Re: Loud Duo-Art
By Spencer Chase
More ramblings about loud Duo-Art pianos.
Duo-Arts seem to have gotten a reputation for being uncontrollably loud. Since I wasn't around in the 20's I don't know if the Duo-Arts were loud then too. Maybe anyone who could afford a Duo-Art could also afford a room large enough to house it. Today that is often not the case. Other reproducing pianos can be loud too, but usually there is a way to soften them without losing all dynamic control.
Unfortunately the Duo-Art is such a cobbled-together mess of more magic than engineering that this is often difficult. Their beauty comes from the dedicated editing process that yielded many superb rolls. Unfortunately this is all lost when the mechanism is not almost perfect.
There is a huge difference between a piano that can play at 4 to 4.5 wci of vacuum evenly without losing notes, and one that has to be jacked up to 4.8 to 5 wci to play. I have two Steinways, one in each category. The better one had the stack rebuilt by a previous owner some time ago. It still has cross valves and leather that looks and feels just like the original but is in perfect condition. I repaired all the problems this piano had and rebuilt things that were overlooked by the previous owner but still have not rebuilt the original pump, which is still limping silently along.
This piano brings people to tears. Hoffman playing Chopin's "Nocturne" in D-Flat is the closest to a live performance I have heard on a pneumatic reproducing piano. In Mendelssohn's "Fingals Cave Overture" (a completely put-together piece) you can hear every nuance and the thunder is clear and not overbearing. On the other Steinway you need to numb your brain with a drink or two to hear the music above the din.
My Stroud has round valves which can be made to play perfectly with little trouble, but the piano is wimpy and is really good only for popular music and simple songs.
It is truly a bitch that all these Steinways came with cross valves. There is no way to get a piano to play well with bad valves, especially a fine responsive Steinway. If you can get the piano to do what it is supposed to do, loud is not a problem -- it's just part of the overall program.
Another problem with the Duo-Art is the necessity for critical adjustment of the dampers. The dampers must all be even so as not to lose notes, and to allow a low zero setting, and must all lift together to allow the pedal to be closely regulated, especially with the single valve regulator. Of course the dampers must actually dampen, too. Damper problems can cause the piano to be too loud and unmusical.
I don't know what I am going to do if I need to rebuild the valves on another Steinway. I believe Craig about the round valve plates, but somehow this seems too radical a departure from original. Do these after- market round valve Steinways really produce beautiful sensitive music? Is there really no source for industrial leather? Where do oil-seal manufacturers get it? Is kangaroo leather ever going to be good again, and does it work for cross valves? I would really like to hear the opinion of other Duo-Art owners and haters on my ramblings.
Spencer Chase
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(Message sent Tue 27 Aug 1996, 18:26:17 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.) |
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