Choosing to Condemn

[Mike and Jane Spalding]

Terry,

No, you've definitely got a lot of the romantic dreamer in you if you can write what you just did.  I, too, was swayed by Susan's response, but had no idea how to express it.  From one former engineer to another, Terry, my hat is off to you!  (and to Susan, too).

thanks,

Mike Spalding RPT

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Farrell <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
To: Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 6:29 AM
Subject: Re: Choosing to Condemn


> WOW! What a difference between a pragmatic male (former scientist) and a female! I love it. I love the points you bring up. I'm perhaps not swayed big time, but definitely a bit. You don't see broke or working, you see colors and dreams! I truly think you have expressed a bunch of neat thoughts. If I ever wrote a book, it would be about science something - "just the facts ma'am". Your book would explore the universe of man's soul.
> 
> You rocked my boat!
> 
> Terry Farrell
>   
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Susan Kline" <sckline@attbi.com>
> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 2:31 AM
> Subject: Re: Choosing to Condemn
> 
> 
> > At 11:11 PM 11/26/2002 -0500, Terry wrote:
> > >Yes, and I'm sure somewhere there is a Nobel Peace Prize winner that grew 
> > >up in poverty in an abusive home, bla, bla, bla. Just my opinion then, but 
> > >any very good condition console will be better to play than an old beater 
> > >upright with bobbling hammers, tubby bass strings, zinging dampers (if 
> > >they work at all), super inconsistent tone from note to note, etc. That's 
> > >all I'm trying to say. Nothing too earth shattering here I should think.
> > 
> > It probably depends on which 'old beater' you're talking about. I think 
> > that this point could be argued.
> > 
> > Bobbling hammers aren't that hard to get rid of, though if the action is 
> > totally worn out one may have to pull some stunts to do so. Some zinging 
> > dampers can be freshened just by rubbing a finger up and down them. Super 
> > inconsistent tone from note to note -- sure, it's hard, but sometimes a 
> > little voicing/filing/hammer spacing can help somewhat, especially since 
> > the piano has never had any since it was born. Whether it's worth the 
> > effort depends on whether there's any music left in the thing.
> > 
> > Sometimes the big old crates, with all their problems, still can provide a 
> > better musical experience than a "properly" working console, because they 
> > have the string length for a decent tone, and those tubby bass strings 
> > sometimes have an air of mystery about them, particularly when the tone 
> > sort of glows from those tiny little bass dampers with the weak tired 
> > springs. And the cases are often interesting and full of character. The old 
> > broken ivories and scratched finish and worn pedals have a sort of old shoe 
> > comfort to them. A newer console seems sterile in comparison.
> > 
> > I'm not saying that the problems aren't problems, but given a little help 
> > from "this was Grandma's old piano" and the deep mellow and somewhat funky 
> > sound of these old things, an imaginative daydreaming sort of child might 
> > well do better on them than on a console with a tight jangly false and 
> > especially _uninteresting_ sound.
> > 
> > Some pianos, against all expectations, are just _fun_ to play. Sometimes 
> > one plays a proper, regulated, even, nice new Asian piano, and then a 
> > beaten up old Krakauer upright -- and the Krakauer somehow makes more 
> > interesting musical ideas appear.
> > 
> > Well, I've condemned some old uprights, too, if they've been left in 
> > garages, etc. How many need to be given up for lost depends a lot on the 
> > local climate, too. In the last month or so, I saw two 5 foot grands which 
> > had lived in Florida. Boards bad, so that the notes just bang. Rust and 
> > moth everywhere. They play, but the soul has seeped out of them in the 
> > humidity and heat.
> > 
> > I think that the ability to make SOME sort of music and to at least partly 
> > understand the interaction between a piano and a musical imagination is 
> > just as valuable for a rebuilder as for a concert technician. One needs a 
> > certain feeling for the instrument to make the right choices in rebuilding 
> > just as much as in concert work. Otherwise one may end up with a pretty, 
> > proper, correct piano filled with shiny new parts, but somehow no one wants 
> > to play on it.
> > 
> > Just MHO, as usual.
> > 
> > Susan
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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