hammers and tone

[ari isaac]

	          People appear to be having lots of trouble getting the tone they
want out of this or that make of hammers. 

     To produce musical tone a hammer striking the strings has to go
through the same motions, more or less, as a tennis ball hurled at a wall. 
It needs to function like a spring, a pre loaded compression spring.

     I compare tone os each note to a rainbow. Just as the rainbow is made
up of bands of colour so a tone is made up of (bands) of frequencies, some
are partials and one is the fundamental.  when a hammer strikes with a
given intensity a group of partials will be louder, more predominant, than
others.  Go back to the rainbow metaphore, some of the color bands will be
brighter than others.  Change the intensity of playing and... another gruop
of partials will sound louder or, in the rainbow, a different gruop of
bands will look brighter.  This is true only if your hammer is made to
function like a spring.  If your hammer has been heavily juiced or if it
has been made using steam to mold or shring the felt - all you'll have is a
volume control.  The loudness of the note will change all right but the
predominant partials will remain the same - no color.  The change of
predominant gruops of partials as the playing intensity is varied by the
player is, to me, what musical tone is all about.  
     I have always insisted, when ordering felt for making my hammers, that
it be dense and very springy.  I want the hammers I make to function like a
compression spring so they can produce the tone  so many technicians are
after and do so easily

Ari Isaac

     Please get in touch with me if you have any questions or problems with
any make of hammers. I'll be pleased to help you find an answer or a
solution.  My E mail address is:  isaacah@sprint.ca