S & S capo

[Horace Greeley]

Allen,

Brent, who will, no doubt, identify himself as well, is one of the best.

In agreeing completely with his comments, I would add only that these
"problems", which I continue to feel can be seen from several points of
view, have definitely become more pronounced over the years.  The problem,
as I see it, is not only related to the issues Brent describes, but to the
inexplicable failure of Kelly and/or S&S to properly heat treat (used to be
called case harden) the offending areas.  There are several ways to deal
with this, none of them truly successful in the piano - the plate must be 
removed.

I suppose that, from a certain perspective, we should all just shut up and be
glad that the experimentation with vacuum cast plates was as short as it
was disasterous.

All of that being said, I continue to maintain that a careful listening to
many
older recordings will show that this "problem" is a matter of perspective.  A
certain amount of sizzle is part of the sound.  More than that is clearly
offensive,
and needs to be dealt with constructively.  In this thread, there have been
some
excellent suggestions describing different approaches.  A part of the
"problem",
from the perspective of  someone who has spent more of his life on the concert
stage than anywhere else, is that, because reality is a matter of
perception,  and
because most performers (and technicians, for that matter) develop their 
respective concepts of piano tone from recordings, and not from live "arenas",
there is a basic failure of understanding.

So, at the risk of inciting to riot, if, in _my_ view, one wants an
instrument which
sounds at the keyboard (essentially) like is sounds in the hall (which is
to say
more than 20-30' or so away), buy a Bose., or Yamaha, or a Bluthner, or a
Bechstein.  If, on the other hand, one wants an instrument which sounds (in
the
hall) like the "Steinways of yore" (whatever), then, buy a Steinway, or,
dare I
suggest it, an older M&H, and, _let it be one_.

Happy Tuesday!

Best.

Horace





At 12:08 PM 2/23/99 -0500, you wrote:
>        Reply to:   RE>>S & S capo
>
>very thoughtful and interesting comments - can you identify yourself and
your institution? (is it Brent?) thanks!   Allen
>