[CAUT] Mythbusters

[Greg Granoff]

True dat (as the students say here).  But I do believe he respects the
differences in hammer making and voicing style, and doesn't look for that to
change--though he did describe the Hamburg sound as more "elastic". Now I
wish I'd raised my hand and asked him to elaborate a bit on just what his
meaning was. Someone asked him about the perception of NY instruments in the
UK, and he indicated they were thought to be rather exotic and hard to come
by.

Greg Granoff
HSU

-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David
Ilvedson
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 2:37 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Mythbusters

Ulrich could not be tickled about voicing NY hammers day after day...no way!

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "Greg Granoff" <Gregory.Granoff at humboldt.edu>
To: caut at ptg.org
Received: 3/8/2010 2:22:36 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Mythbusters


>Yes, Ulrich made it pretty clear that with a German president in charge,
>there would be many other changes ultimately besides sostenuto
installation.
>He seemed downright tickled at the coming changes, though my impression
from
>the conversation was that they were definitely not trying to homogenize the
>sounds of the two instruments.  In addition to sost stuff, I think we can
>look for Hamburg style end blocks with their multiple adjustment screws and
>rollers for the end pins rather than our crude little NY plates.

>Greg

>-----Original Message-----
>From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Fred
>Sturm
>Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 11:38 AM
>To: caut at ptg.org
>Subject: Re: [CAUT] Mythbusters

>Word in NYC a couple years ago was that the belly mounted system of  
>Hamburg was very much under consideration, and that the Steinway  
>basement guys were lobbying very strongly against, because of what  
>they considered the relative ease of service for all elements taken as  
>a whole (especially ability to pull underlevers much more easily). But  
>Hamburg will probably prevail. There is no question that they are  
>working seriously on consolidating manufacture (as in NY Steinway  
>producing all action parts, Kelly producing all plates, Kluge  
>producing all keyboards) and eliminating differences in design and  
>production where possible. Which raises lots of questions, as, for  
>instance, what to do about hammers. The NYC plant has invested a lot  
>in hammer manufacture over the last several years. I'm sure they would  
>love to produce all hammers there, but the different philosophies (and  
>sonic results) each have their passionate proponents. So that's not  
>likely very soon.
>	But things like sostenuto and keyframe glides are likely to be  
>consistent fairly soon, or that is my strong impression from various  
>conversations. With a Hamburg guy now running the show, it may happen  
>faster.
>Regards,
>Fred Sturm
>University of New Mexico
>fssturm at unm.edu

>On Mar 8, 2010, at 12:14 PM, Greg Granoff wrote:

>> This just in--- at the Pacific NW and Western Regional conference  
>> just ended
>> in Bellevue Washington, Ulrich Gerhart of UK Steinway operations was  
>> asked
>> during his day long concert prep demo about that (sost rod and  
>> abandoning
>> the NY mounting style at long last) and his answer was a cryptic "stay
>> tuned".........
>>
>> Greg Granoff
>> HSU
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf  
>> Of Ron
>> Nossaman
>> Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 10:08 AM
>> To: caut at ptg.org
>> Subject: Re: [CAUT] Mythbusters
>>
>> reggaepass at aol.com wrote:
>>
>>> Seeing these two points consecutively begs another question: Whoever
>>> thought up mounting the sostenuto rod on the action brackets; if it's
>>> such a great idea, why don't others do it (including Steinways made  
>>> in
>>> Hamburg);
>>
>> An excellent question. Why is everyone so eager to copy tuned
>> duplexes, but not an action mounted sostenuto - including...?
>>
>>
>> and there plans to unify sos. rod location between the two
>>> Steinway factories?
>>
>> Each is quite willing for the other to follow their superior
>> example. <G>
>> Ron N
>>