[pianotech] Force equivalents in different actions

[David Love]

Well, you are correct, people still make mistakes with poor matching of
hammer weights and action ratios.  I meant that given the information, many
seem to be on the same page in terms of matching hammer weight to leverage.
Matching hammer weight (as opposed to, say, simple density) to scale and
soundboard response is something I'm not seeing much consensus on or
awareness of, or so it seems.  

 

One consideration in all this, however, is that I think it can be said that
the leverage, which effects hammer speed, also effects the tone.  This can
be demonstrated (maybe David Stanwood will chime on the SALA).  While little
consideration of this phenomenon is generally given, and understandably
since we don't get side by side comparisons of this easily, and with a "new"
action the player simply "adjusts", it does have an effect such that
considerations about hammer weight (or strike weight if you prefer) matching
leverage for tonal reasons as well as touchweight dynamics may be something
to consider.  Furthermore, let's suppose that one wanted to achieve the
maximum power available in a system for whatever reason, you could argue
that to achieve maximum power from the hammer you should set up a system
with high strike weights, high leverage and, of course, you would then need
assist springs in order to compensate for what would otherwise be excessive
key leading and high inertia.  Whether this has any value in real world
applications remains to be seen.    Just some thoughts.    

 

David Love

www.davidlovepianos.com

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of PAULREVENKOJONES at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 7:31 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Force equivalents in different actions

 

 

 

In a message dated 3/24/2010 9:19:06 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
davidlovepianos at comcast.net writes:

I
assume there is a consensus when it comes to weight considerations in terms
of touch dynamics.  

David:

 

While I wholeheartedly concur with the direction of your argument, I would
urge caution in assuming a consensus regarding weight considerations and the
possible remedies. I assume the opposite, that there are too few who are
paying proper attention to it. Add, then, the tonal results, and the sample
gets sparser. 

 

Bob Hohf has done a great amount of experimentation in this area with rather
dramatic results, not so much on the hammer weight side of things as on the
inertial and leverage side. But the implications would be easy to ferret
out, I suspect. 

 

Paul


 

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