[CAUT] CAF

[Jeff Tanner]

The cushion is indeed a fail safe.  If the cushion is becoming involved, that means the backcheck and repetition missed catching the hammer assembly.  The only playing technique I can come up with that would create the problem is one that is outside the machine's design capability to produce.  The first stroke would have to be a short stroke, shallow enough to fling the hammer at the string without getting the check high enough to get in the way, followed by a hard blow fast enough to keep the jack from completely resetting causing the jack to cheat on the second blow.  Still, if the cushion is getting involved at whatever height, I'm struggling with seeing how the jack is going to get under there at all.

I would bet that the music wasn't originally composed with this technique in mind, but that modern "interpretation" has altered the original intention of the music.  If today's action designs have trouble with it, imagine what the design limitations of early composers, or even modern composers' instruments would be like.  We all know that the composer's pianos are among the lowest on the priority list, and they are the types that just don't expect much of their pianos beyond rough tuning.

Jeff


----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Fred Sturm 
  To: caut at ptg.org 
  Sent: Monday, August 17, 2009 10:25 AM
  Subject: Re: [CAUT] CAF




  On Aug 17, 2009, at 8:01 AM, Jeff Tanner wrote:


    So, yes, the cushion is a fail safe for when the action is not well regulated.


  I disagree. It is no more a fail safe than the felt in the rep window, which limits the jack's travel (and also prevents a click). That limiting felt has a big impact on repetition speed and reliability. If you get a chance to watch the Kawai video, you'll see it pretty dramatically.
  When an action is played at high speeds and volumes, parts flex and compress beyond expected parameters. 

  Regards,
  Fred Sturm
  University of New Mexico
  fssturm at unm.edu









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