KS 34: Mason A - The Weighoff
Identifying which keys lift less than target upweight is a sensible starting point for weighing off an action. At the most basic level, any key that will not lift 20...
Christopher Brown |
Chris Brown RPT
KS 34: Mason A - The Weighoff
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WEIGHING OFF THE GRAND ACTION - Part 5
How much can weighoff help grand action playability? Sometimes, as with poor action geometry, weighoff will not help unless problems are corrected first. I recently I found myself so challenged...
Christopher Brown |
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WEIGHING OFF THE GRAND ACTION - Part 4
Pragmatics: We weighoff a key to help its note function properly. With good geometry, good regulation, and appropriate friction in place, key balancing fine tunes how well a note will...
Christopher Brown |
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Principles in a Time of Covid
The field technician plans what can be planned. Selects and brings the tools that can be brought. Then fields what happens in real time with what is available. Well really,...
Christopher Brown |
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A Baldwin R Tells Me What to Do
Last week I regulated a Baldwin R baby grand, vintage 1950, which featured five interesting points in an apparently standard-issue regulation. 1. Hidden studs, including the two outside ones –...
Christopher Brown |
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Weighing Off the Grand Action - Part 3A
Regulation Strategy Review: A well-executed weighoff hones good grand regulating to exceed customer expectations. And the Grandwork System provides a weighoff-worthy regulation every time, with much of the work (including...
Christopher Brown |
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WEIGHING OFF THE GRAND ACTION – Part 3
Method and Style: I recommend the pick-and-add method of weighoff. Key balancing weights are used in pairs, upweight on the bottom, pairing weight on top. Add a pair (downweight) to...
Christopher Brown |
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WEIGHING OFF THE GRAND ACTION – Part 2
My Strategy I only weigh off well-regulated actions. The objectives of weighoff are balance and consistency and erratic or inappropriate elements in regulation, including those of friction, inertia, and geometry,...
Christopher Brown |
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WEIGHING OFF THE GRAND ACTION – Part 1
Longer, heavier gauge piano strings need larger, heavier hammers to sound good and have sufficient power. Shorter, lighter gauge strings need smaller, lighter hammers. To make the full range player-friendly,...
Christopher Brown |
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Aural Tuning Strategy: Sanderson/Brown
A good tuning enhances whatever else you can do for a piano. A really good tuning can launch the player to a higher place… I started out learning the Braid White F...
Christopher Brown |
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Grand Regulation: Letoff, Segue, and Drop - Part 1
Music History quiz: What is the single most notable feature in a modern grand action? If we answer “double escapement”, then as piano historians we can high five. But as...
Chris Brown RPT |
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Grand Regulation: Key Dip - Part 3
One role key dip should not play in a grand regulation is Keyframe Transfer Gauge. Dip as Articulator and dip as Mediator work effectively on behalf of piano player enjoyment. With a...
Christopher Brown |
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Grand Regulation: Key Dip - Part 2
Key dip, the Articulator, specifies a note’s depth of stroke and resulting hammer rise. Along with blow distance, letoff, and other geometry, it fine-tunes aftertouch, the follow-through needed for good and...
Chris Brown RPT |
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Grand Regulation: Key Dip - Part 1
About five years into my becoming a piano technician, my teacher flipped me a job, a fund-raiser at a well-known museum featuring a 19th century German upright from its collection....
Christopher Brown |
