Are you suggesting then that when you press the needles in you are actually feeling for the gaps between the fibers? I agree that fewer insertions to achieve the goal is better the more insertions and I suppose it could be argued that generally the press method will result in fewer insertions. Beyond that, however, I don't think I'm inclined to go for the mechanics of fiber response to press versus stab as the reason. I do think that it's probably better for the less experienced to use the press method. For someone who has achieved a level of skill for hitting their mark and at the desired depth I don't see any reason not to use the stab method. I think we may agree that generally speaking the press method will yield better results with less damage but I'm not sure if we agree as to the reason. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Fred Sturm Sent: Friday, June 04, 2010 7:20 AM To: College & University Technicians Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway extra-bore-length On Jun 3, 2010, at 10:54 PM, David Love wrote: > With respect to the question of more or less tearing with a fast or > slow stroke all I can say is when I get a flue shot every year I > think there's a reason that they employ the stab rather than the > press method and I'm not sorry that they do. But that is in line with a stab cutting more readily. The quick stab breaks the skin surface and some muscle underneath, and the needle penetrates. Press, and the skin indents and nerves are activated. The skin is a "solid" surface and needs to be cut to be penetrated. A hammer, OTOH, is a bunch of fibers with air space in between (unless it is ridiculously too densely pressed), and we want the needle to go in the space between fibers and spread them rather than cut them. That is what adds to the resilience, the bounce of the hammer. The fibers are (generally) stiffly joined in an array, and need to be loosened up, like a pair of jeans dried on the line. The less destructively we can do this, the better, or so I picture it - and experience seems to bear this out, both in longevity and tonal results. Regards, Fred Sturm fssturm at unm.edu http://www.youtube.com/fredsturm
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