Light, light, hammers - article from Piano and Keyboard magazine

Vanderhoofven dkvander@clandjop.com
Fri Aug 29 12:23 MDT 1997


At 06:33 PM 8/22/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Greetings all, 
>
>      I would like some outside opinions here, if you have them.  Concerning
>the practice of reducing the hammer size to regulate touch and tone as
>proposed by Mr. McMorrow,  I received the following letter:
>>snip> 

>Regards, 
>Ed Foote 
>Precision  Piano Works
>Nashville, Tn


Dear Ed,

I do not have ANY personal experience with your question.  However there is
an interesting article in the September/October 1997 issue of _Piano and
Keyboard Magazine_.  The short article on page 23 is titled "A Tip for the
Top", written by Robert Cloutier.  "Getting your Steinway piano to speak
with a clear sustaining treble voice is not so much a matter of what's
there, as what should 'not' be there."  In this article Mr. Cloutier
advocates improving the tone of a piano by removing some excess mass from
the hammer mouldings by using a rat-tail file.  

  Read the article and draw your own conclusions.  By the way,Robert
Cloutier is the Senior Piano Technician at the University of Oregon, Eugene.


*Off-Topic below*

Other highlights of this issue of Piano and Keyboard magazine:

Page 8 - Letters -  A letter from Marshall B. Hawkins, RPT, President of
the PTG.  "Piano Technology - the Missing Career"

Page 66 - Advertisement, pianos for sale - 1875 Steinway Style 2, 7' 2",
French Burled Walnut, $125,000.00

Page 70 - 1/4 page advertisement by the PTG about what it means to be an RPT

Page 78 - Advertisement for the Stanwood Patented Touch Design System

Sincerely,


David A. Vanderhoofven, RPT
Joplin, Missouri, USA        
e-mail:  dkvander@clandjop.com

web page:  http://www.clandjop.com/~dkvander/
#pianotech page:  http://www.clandjop.com/~dkvander/ircpiano.html



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