My comments on the wrapped strings defining overall tonal color of the entire compass comes from experimentation and observation of my own work on small bellies. It could be that on a small belly with its vastly limited real estate, relative to a large instrument, it is easier for the board/strings to start moving, on their own, in response to board movement in other parts of the scale.
I remember actually, the first time I listened to one of my bellies, senza dampers. A fair amount of the sound seemed to be coming from parts of the instrument well removed from from the strike zone. I filed this observation away, and thought about it. Later, in other messing about, I was somewhat blown away at how the overall sound of the instrument was altered when the wrapped strings were seriously and effectively shut down from putting out any sound.
One experiment was inspired by my first 5' belly, which had/has an annoying high bass with a very heavy mid-partial mix, nasal, highly audible 10th partial quality(low tenor quite nice though). I was trying to figure out whether the nasality came from hammer impact, and thus could be voiced out, or whether the nasality came from the strings themselves, and could not be voiced out. The overall sound of the full compass mix was clearly high partial heavy. This gave the instrument a very agreeable crystalline treble...not Yamaha in-your-face bright-unto painful, but clear, very focused and shimmering...with an emphasis on focus. I would describe this focus as, I think, the bandwidth of available partials being thinner than less focused treble sounds.
In messing about, on a hunch, I shut down the all the wrapped strings, not shutting off board movement there, but shut down the strings along large amounts of their speaking length. In playing the tenor and treble in this condition, I was quite disappointed at how much of the agreeable crystalinne quality was lost with the shutting down of the wraps. This piano, now, with its still challenged high bass, despite its challenges in the nasal high bass, remains, for me, a very enjoyable piano to improvise on. I avoid the nasal parts and really take advantage of the other focused crystalline parts.
In subsequent small bellies, where the high bass, low bass and tenor are all putting out much more agreeable lower partial appropriate sounds, while the trebles have excellent sustain, they do not exhibit the compass wide focused amount of high partial sounds which my first belly exhibits in both a pleasant fashion in the tenor/treble and unpleasant fashion in the high bass.
I suppose one could voice up the treble of the more balanced subsequent small pianos. But the tonal palette created by voicing up, creates a different partial mix and envelope as compared to the high partials coming from sympathetic movement, at least when, as in that first small belly, the wrapped strings were putting out coupling frequencies the tenor/treble could effectively use. This sympathetic effect, I think, is much like a the quality of a Hardanger fiddle. The sympathetic un-damped strings creates a sound that is qualitatively different from the sounds coming from a vanilla fiddle with its mostly bowed sounds.
The piano is not primarily a sympathetically sounding instrument like the hardanger fiddle, of course. However, I think the sympathetic component of the sound is a significant part of each instrument's tonal signature. One of the things I find quite frustrating in old, tired bellies, or even new dead bellies, is that they completely lack the sympathetic component of the sound.
Jim Ialeggio
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Jim Ialeggio
grandpianosolutions.com
Shirley, MA
978 425-9026
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-07-2013 19:55
From: David Love
Subject: music wire properties - "stretch" (creep) in particular
Just so we're clear, lowering the core wire diameter only (outer dimension remains the same) will not change the tension but will raise the BP% and lower the inharmonicity. Lowering the wrap diameter by itself will lower the tension, lower the BP% and raise the inharmonicity. The overall change in tension, BP% and inharmonicity will depend on the proportional changes in each. However, I was referring to plain wire sections with those comments.
I don't know if I would agree that the bass determines the tonal signature of the piano, especially by means of sympathetic vibration.
The character of the piano, in terms of scaling, is largely determined by the midrange, in my opinion. Of course, the soundboard characteristics in conjunction with the scaling are important and the hammer characteristics, along with soundboard impedance, will determine the qualities of the attack/sustain relationship along with the timbral dynamics (partial balance). Since the specific attributes of the hammer along with voicing changes both the attack/sustain relationship as well as the timbral dynamics, the starting point of the hammer (weight, density, tension, profile) will collectively push the piano in a particular tonal direction.
This is a bigger discussion, obviously, but will be basically the first half of my double period class at WestPacIV (Structural Voicing). The second half will be voicing procedures and how they vary depending on specific hammer attributes--a reorganization of what I tried to do in two separate classes at WestPacIII.
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David Love RPT
www.davidlovepianos.com
davidlovepianos@comcast.net
415 407 8320
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-07-2013 10:35
From: Jim Ialeggio
Subject: music wire properties - "stretch" (creep) in particular
David,
In speaking of inharmonicity one needs to differentiate between the wrapped strings and the plain wire. In my own version of this, lowering the wrapped tensions by reducing cores and wraps, while maintaining reasonable BP% by using different tensile strength wires, results in lowered inharmonicity. The goal, a less complex bottom end sound...not pure, but less complex.
My take on this is that the wrapped strings in any belly, especially a responsive belly, to a great extent define the tonal signature of the entire compass, not just the bass. In a well functioning belly, the tonal profile of the un-struck, sympathetically sounding wrapped strings, is reflected tio a huge degree in struck treble tone...at least, this is my experience.
Whether the actual carbon content of the wire will effect the tonal signature is an interesting question, and one that has not been demonstrated on either side of this discussion. I look forward to hearing practical application of Birkett's work, as until we hear it, we have no clue either way. I think as a hypothesis, the concept that a different material would have a different tonal profile is an entirely reasonable conjecture, and one worth proving either way.
Jim Ialeggio
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Jim Ialeggio
grandpianosolutions.com
Shirley, MA
978 425-9026
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