At 10:53 +0200 13/5/08, Stéphane Collin wrote: >"... Treble... echoing round the rim..." is exactly how I would describe the >sound on the floating treble pianos I crossed. >Also, the amount and the aesthetic quality of the after ring is amazing on >those (of course, partly because of the smaller dampers, but even with >dampers lift, the reaction of the whole belly + strings to a single note in >treble can be, well, magical or rather common). Exactly. The effect can be quite exceptional when the pedal is down. >I suppose that this has to do with the fact that the energy input into the >treble is not kept for long sustain, but more generously spent in the belly, >leaving the sustain thing to the after ring things. Does this make sense ? I think so, yes. Both Bechstein and G&K stuck with the heavy overhanging studs in the treble while other makers switched to the cast-in pressure bar or, chez Bösendorfer, to a separate cast bar. Lipp and others also continued to use studs, though the Lipp soundboard is glued to the rim. This was obviously a choice that they considered better; they did not want the Steinway quality of treble. One can also mention Érard's "barre harmonique" as a stage in the development of the treble tone, seen here as implemented, with ordinary light studs, in a pre-modern (low tension) Kirkman: <http://pianomaker.co.uk/kirkman12521/> Clarity, purity and carrying power were the aims of all makers in the ever-problematic extreme treble as the piano developed. Different solutions define these qualities in different ways and risk different hazards if things are not quite right -- for example the Bechstein treble can "scream", which would not be seen by most of us as desirable. JD
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