Fred, How do you iron the knuckles? Thin blade, heated? No noise increase? David I. ----- Original message ----------------------------------------> From: Fred Sturm <fssturm@unm.edu> To: College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org> Received: Mon, 31 May 2004 09:02:13 -0600 Subject: Re: Journal Articles >--On Sunday, May 30, 2004 10:38 PM +0200 Richard Brekne ><Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no> wrote: >> Over to Jim Hudsons article tho... Dont you think a whole 3 mm letoff is >> a bit overkill on the safe side ? Where do you generally like letoff and >> drop yourself, and why ? >> >> Interesting to find so much variance in this seemingly simple point. >> Cheers >> RicB > I can understand and easily accept a more conservative approach to letoff >than my own. But are any of you really advocating 3 mm (=1/8") letoff in >grands? And in concert grands in particular? Seriously? Are you really >contending you ever need that much of a safety margin? > I find this hard to believe, regardless of extreme seasonal changes. 1.5 - >2 mm / 1/16" is plenty of margin for any grand in my experience, and in the >opinions of every manufacturer I am aware of. A caveat being condition of >the regulation button felt. If every, say, quarter turn of the button >produces the same change in letoff distance, the felt is in good shape. If >it doesn't, you need to address that problem, and regulating close letoff >without addressing that problem is quite risky (how would I know that?) If >there are even moderate dimples in the felt, iron or sand and iron. Ditto >for fuzzy felt: iron it. I guess knuckle condition and a few other factors >that aren't coming to mind instantly would also come into play, but one >assumes that one has dealt with all those when working with a concert >instrument, yes? > Personally, I am convinced that close letoff is one of the most basic >elements of good concert regulation, taken in conjunction with voicing that >is even and has a good gradiant. The rest of regulation is based on that >fine letoff (drop, aftertouch, check, etc are adjusted to match). It isn't >just a matter of ability to get pppp without the risk of the note failing >to speak (though that is important). It's fine control of melodic lines, >and, particularly, fine control of the relative prominence of individual >tones played simultaneously. The fine muscular coordination required to >make, say, all voices of a four part WTC fugue sound as individual lines is >helped enormously by that final 0.5 mm closer to the string (ie, 1.5 mm as >opposed to 2 mm, or 1 mm as opposed to 1.5). I think most really >accomplished pianists rely on the ability to make fine adjustments to >acceleration of the key/hammer during the entire keystroke, and >particularly during the very last portion - where drop screw and letoff >button have been contacted. > At any rate, I am happy to go on record anywhere stating that 3 mm is >utterly unacceptable as a standard for letoff on a concert instrument. I >can think of no circumstances that would justify such a standard. I can see >room for argument as you get to the range of 1 to 2 mm, and less than 1 mm, >though possible, is definitely risky. > But 3 mm? Seriously? >Regards, >Fred Sturm >University of New Mexico >_______________________________________________ >caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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