Flexible collodion for voicing hammers

Horace Greeley hgreeley@leland.Stanford.EDU
Fri Dec 10 14:26 MST 1999


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Mike,

At 03:11 PM 12/10/99 -0400, you wrote:
> >
> > "keytop"  (which, by the way, is not what is used at S&S).
>
>-So what is S&S using?

OK, at the risk of being accused of being coy, the direct answer is
that I do not specifically know what is used _today_.  The last time I
talked with Michael Mohr about this, it was 1995/6, and I was tired of
waiting for keytops to dissolve, and tired of the sound I got from the
grumbled up bits of plastic sold by various supply houses...(OK (again),
I didn't like the sound of the keytops, either).  Anyway, what Michael
told me then is that they were using the same grumbled up bits of
plastic, only they got them from Rohm Chemical in drums.

Aside from the tonal issues, as that is so much an issue of taste to begin
with...what I really object to with the plastic is that, once the acetone
is gone, there you are...usually until you install a new set of hammers.
I know that many other folk feel very differently about it.  It surely is
much faster than many other methods.  Still, as Ghandi said: "There is
more to life than increasing it's speed."

>(It's wise to know exactly what's already applied before adding any more
>concoctions)

Yes.  Even then, there is a very long history of line workers using non-
standard things for hardening.  I am not sure you ever really "know" what
you have unless you start out with brand new hammers.

I remember one visit to the Kimball factory and watching one of the "voicers"
start out with a freshly installed set of those little brass mallets, err,
I mean, hammers they used to make by completely dousing the entire set
(several sets at a time, actually) with 6:1 thinner/lacquer.  The event
answered some questions I had had about why the Viennese edition instruments
had a certain, ah, quality about their sound.

>Thanks-

My pleasure - Actually, I would be glad to know if anyone has more up-to-date
data on this.

Best.

Horace

(p.s. - Mike, caught any freights lately?)

h
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Horace Greeley,                         email:  hgreeley@stanford.edu
CNA, MCP, RPT
Systems Analyst/Engineer                voice:  650.725.9062
Controller's Office                     fax:    650.725.8014
Stanford University
651 Serra St., RM 100, MC 6215
Stanford, CA 94305-6215

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