South Bay Chapter
Date: Tues., 2/13/2024
Time: 6:30pm Board Meeting
7:00pm
Meeting
Location: Kawai America
2055 E. University
Rancho Dominguez CA 90220
For the January combined meeting with the Los Angeles Chapter, Kathy Smith presented a program all about whippens. She stressed the importance of learning the 37 steps of regulation for grands. The regulation textbook used for the 37-steps grand regulation course, as well as the textbook for vertical regulation, is available from the PTG home office. The PTG home office offers a 3-day course covering the entire 37 steps.
Kathy shared some great insights for preparing to regulate the whippen and how parts are related to each other and should not be considered in isolation. Some requirements include making sure the hammer is not sitting on the rest cushion, matching hammers to strings, aligning the whippen to the capstan and the jack toe to the let-off button.
Sitting behind the action can be an efficient way to regulate a whippen. Using a mirror to see the jack toe position can make the alignment of the jack easier than other methods. When sitting behind the action, you can reach your arm over the action to press the key while you change spring tension. Regulation of the spring should be done without crossing the spring over to the opposite side of the coil. It was also stressed that if a jack does not return, the cause may be a rep lever that is too low; don't automatically blame the spring. Alternatively, it might be too damp, and the felt is swollen around the pin. Checking the pinning of parts is an essential part of regulating the whippen.
For our February meeting, Steven Norsworthy will introduce us to the PianoSens, a new device that replaces the use of a microphone when tuning with an ETD app. The PianoSens website describes the device as "a new electronic sensor which directly isolates and measures the vibration characteristics of a single string or a combined unison set. With this new technology, we are able to dispel long held myths about tuning and piano string behavior by showing what is actually happening as strings vibrate. Resulting benefits include: 0.1 cents accuracy tuning unisons, no loss of tuning quality in a noisy environment, better false beat detection and resolution, and consistent measurement, no longer dependent on placement of a mic."- www.PianoSens.com.
For more information on our accomplished presenter Steven Norsworthy, please visit www.pianosens.com/about-us.