friends,<BR>> <BR>> The Piano Book by Larry Fine = mentions that the Kohler & Campbell<BR>> Millennium pianos have "individual = hitch pin stringing" rather than<BR>> duplex scaling.  What is the = perceived value of this?  It seems like a<BR>> lot more work to manufacture, and = I've only seen it once, in a 1980s<BR>> Horugel grand, not exactly a = quality piano.<BR>> <BR>> Regards,<BR>> Clyde Hollinger, RPT<BR>> = Lititz, PA, USA<BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Clyde,</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>This illustrates one = of the difficulties with evaluating a piano based on specific features. As you = say, it was a feature of the Horrible Horugel pianos. But it is also a feature = of some very high-end and excellent European pianos. By themselves neither = specific features nor specific materials have much to do with the structural = integrity or the musical value of any piano.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>This question also = raises the question of just what is meant by the term <EM>duplex scaling</EM>. MS = Encarta® defines <EM>duplex</EM> as:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>    = 1)  <STRONG>twofold</STRONG>--consisting of two parts, especially <EM>(but = not limited to--ddf)</EM> two identical or equivalent = parts,<BR>    2)  <STRONG>having two parts performing one = operation</STRONG>--consisting of pairs of units or components that perform the same machine function = but operate independently.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>All pianos have = <EM>duplex scaling</EM> by our common usage of the term. But not all pianos have = <EM>tuned duplex stringing</EM>, or <EM>aliquot stringing</EM>. Each string in the = piano is made up of three basic, or working, segments. The so-called = <EM>speaking length </EM>(which, by virtue of its length, diameter and mass, and its = tension, is tuned to some specific pitch or frequency); the so-called <EM>front duplex</EM> (which may or may not be tuned to some partial of the = speaking part); and the so-called <EM>rear duplex</EM> (again, which may or may = not be tuned to some partial of the speaking part). (And, yes, I'm deliberately = ignoring a few other miscellaneous parts.)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>It is due, at least in = part, to the confusion that exists over the use of these terms that I have begun referring to the string segment between the rear bridge pin and the rear = bearing bar in whatever form that may take (or the hitch pin in the case of = vertical hitches) as the <EM>backscale</EM>. And, similarly, the distance between = the V-bar and/or agraffe and the front bearing bar, again in whatever form = it may be, as the <EM>frontscale</EM>. The speaking length remains either that = or becomes the <EM>speaking scale</EM> depending on my audience and/or the = level of confusion in my head at any given moment.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>There is some = considerable debate over the value of tuning either the frontscale or the backscale and = it will not be resolved here. Suffice it to say--and to answer your = question--that having individually tied-off strings (i.e., "individual hitch pin = stringing") does not preclude also having a tuned backscale. I'm not sure = there are any examples of this today but I'd not be surprised to find that it = has been done in the past. Nor is this feature an indication of any kind as to = the musical value--either good or bad--of the piano. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>The only logical = explanation I have heard for "individual hitch pin stringing" has to do = with tuning stability. The claim has been made that with the (now common) = practice of having two strings of potentially different tensions sharing one = hitchpin can result in the wire sliding around the pins causing the piano to go = out of tune as the tension differential is equalized. Some millions of = pianos in the world today disprove this explanation. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>I can think of only a = few reasons for continuing this stringing practice:<BR>    -- It = looks pretty.<BR>    -- It is Tradition.<BR>    = -- The pianomaker has way too much time on his hands.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" = color=#000080>Del</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>