No subject

[pianotech@byu.edu]

Is it true that the new Steinway keyboards have a slightly longer head to
the naturals?  More than one player has asked me if their perception is
correct, but since I don't see as many brand new ones anymore I didn't
know what to say.


Dennis Johnson
St. Olaf College

-----------------MY REPLY------------------

Key dimension for Steinway (and probably for virtually all long term
manufacturers) has changed throughout the years. This is probably mostly a
function of who is (was) making their keyboards. I think one of the most
significant changes inherent in the different keyboards is the width of the
octave. Wood Brooks made a lot of keyboards for Steinway in the pre-war (2nd)
era. Their octave width is almost 1/16th" greater than the Pratt Reed
keyboards of the post-war era. From beginning to end of a keyboard, the width
is about 3/8" greater for the Wood Brooks keyboard. The Kluge keyboards
currently in use also have the wider octave and -- if my memory serves me
correctly -- use a sharp with a taper on the height (thinner in back). I don't
think the Wood Brooks keyboards have this taper and -- to complicate matters
--  seem to have wider, less tall sharps than the Pratt Reed sharps. Whatever,
suffice to say there are many differences between different era keyboards. One
needs only to have  repaired ivory tops with tops from another piano to know
this.

I talked once with Ron Connors (head tech at Steinway Hall, NY, Concert and
Artist Division) about the different octave width. I was surprised that
pianists do not seem to notice this as they switch from one era keyboard to
another (at Oberlin we have many different configurations). He commented that
only one pianist that came to try different pianos in the selection room in
Steinway Hall had "complained" about this difference; and since I'm talking
about a relatively recent occurrence, the keyboards involved were probably
from Pratt Reed and Kluge. As I recall, the pianist was Eugene Istomin, but
don't quote me. I guess the different dimensions in general are noticed by the
pianists but only in a sense that it affects the way a piano "feels".

Ken Sloane, Oberlin Conservatory