double flanges -Reply

[Horace Greeley]

Keith,

These things are really subjective.  However, in re: both the double-flange
S&S and the
W,N&G actions, there was a design emphasis on minimizing the differences
(as to the overall
feel of the action) between the upright and grand actions.  Thus, in part,
these are actions which
 _tend_ to follow the motion of the finger more than a "normal" (whatever
that is, given the period
we are discussing) action.  (People approached the playing of the piano
differently then.  Keys
were not approached like "on/off" switches, but as levered extensions of
the finger, which was,
itself, an extension of a series of levers beginning with the
muscles/vertebrae of the back.
See, e.g. Ortmann and Matthay, among others.)

Another, less well known, but very successful upright action was "The Old
Reliable" found in
Busch & Gertz instruments of the period.

Another factor which we, as technicians often overlook, is that piano
building has always been
a for profit venture.  While we could argue what that has meant at
different times, for different
manufacturers, in essence it boils down to making decisions like:  Do I, as
a maker, make more
profit by designing an action which uses one less machined part and one
less screw than a do
by designing one which uses two of each?

Recommended reading is "Piano Building in America:1890-1940" by Carl Roelle
- Well, I think
that's the title, anyway.  It's a difficult but necessary book for those of
us who are still in the
thrall of the piano.  

Does this help?  It's a continuing problem - the things which make a given
instrument more
or less "musical" are not always things which can be reasonably reductively
analyzed.

Best.

Horace



At 06:21 PM 9/29/97 -0500, you wrote:
>>...In any event, a superior action - from a musician's point of view...
>>
>>Horace
>
>While we're waiting, Horace, would you elaborate on this statement for
>those of us in the dark.
>
>Keith A. McGavern, RPT
>kam544@ionet.net
>Oklahoma Baptist University
>Saint Gregory's University
>Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA
>
>
>
>
Horace Greeley

Systems Analyst/Engineer
Controller's Office
Stanford University

email: hgreeley@leland.stanford.edu
voice mail: 650.725.906
fax: 650.725.8014