[CAUT] S & S D rest cushions

[Susan Kline]

At 02:43 PM 8/16/2009, Fred wrote:
>When I first ran into
>it, a pianist left a note after rehearsal, saying notes X, Y and Z
>were having repetition problems sometimes. I checked them, found
>nothing amiss, did the usual odd bits of things to optimize repetition
>(regulation, spring tension). Dress rehearsal, and the pianist called:
>"I'm still having repetition problems with those notes, and it is in
>very obvious places" (can easily be heard by the audience). So I went
>into the hall and had her show me. Yep, no question there were
>problems. After watching and listening to what she did, I was able to
>make it happen. I'm not sure I could do it again at this point, but I
>could do it consistently at the time. It had to do with precise timing
>of a second blow on the key, as well as the precise way the first blow
>was executed (pretty hard and staccato). What seemed the easiest
>solution was tacking a bit of felt onto those cushions. Presto!
>Problem solved. (All shanks were a good cm or more above the cushions).


EXACTLY. Two notes right after each other, played pretty hard and staccato.
(What I described as "ba-DING".) And the rest of the checking and repetition
seemed just fine, all the rules were followed, etc. However, when I
encountered it, the rest felt was not far from the shank, just a normal
distance. I've encountered this on two pianos -- the first was the teflon
rebuild, and needed repinning, nothing else would do. The second was
nearly right, but a note or two would jam in the two-note situation.

I have been able to fix it by a careful and not extensive
reshaping of the hammer tail shape, so it can't "slide through"
as easily, and by carefully regulating the backcheck distance,
though certainly the first thing to check would be the hammer
and balancier pinning, so they aren't too "free." (Free to jam,
why would we want that?)

In a pre-concert situation, where time was an issue, taking a sandpaper
hammer file and carefully working on the tail shape seemed to me
to be the most practical approach (and it worked, luckily.)
This was on a piano where everything was very nearly right to
begin with. A subtle reshaping can be done in just a few minutes,
leaving time for the artist to try the passages again, to be
sure it all works.

I'm glad to hear about another approach which has been known
to fix this problem (closer rest cushions.) Something else to check
on when one encounters it.

Susan Kline