March 1, 2004
Speaking of interesting pianos...
I thought about the rarely used tack piano, in which metal tacks are placed in the felts of the hammers, which, if done correctly, causes no damage to the instrument. Lou Harrison has written some pieces for the tack piano which are quite good.
Anyway, this made me think of a party I went to when I was knee-high to a duck. The hosts had an interesting piano that had a lever that changed the timbre to something tinny. I am not sure that this was a tack piano (which would involve and interesting mechanism to shift the hammers), but it sounded something like it. When it was not in the "tinny" position, it sounded like a regular piano.
I would love to get my hands on this instrument, since the effect could be used for some interesting divisions in voices, the way Monteverdi used double choirs in St. Mark's. Has anyone ought there encountered one of these pianos, and if so, do you know the name of it?
Posted by erik at March 1, 2004 11:39 PM | TrackBackI've seen these. What it was was a mechanism that works similar to the damping cloth in stand-up pianos. Instead of the damping cloth, it lowers 88 metal tack-like things between the hammers and the strings. Doesn't sound as good imo as real tacks in the hammers.
Posted by: dan at May 27, 2004 5:02 PMAlicia,
I think that it would have to move the hammers, perhaps by shifting them so that a metal-covered portion strikes the strings. Moving the stings would cause potential tuning nightmares, and would require a particularly powerful lever. I suppose that something could move that would place metal ribbons lightly on the strings, too. The sound was really interesting.
Posted by: Erik Keilholtz at March 5, 2004 9:57 AMcould it have been a device that moved the harp containing the strings so that they would sound on a metallic surface of some kind?
I see that you are continuing your flirting with the pianoforte.