[pianotech] Isaac Hammers

[Jim Busby]

Court,

Here is what Ari wrote back in answer to my post;

<<<<let me say this:
It is both simple and complex.  I start by making a short list of the tonal
features I want from a bass string or a set of bass strings, the list goes
like this.

Power
Transparency
Growl
Speaking with the same voice as the rest of the instrument.

By 'power' I mean I want, pretty much, the full rainbow of frequencies at
both pianissimo and ff. I want my strings to be as easily exciteable,
efficient, as possible.

By 'transparency' I mean the partials need to be as close to their correct
mathematical value as possible.  This gets a tiny bit complicated.  The
nodal points are really, as you know, segments of the string's length.  The
shorter those segments - the closer to the correct value will be the
partials. In     other words, the partials will be less sharp than if the
nodal segments are longer.  What this means, the effect of shorter nodals
segments will be a greater amplification of the tenor and treble because the
bass partials will be activated so much more readily.  The steel core to
copper ratios come into this as well.  From way back when, when I started
shipping bass strings, customers called me and said my strings make their
pianos sound larger than they really are.  I thought, at first, they were
buttering me up but the same reports kept coming from different tecs who
didn't know one another.  Eventually I researched this and the above is what
really happens.

By 'growl' I mean the cut-off between the sounding part of the bass string
cycle and the silence between those cycles.  If you were to slow down the
cycling to, say 5 c.p.s. you would hear a very short sound, and silence till
the next sound. (you wouldn't perceive it as sound cause it's cycling too
slow). I want the cut-off to be clean and definite all the way up.  The
effect is to be perceived as a more integral part of the entire scale, a far
nicer, more pleasant blend, presence, with the rest of the scale.

                'speaking with the same voice as the rest of the
instrument'...well, to me most bass strings you get today don't.  I know why
this is, it's the core wires, the soft copper and, for a good percentage of
bass strings - automatic winders.  The core wires, even Roslau, are
completely or mostly straightened by the wire drawers taking out  50% of the
core wire's spring.  I want that spring, as much of it as I can get, it's
the spring in the core that provides the power and the shorter nodal
segments. I have always ordered my core wire unstraightened, if it should
arrive straightened - I send it right back. Fortunately my suppliers know
this and it has not happened.  The soft copper is no more than dead weight,
literally, all soft copper can do is slow down the cycling to the desired
pitch.  Semi hard copper, by comparison, has some spring, memory, which
assists in the amplitude by providing a flywheel effect and thereby gives me
a cleaner growl.

There is, finally, my winding technique which is proprietary.  It
contributes a good deal to the tone.  In the end you need both.  Audomatic
winders can deal only with soft copper and cannot employ my winding
technique.

This is short, I would, if anyone is interested, enlarge on the points
above.


Ari. >>>>
________________________________
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Court Stewart [calexste at gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 10:35 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: [pianotech] Isaac Hammers

Hi List,

If anyone here has any opinion to share in regard to Ari Isaac's Cadenza S hammers I'd love to hear it, on or off list. Talking to him, I was impressed with his inquisitive approach to hammer making, as well as his helpfulness.  Any experiences with his bass strings would be appreciated as well.  His web page has some recordings that sound wonderful (http://www.isaacpiano.com/music_samples.html).

Thanks for your help,
Court Stewart
Assoc. PTG
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