I'm not a concert pianist (and I don't play one on TV), but I would like to understand the motion of a soft trill. This is a learning excercise for me. Please correct my assumptions, if in error: For minimum volume, the hammer must travel with minimum velocity when it strikes the string. For fastest repetition, the hammer must travel from the string to the point where the jack stops it and back to the string as quickly as possible. To satisfy both minimum volume and maximum repetition, the distance the hammer travels must be minimized, certainly much less than full blow distance. Half blow? Less than checking distance? Obviously, the "trill blow distance" must be more than let-off, or the jack would never touch the knuckle. The jack should be waiting just under the knuckle at this much-reduced blow distance, which leads me to conclude that the key should be one-half, two-thirds, or even more through its travel when the hammer reaches this shallow "bottom". Does that sound right? Normally we set drop so that the hammer does not rise above the let-off point at full key dip, but rather ends up close to let-off. What if we set drop a little lower, so the jack had something to push against in a very shallow trill, with the performer lowering the wippen enough to get the jack under the knuckle, but not enough to disengage the rep lever from the drop screw? A sensitive performer should be able to feel that point of simultaneous let-off/drop-screw engagement and stay there, no? Actually, I suppose lowering the drop screw would slightly separate the ideally simultaneous contact. If, in the bass, let-off was 1/8th, and drop another 1/8th, with 1/16th rise during aftertouch, Would a 3/16th inch "trill blow distance" be possible and repeatable? __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
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