On Jun 3, 2010, at 9:46 PM, David Love wrote: > I don't think the felt knows if the needles > go in slow or fast. The problem occurs when it takes five shallow > stabs for > each deep one. I agree to a point, certainly about the shallow and deep stabs. Those shallow stabs cause a lot of damage, on the surface where it really makes a negative difference. But I also think that the felt reacts to a stab of the needle somewhat as it does to a harder blow against the string, becoming stiffer and more resistant. So it is a question of additional speed of thrust, sudden impact, and that the felt fibers are reacting to a more sudden blow by becoming more stiffly aligned with one another. Perhaps on a microscopic/molecular level it is something in the realm of electrical bonds. Also on the mere fact of speed, not allowing the fibers time to spread in reaction to the insertion. In my imagination, as I visualize it, it is somewhat like wet sand on the seashore, right next to the waves. When you walk slowly, your heels and soles sink in, it feels soft. When you run, the sand feels hard, and your feet don't make much of a print. I think felt acts in a similar way. Could be wrong, of course, but this is in line with why hammers make a different sound profile when they strike the strings faster - they become denser and harder. When I stab, I seem to hear more tearing, and feel it too - though it is harder to feel what is happening with a stab. I grant, though, that very much depends on the precise technique used, and a careful stab technique could well be little different from press in results. It would partly depend on exactly what speed of stab - as you increase velocity, you are bound to increase tearing versus spreading, or so I visualize it. I rarely see a truly controlled stab technique - to my eye, it looks far more chaotic and random than what I do. But I am sure there are people with more skill than what I have seen. Regards, Fred Sturm fssturm at unm.edu http://www.createculture.org/profile/FredSturm http://www.youtube.com/fredsturm http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/FredSturm
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