Pure Tone Strings

[Ron Nossaman]

>That was the basis of my statement.  Steve's conclusion, wire size
>will not appreciable improve tonal power and a too long speaking
>length cannot be improved with different sized wire.

Wouldn't that be too *short* a speaking length? I don't think I've seen too
long in a piano, except in relation to plain/wound breaks.



>I agree with you that more research is needed.  Factories are
>trying to make louder and louder pianos, mostly by changing the
>weight of hammers and some scale improvements but more fundamental
>research has to be made about our assumptions about things like
>bridges, ribs, soundboards, rims, plates, wire, scales and so on.

* I agree too, but if no organization is fighting desperately to throw
funding at it, and a whole lot of them fit the "not fighting desperately"
description, then what prevents an individual or small group from finding
some answers of their own? Sure, the big grants, with the fully equipped
lab facilities aren't available, but that isn't the end of all research.
Knowledge doesn't have to originate at institutions, guys. There are people
out there in the trenches who are interested enough, and dedicated enough
to lay their OWN time and money on the line in pursuit of answers. Look
around and see where interesting approaches to fundamental design and
analysis are coming from. It's not the universities or manufacturers. It's
from individuals. Sure, it would be wonderful to get the right people
funded for research in a useful direction, but that's at least three
unlikely propositions off the top. 




>I remember old Bluthners that had a tonal range, volume AND tone
>change, far out stripping most modern pianos with rock hard
>hammers.  Those old hammers could play a beautiful but projecting
>pppp then play a ffff that had real steel underneath.  This could
>have been scaling as well, soundboard, ribs, bridges, etc., but if
>I could make a piano sound like those old Bluthners I would die a
>happy man.  I really think hard hammers is going in the wrong
>direction.

* Me too. From what I've experienced with my own non-funded minimally
bureaucratic R&D, I believe it's do-able. A manufacturer who cares enough
to meet minimal tolerances, produces what the designer designed, and was
more concerned with a quality sound, than a mainstream product, could do
it. Bluthner did it, didn't they? 

-------------------------------------------
>		Newton

As in all things, the only thing keeping that "golden age" from happening
is the participants. There are more pearls out there now than there ever
were, it's just that there are more swine too.

Keep plugging,
 
Ron N