DMCKECH wrote: >Well, here is the real kick in all this. I did a walkabout in the building >and tried a number of different brands and found that I could make this >happen on all! I must be getting good at it. :-) Some of the actions >have had parts replaced and some are original. Just to review, "this" is: >>One of the problems was during a short but fast >>repetition, on one note, the backcheck would catch the tail of the hammer >>thus failing the repetition. (Two to four or five strikes and fast enough >>repetition that the key does not come all the way up.) I believe that the fact that any piano can be made to do this is mostly irrelevant. Some actions _are_ much worse about this than others. To make sure we are talking about the same thing, on repeated blows where the key is not allowed to return all the way to the at rest position, the back check works its way "down" until the hammer is close to the at rest position, but is in check, and only releasing the key to the at rest position will undo the jam. I had have seen this problem on several Steinways. I once had 2 D's side by side, one had the problem, one did not. I swapped wippens and hammers/shanks from the same note on each piano and it made no difference. The repetition problem did not move with the action parts but stayed with the piano. My best guess (and this is still a guess) is that this problem is the result of a combination of factors. The above-mentioned D got much better repetition after the hammers were replaced (with a set that was as close to a duplicate of the worn-out set as you will ever see), but the keys were weighed off carefully to better match the hammers. I for one would check the key-weighting as a contributing factor. Another thing I would check would be all the factors that go into allowing very high checking -- tail shape, back check height and angles, etc. Make sure you can get high checking. >This begs the question about proper technique in playing. Not being a very >good pianist, I need to consult about this. For a fast and short single >note repetition, I was taught to use fingers one through four in quick >succession not one finger repeating rapidly. With my limited ability, I was >able to get good repetition on the pianos I tested by using the >multi-finger technique. When you get a chance, please try this out. >Obviously, I would feel better if someone discovered this as well! Just because the repetition is possible at one rate with one amount of partial key release, it does not necessarily follow that overall repetition is good. Are the keys so compliant, for example, that their flexing does not allow repetition at some particular speed? Check for floppy keys. >I will tactfully broach this subject with my customer. As stated in my >post, he is a very good pianist and I am sure he knows how to repeat a note >in different ways. Perhaps it was our luck that one piece he was working on >called for this type of one finger repetition. It must be stated that he is >very satisfied with the action in all other aspects. Trills, touch and tone >are no problem. Be careful, sir. My own feeling is that the problem(s) may yet be found in the piano and not in the pianist. >Don McKechnie >Ithaca College >dmckech@ithaca.edu
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