Pinning and Tone

[Ed Sutton]

Jim-

I think I'm just within your 250 mile radius, and am interested in this study.

I agree with the need to make some direct measurements, and have four suggestions:

1- A few years back David Stanwood was using hammer flanges with adjustable
friction to control touchweight. The flange had two tiny set screws above the
center pin which could be adjusted to change the friction.  This would allow for a
number of experiments without even removing the flange from the rail.

2- The experiments should include various weights and hardnesses of hammers across
the range of the piano, as well as different forces of keystrikes.  Does the
amplitude change for a given keystrike as the flange is changed?

3- Because of the environmental influences on the sound of a piano, contact
microphones might be more suitable for early tests.

4- The differences should be most evident in the very early or "prompt" phases of
the sound, the analysis should focus on this part of the sound.

Ed Sutton
----- Original Message -----
From: "James Ellis" <claviers@nxs.net>
To: <caut@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2003 9:29 AM
Subject: Pinning and Tone


> I have been reading these posts about the effect of center-pinning on tone.
>  Has anyone done any definitive tests to actually measure the effect -
> i.e., with a three-dimensional spectrum analyzer, for example, where
> absolutely nothing is changed except the pinning?  This is an interesting
> subject, but one where speculation and subjective opinions need to be
> replaced with actual measurements.  The first step should be to MEASURE how
> much difference it actually makes.  The next step, and the HARD one, should
> be to measure minute hammer and string motions at the time of impact, and
> figure out HOW and WHY it happens.  I'm trying to figure out how I would do
> this.  I do have some ideas, but they aren't firmed up yet.  Is there
> anyone within 250 miles of Oak Ridge, Tennessee who is into this particular
> study?
>
> Jim Ellis, RPT
>
>
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