Hi, Dave, Thanks very much! A few questions/comments interspersed: At 03:59 PM 1/4/2005, you wrote: >Horace: > >We have had a 7/8 (actually 41.2") action for several years. Most of >the research that Dr. Leone has done has been with college age players >who have small hands. Her research so far indicates that these people >can switch back and forth quite easily. The main thing is that they >simply have to choose repertoire appropriate for the piano they are >playing. Precisely...and, that is the crux - "they simply have to choose repertoire appropriate for the piano they are playing". >Dr. Leone herself has had a good career playing on standard actions but >she gave up certain repertoire that was starting to cause injury on the >standard keyboard. Now with this keyboard she can go back to some of >the pieces that she abandoned. S&S urban legend used to have it that Hofmann developed his own action (part of which included a smaller keyboard) partly for these same reasons. >We just got a new 7/8 for one of our "D"s this past fall. Tom Servinsky >came here to install it for Mr. Steinbuhler. He kept hearing one very >good student practicing and was justifiably impressed. At one point I >introduced the two of them and since this 7/8 action has the new Ronson >Wurzen hammers we asked the student to play it so we could hear it in >the hall. This particular student had never played a 7/8 action before >and I was astounded at how well he played it that first time. The >transition has proved to be easier than most expected. Yes - going to the smaller instrument does not seem to be a problem (unless, of course, one has large hands). My questions would be around the folks who grow up (in a sense) playing the smaller keyboard. What would their experience be when moving back and forth? Dr. Leone and the student you mention have developed their technique on standard keyboards. >Our piano preparatory department is just now starting to do some >experiments with younger students (Elementary age). We have 3 studio >uprights with the 7/8 keyboards in addition to the grand actions. I'm >looking forward to reading the research on this. > >So far, our experience with the 7/8 actions has been very positive. This is great! I appreciate the response. Please do not hear my obvious skepticism as total negativity. My own exposure to these actions has (obviously) been limited. I look forward to hearing more! Best. Horace >dave > >-----Original Message----- >From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On >Behalf Of Horace Greeley >Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 4:49 PM >To: Pianotech >Subject: RE: Una Corda Adjustments and Christian Zimmermann > > >Dave, > >At 02:28 PM 1/4/2005, you wrote: > >David: > > > >Where did you hear about the action swapping? That one is hard for me > >to buy having done quite a bit of installing a Steinbuhler action in > >several "D"s. The Steinbuhler action is designed to be adjusted for > >different pianos but it still requires several hours to set up. What > >kind of action is he taking with him? Does it have a non-standard > >keyboard? > > > >Inquiring minds...... > >I did it with stock NY keyframes, keysets and action rails, with >combinations of NY and Renner/Hamburg parts. While it certainly did >take >several hours per move, the results were generally well worth the >trouble. > >As to the Steinbuhler - Several years ago, I was able to spend some time > >with a D which had been fitted with the Steinbuhler action (though, >clearly >not as much as someone who works with them regularly). It was, in many >respects, the best instrument at the show. At the same time, after >spending a fair amount of time listening to a wide variety of (mostly >younger) pianists, I came away from the whole thing thinking something >along the lines that....here are these young kids, with the skeletal and > >muscular systems still very much in quick development, doing (in that >setting) a fair amount of practice (which is to say, developing the >muscle-memory that comes from repetition in practice) on an instrument >which gave them an ungrounded sense of accomplishment and ability. This >is >not to say that there were not some exceptionally talented people >playing. It is to say that one wonders how these folks might, if >afforded >such actions for protracted periods of time (for, say, a number of >years), >adjust when the get to the more "real" world, and have to play on >whatever >is presented to them. There is already such a tendency for younger >students to be pushed into literature which they are simply not >sufficiently developed physically that I really hate to see those >problems >exacerbated. > >FWIW, it was particularly informative to go to the performances of those > >same students who had been given so much time on the modified D. While >I >did not make any effort to get reductive data, it was clear that a >significant number of them had noticeably more, and more serious, >technical >errors than the students who had been practicing either exclusively on >standard keyboards, or who had spent only limited time on the >Steinbuhler. > >Knowing that you have one of these beasts, I would be interested to know >if >the above has any correlation in your experience. > >Best. > >Horace > > > > >dave > > > >-----Original Message----- > >From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On > >Behalf Of David Love > >Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 4:13 PM > >To: 'Pianotech' > >Subject: Una Corda Adjustments and Christian Zimmermann > > > >I heard a story from a pianist recently about Christian Zimmermann who > >apparently regulates his own pianos for concerts. The story is that he > >regulates the una corda so that it has 4 distinct positions that >produce > >four unique tones. Has anyone worked with him to know what that's all > >about. > > > >An interesting side story about him (if true) is that he apparently >used > >to travel with his own two S&S D's. They were evidently on their way >to > >NY when 9/11 happened. The story is that the pianos were traveling >with > >some type of chemical that triggered some sort of bomb alert and the > >pianos were subsequently hacked apart in an attempt to find the > >material. Now he travels with his own action which he fits to each > >piano that he plays. > > > >David Love > >davidlovepianos@comcast.net > > > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > >pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > >_______________________________________________ > >pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > >_______________________________________________ >pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives >_______________________________________________ >pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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