---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Boaz Kirschenbaum <artisanpiano@gmail.com> Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2004 09:35:46 -0500 Subject: Re: [CAUT] Teaching Piano Tuning To: Fred Sturm <fssturm@unm.edu> Hi Fred, Thanks for the positive feedback and the encouragement. I'm waiting on a work visa to go and work for a Hamburg Steinway dealer in Sydney, Australia, it should come through any day now. That should expand my horizons (I'll be rebuilding as well as prepping new pianos and doing concert work). Plus there will be the chance to go to Hamburg for direct training at the factory. It was an offer I couldn't refuse! There are other points that I would have liked to put in but thought I'd just try a few. I, too, could go on forever on this subject. So here's another long one. You are absolutely correct. Touch is extremely important. I'd rank it as the #2 most important tool, for a couple of reasons. Come to think of it I guess the brain would have to be #1 wouldn't it? David Betts used to say "please use the power tools WITH BRAIN ENGAGED, thank you very much". Regarding touch, we had much debate about this at Steinway Hall, and seldom reached a consensus. Your point about needle depth is an especially good example...especially with NY Steinways. If you go too far into the crown, it just makes that much more work to bring the attack back. In a German Steinway, if you go in too far, even by a fraction of a millimeter, into the crown, that's the end of that hammer. But it can be done (I know, sacriledge)...I watched my mentor, Aleks, do it at Carnegie. The slightest penetration just to the right of one hammer groove, directly onto the crown, changed the color to the pianist's liking. It didn't affect the attack but killed a little of the brittle color on that string. Hammer shaping is another one...not all felt is created equal. We had a saying, "good Bacon" and "bad Bacon" (I won't share some of our more colorful metaphors at the risk of offending you. Let's just say that many Steinway techs swear like sailors.) But not everyone sees this point of view...I suspect it can be a matter of ego and pride with some technicians who have been at this for decades and can't admit that they still have things to learn. There are also a LOT of politics at Steinway NY. Let me put it this way: I liken it to the level of intrigue at the French court during the reign of Louis XV. But I digress. For example, there are those who tune "by key", i.e., attempting to achieve stability by pounding the notes into tune. This technique actually decreases stability (I know this because I have followed other tuners who use this technique for every tuning...these are Steinway guys who have been on the road for 25 years), because the pins flagpole, and the piano tends to go sharper than normal. The argument that "Mrs. Jones shouldn't be able to knock it out of tune" just doesn't hold water. I have worked with several concert artists who are known for their forceful playing and projection, and they do not hit the keys as hard as some of these tuners do. The technique also leads to aural fatigue (for those who do not wear earplugs), parts breakage, and injury. I have a colleague who had to take six weeks disability because of acute tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome, due to this method. The correct method is to tune "by hammer", by using proper hammer technique and an appropriate test blow in combination. Laurie Cote, from Harvard, once told me "I only hit the key as hard as I need to". Once I tried a few experiments, and followed my own tunings, I saw direct results. One has to have the willingness to try new methods and be open to suggestion, especially during the apprentice phase, but I think it holds true for one's career. Your points about regulation and touch are also well-taken. That's another reason why it's important to be able to play the instrument, to be able to feel the touch the way the pianist would. Specs can guide you, but my experience with the rebuilds at Steinway Hall is that specs go out the window when you're working on an 1877 Model C one day and a 1929 Model D the next! You have to be willing to experiment, and to try to find the specs that work for the specific piano and not "force" the piano into your own rule book. For example, I try to set key dip so that it is comfortable for the pianist, unless they request a shallower or deeper dip specifically. That could be .375, .390, .400, .410, .420, or even .430 on any Steinway model, it all depends on the action. That key dip, in concert with a blow distance that works, defines the "feel" of your aftertouch (making sure there is room for jack wiggle in the mortise after escapement, and that there is a second rise of the hammer after letoff). My feeling is that key dip is the basis for the entire job. It also lets you set your benchmark when you need to regulate on the bench. In some cases at Steinway Hall, the piano needed to go to polishing before delivery, before I was finished with it. Since I didn't have easy access to the case, I would juggle the case needs (tuning etc) with the action needs. Working in retail makes you more efficient and to think more about time management, something I think holds true for the CAUT. Once I set key dip in the naturals, I set the sharps, but all by feel. It's much quicker. I do the same with hammer line - with a 12" ruler by eye, in two passes. I never measure blow distance, I just set it section by section after experimentation with various key dip/blow combinations. The other issues - rep springs, key level, etc. - I treat the same way, by feel. Eric Schandall talks about the "cycle of refinement". It all comes back to "how mcuh time to I have?" You can keep refining the touch if you have more than a day or two. I let the action, just like the pinblock, "tell" me how it wants to behave. I call it "listening" to what the piano will give you. Some Steinway B's, or even D's for that matter, will never play or sound like good B's, but they might play and sound like beautiful M's once in the home. It's knowing when to stop and say "this piano is at its potential". At NBSS we are taught a more time-consuming approach, necessary for the apprentice. Once you are out working it's up to you to make the judgement, there is no teacher there to tell you "right" from "wrong". The reason a good pair of ears is also important, outside of tuning...is to isolate the various squeaks, rattles, and hums, many of which are unique to Steinways. If someone is spending that kind of money, they shouldn't have a squeaking pitman, a knocking keyblock, or McLube on the key bed! I think we're on the same page with all this...I gues I'm preaching to the choir somewhat. More thoughts?
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