Inharmonicity

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Bob Anderson wrote:

> Bob Sadowski's and Del Fandrich's latest postings have hit a point that
> should be of concern to us all. We need help in improving string scales.
> To those of you who are doing it, let us cheer you on. I can appreciate
> the value of historical references. But I can also appreciate the
> attempts to improve on developments at any point in history. We can work
> around the problems in any piano as we try to tune it. That is part of
> our job and part of the fun (or headache?) of our work. But think of the
> satisfaction of tuning a piano that falls comfortably into place
> tuning-wise. We owe that sort of experience to those designers who have
> done a good job all-round. We need the Del Fandrich's of our world to
> help us out to create instruments which are friendly to tuning.
>
> Bob Anderson
> Tucson, AZ

---------------------------

Bob,

Thanks for the kind words, but tunability is one of the last things I have in mind when I design a new piano or when I
redesign an old one. Musical quality should be -- must be -- always first and foremost in any acoustical design. As it
happens, if this is done correctly, tunability follows quite nicely. I've yet to find a truly musical scale that was
difficult to tune. But, when all is said and done, only the music matters. And it REALLY matters.

I'm continuously surprised by the lack of this understanding on the part of some manufacturers. I hear lots of "woe is me"
about the changing -- disappearing? -- piano market. Yet here is a large, still untapped, market that is being ignored. That
is that growing group of current piano owners who are dissatisfied with their current instruments and who have not been able
to find anything better in the new pianos that are currently being offered for sale. A large percentage of the work that we
do is done for people who could well afford a new piano. Often they have already shopped for a new piano, but found the sound
-- the music -- of the instruments lacking. So they come here and pay us more money than they would have spent for a new
instrument. Just to get the music.

And, while our specialty is the redesign and remanufacture of older instruments, we're not the only ones. Even traditional
piano rebuilding/restoration/remanufacturing, etc. is a growth segment in an otherwise sagging industry. And it's not because
the owners are just trying to save money. If that were the case they would all trade their old pianos in on new "Bauble
Creeks." They are looking for -- and finding -- the music.

Some time back I wrote an article with some of these thoughts called "If It Ain't Broke, Break It." The silence then was
deafening. It still is.

Regards,

Del