[pianotech] regulation without a ruler (was: Old can of worms)

[Piano Boutique]

Susan,

It is called Touch Regulation.   It has been done for years.   By lightly 
pressing down to the let off point; pausing for a moment, then flicking the 
key, you can feel the hammer lift and lightly strike the string.   By making 
the keys all consistent, you can have a great deal of control over the 
regulation.

William



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Susan Kline" <skline at peak.org>
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2012 9:54 AM
Subject: Re: [pianotech] regulation without a ruler (was: Old can of worms)


> On 5/10/2012 11:57 PM, David Love wrote:
>> Maybe during the regulation part of the RPT test we should have people do 
>> that without the benefit of any measuring devices, just by feel.
>
> That actually is a pretty good idea -- well, not for the test, because the 
> test depends on numbers to be "impartial" (and, to my mind, that is one 
> difficulty with testing piano work.) The pianist plays by feel. If you 
> know the ratios you want, and the tradeoffs you cannot avoid,  and you can 
> eyeball things like check distance, and you have a good feel for 
> aftertouch, you might end up better without measurements than a regulation 
> purely by the numbers, especially if a particular piano is "geometrically 
> challenged". And for some brands specs are not available, anyhow. Working 
> without measuring tools, one is in closer contact with the particular 
> instrument itself, instead of some theoretical model which may or may not 
> be a good match with the real piano for things like string height, bore 
> distance, worn hammers, etc.
>
> Of course, this demands a good sense of touch when actually playing a 
> piano, and a feeling for musicality and for what artists require. Mcuh 
> easier to just plug in some numbers. So much less thinking and listening 
> and feeling. Think of the time which can be saved! Well, not really, 
> because measuring takes time. But maybe mental effort?
>
> Susan Kline (ducking in advance)
>
>