This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Hello Barbara, Dale, Richard, dear audience ! Very interesting discussion I read that ping pong match with much interest ! here are a few comments : Lacquer gives power indeed, as felt by the strong tinkling of the key under the finger, but this power is the same at low volume and at high volume, so I prefer the one that is more naturally articulated and that evolve with the strength of the tone. Indeed the last years Renner hammers have sometime not a lot of tension build in, when making the deep needling we add tension because the center dense felt is unstructured, the hammer grows and the outer core get more tense. Then If a hammer is not dense enough inside we have some problems to get the deepness of tone that some pianos ask for. So we can have a hammer that have a lot of tension, a very rich rebound and a lively tone at all levels, but still miss some basic power for sustaining tone and carry the timbre at forte levels. Battery needling gives that, densifing the bottom of the shoulder and the felt under the strike point, but it does not add lot of tension, so it is of course better to begin with a hammer having enough. Renner is now using a more controlled hammer press so the tension within the hammers is more pronounced and voicing is more creative, and the rules apply much better than when some part of the set where too hard and some not enough. The felt quality indeed is the big parameter in that. Now, I have not a lot of experience using high tension low or medium density hammers, but I guess the tone can be very nice and exactly appropriate for the kind of older American pianos tone I've heard, that is a kind of sophisticated tone, a little too policed for my culture may be. I believe it is not a good idea to add lacquer to create more power then, and that possibly one can try usual processes before that move. Keeping the fiber in its natural state is leaving the possibility to be more creative with the tone, and it is easier to maintain after that.. The taste of the pianist is not in those nuances most often, not to speak of the medium level amator or the beginner. Grey market Japanese pianos with densified hammers are sold daily, even nice pianos that have a very inharmonic tone like Bechstein are sometime seen here with a refelting job made more brilliant with the use of plastic. When speaking of tone volume and brilliance are not power, power drives the fundamental mostly, and the fundamental drives the higher partials differently depending of the force the note is played. It is easier to check power of the bass, and the medium notes, with a strong but cool finger like for tuning, listening the way the fundamental hold and feeling the power within the key. Volume, or energy is the strength of the immediate tone while power is more the concentration of tone that allow the carry and the sustain. Brilliance is driven by the shape, and condition of the highest part of the hammer, including the cushion . I am sure better definitions are possible, and I'll be pleased to read them. Have a nice Sunday ! Isaac Mega Oleg > ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20/63/b4/e3/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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