Horace: I have not perceived your skepticism as negativism. I think that in doing research one must walk the straight line between skepticism and enthusiasm, otherwise the research findings will not be objective. The success that adult small-handed people have found is, by now, pretty well established. They can do more repertoire without injury on the small keyboard and still function very well on larger keyboards albeit with a reduced repertoire. This research will continue, but the results so far have been very good. The research on children starting on small keyboards is pretty new...at least here. There is certainly precedent for this in the work done with other instruments. 1/2, 3/4 and other size violins and cellos have had a long history with success. The truth is, growing is somewhat traumatic. Teen age boys who are somewhat larger today than they were yesterday exhibit a clumsiness that is at times rather comical. However, eventually most of them do adjust to their size and become coordinated or even graceful as adults. Humans adapt. Most of us don't get to observe many really new research projects. I feel privileged to be watching this here. It has been fun. dave -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Horace Greeley Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 6:14 PM To: Pianotech Subject: RE: Una Corda Adjustments and Christian Zimmermann 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 _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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