Horace Greeley wrote: > > Hi, Ric, > > > Not sure you picked up on what Zimmerman is alleged to be doing - he > is not using the Steinbuhler keyboard. He is using a standard > keyboard/keyset/etc, equipped with a Hamburg/Renner action/hammers, > which he personally prefers to work on himself. And, depending on > one's ear, he is either successful or not. No, the response is not > the same from one box to the next. I had thought this was the Steinbuhler he was freighting around, but the thrust remains the same as you point out. As long as he's happy all is well I suppose, but it would be interesting to see / hear how he adjusts for the response differences that must be rather significant from time to time as a result of this practice. > > Still, these kinds of artistic choices are not at all new. Any number > of well-known artists have had very idiosyncratic "setups" without > which, they felt, they could not possibly perform well. Eugene > Istomin was one - his issue, which he clearly acknowledged as a > neurotic need, was the length of the head of the key. He could, and > repeatedly did, from across a room, tell you the length of the > key-head within 0.5mm. Another, who is still active, so will remain > nameless, has a physical condition that requires a very non-standard > combination of rep. spring tension and check height in order to play. > (No, it's not Leon Fleischer.) Still another, poor sap, can feel the > placement of the fly/jack under the knuckle within less than 0.5mm. > The list goes on; but the point is that this is what we are paid to do > - interpret the artistic needs in terms of what a given instrument can > do, and then _do it_...no matter how ridiculous (to us) it may or may > not seem. What's important is the music - if that cannot happen, > what's the point? And, of course, that is where the value judgements > come in. At the end of the day, whether it is one's self or the > artist who does the work in a given situation, what is the end musical > product? Does one come away moved, or enlightened, or swept up...or, > bored, annoyed, etc.? Boy you said a mouthful here Horace. Personally, I find most of these kinds of situations to be interesting and challanging in the positive sense. I think its fair to say I have little taste for the <<one way>> philosophy of how to do things. Be it soundboard construction methods, voicing, tuning... or just about anything else... diversity is absolutely necessary in my book. As long as one achieves what one sets out to, and does a darned fine job of it then you've done as good as can be done me thinks. That said... these <<idiosyncratic setsups>> as you put it can get kind of strange, and at some point one has to wonder if it is in its place to object. We just had a recent discussion over here on the Nordic list about a pianist who sprays rather generous amounts of hair spray on keyboards that have plastic key coverings because he means these are too slick. This is a fellow who will not play on anything but a Hamburg D 99 % of the time. Probably not a real big deal here... but then somebody has to clean this stuff up, or pay to have it done. Examples abound, so when you ask "Does one come away moved, or enlightened, or swept up...or, bored, annoyed, etc.? " I suppose the answer varies with the situation as much as its dependant on your general mind set. Cheers RicB > > Best! > > Horace > > > >> Cheers >> RicB >> >> Horace Greeley wrote: >> >>> >>>> 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 >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > > _______________________________________________ > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives >
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