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Jonathan the 2nd

A very happy bit of seredipity came my way today . I have been plumbing in my own central heating system and needed a few copper junctions to do a pressure test. The shop sold me some wrong size parts today but one just happened to fit my small finger perfectly . A copper reducer from 22mm to 15mm a...

Jonathan the 2nd

The complicated prosthetics for fingers and thumbs can be simplified for the small finger. All the extension needs to do on a piano is press down not very hard . It should play white and black notes.The main adjustment in the finger from white to black notes comes from the second and third joint.If ...

Jonathan the 2nd

Sometimes if you leave a question long enough the answer drops in your lap .I was thinking about a thumb extension but logically the best thing would be a Little Finger extension. I have a short pinkie and adding an inch will not distort the hand shape. A similar addition to the thumb would become a...

Jonathan the 2nd

It`s a long time since my last post. Today I realised any thumb extensions should be covered on a prosthetics site. I found an excellent one at "Naked Prosthetics". It includes a photo of a pianists` hand where she had lost the end of her middle finger but is now playing again . Her prosthetic looks...

Jonathan the 2nd

I have just been looking at the images for Prosthetic hands made by professionals and amateurs , and also children as their school projects. Although I have tried to keep a light hearted feel about the piano finger/thumb topic there is still some serious ,useful stuff that might come out of this . T...

Jonathan the 2nd

Sometimes ideas percolate through the old subconscious and drop an answer on the table without any warning. The bridle tape subject must have been in the system this week . So here is what popped out. There are 3 states for bridle tapes to be in .One extreme state is ; Fully fitted but too loose to ...

Jonathan the 2nd

I was wondering whether a piano could work without either spring or tapes as a mechanical oddity. I had a peek behind the butts last night and saw for the first time where the butt springs lived. A spring in that position needs to be under pressure before it can do anything so that would be felt as ...

Jonathan the 2nd

Chrisw I can play an octave with my left hand but the right just catches the other key unless I play at the very edge . I thought of making a padded rail to fit above the keyboard to bring the keys closer . Then it could be taken off independantly .

Jonathan the 2nd

When I looked at the pictures of naked pianos with the full length of the keys in view on both upright and grands the main obstacle would be the physical spacing of the strings and their permanent attachment to the metal frame. Making a key with a bend sideways for the ones furthest from the centre ...

Jonathan the 2nd

Rachmaninov might have been a great goalkeeper if he had not wasted his youth practising the piano .So we can blame him for making all the piano keys too big to reach an octave for the likes of yours truly . That sums up what I wanted to say in a kind of Tony Hancock version of History . I find it r...

Jonathan the 2nd

That`s the question I get stuck with occasionally. I think of a question but many pages have no new topic box in them . I keep falling into the same elephant trap . By the way ,while the layout is on the menu why does all the header stuff take up so much room? My ship sinks 2 or 3 times just logging...

Jonathan the 2nd

A follow up question for Johnkie. "The length can be finely adjusted by bending the bridle wire slightly". Can I delve into the exact aim of finely adjusting ? Is it just to get it in line with all the others or is there a fine exact point where all the weight of the "gubbins" hanging on the ttape b...

Jonathan the 2nd

In fact the whine sound on those strings was caused by the hammers contacting separate strings a fraction early or later than their neighbours . I cured it myself by holding the hammer against the string and drawing a slip of sandpaper over the felt hammer. it was a quick way to cure it . Normally I...

Jonathan the 2nd

The set of photos of the internals of a player piano made in Chicago shows a list of Patents. Surely you have a goldmine of detailed information just waiting to be discovered in those patents .Modern rubber tubes would be better than old natural rubber . A nice project for a winters evening changing...

Jonathan the 2nd

I have an upright Hohner in clean condition but the high notes are a very drab feature . Ever since I heard an old purple coloured upright Bluthner with high notes to inspire you , I have always been dissatisfied. What can be done to improve the cold , plinky noise they make? I was naive and surpris...

Jonathan the 2nd

An old black grand piano showed up on e bay a few days ago . I could not resist sending in a question about a patch of heavily damaged lacquer on the casing. It was hard to work out which part of the piano it was. The seller seemed confused about the damage but there it was clearly in the photos. Th...

Jonathan the 2nd

A new cloud on the horizon . What would your average player with small hands do if they could get a keyboard with smaller keys ? Starter for ten points and no conferring .What composer would they look towards ? One with big hands ? Like Rachmaninov for instance? Got it in one. And what particular pi...

Jonathan the 2nd

The best solution to a short hand span seems to have emerged for me . The Korg Microkeys with 61 keys is a midi controller that can be combined with the Pianoteq system to keep me happy for a while. The Korg has no speakers of it`s own and costs less than £100 new .The microkeys are not as tiny as t...

Jonathan the 2nd

As I was logging on I realised a strange thing from my childhood. I went to a Catholic school fairly early at 5 years old. The school was run by Nuns with large White Wimples and severe black uniforms. Is it a uniform or a costume? I can`t think of the right word there . Anyway , every so often a bl...

Jonathan the 2nd

Do you think many digital piano buyers want to avoid being told the new machine is not a real piano . Pianoteq has done so much to bring us all together. At one time Rugby League players were not considered in the same class as Rugby Union players . The reminder of separation is something to avoid i...

Jonathan the 2nd

Calculating what difference a 2 row janko would make on an octave stretch means dividing the octave on a standard piano which is 16.4cms by six instead of seven. So it is not a full key width difference . The standard keyboard divides the 7 white keys into 16.4 which makes each key 2.342cms wide. Wi...

Jonathan the 2nd

I have just noticed a mistake I made a few posts back ( 2 years ago by now ). I wrote that the octave was not shorter on a janko piano . That was wrong . Comparing the traditional piano to a janko you see on a traditional keyboard the Five black notes set back . But on the janko there are Six notes ...

Jonathan the 2nd

Hello Gill . 14 months since I was on here .I just caught up with your question about the false thumb. The principle was awkward but maybe different materials would be more practical . But yesterday I was searching among the digital piano pages to see if there was a smaller key size for adults. I fo...

Jonathan the 2nd

I learned this week that Pianoteq with digital pianos can give any Temperament you like . Have any players discovered the benefits of that ? Casios do temperaments without Pianoteq but some makes just do a Pure and then about eight Arab temperaments !! That`s money talking .

Jonathan the 2nd

I came across a site that specialises in skin safe silicone called "Renew" .It supplies materials for fitting prosthetic limbs. The picture of an amputee`s leg with the silicone flexible moulding around the knee made me think it was a finger with an extension. There may be lots of sites that could h...

Jonathan the 2nd

Yes the length of the key gives it a good chance .The most extreme overhangs are at the outer ends of the keyboard . What would a numbered or lettered set of plastic shapes cost ? Not a lot. Most of the central keys will have the vertical section of each piece right below the finger so there will be...

Jonathan the 2nd

For newcomers to a Janko you need to play C major in a kind of spidery sideways action with thumb on a lower row and fingers on the next two rows up . Don`t try to play it in one straight line .

Jonathan the 2nd

So what kind of glue would hold plastic to a keyboard securely but would clean off again if my wife was not happy ? You see ? You cure one problem and then you find another one right behind it .

Jonathan the 2nd

Try the Daskin Uniform Keyboard site for some good advice. The fingering method is explained well . Hey even Bach used to play some notes with his feet. Give it a chance .

Jonathan the 2nd

That video with all white keys makes it harder to accept. The best way is to have all the C major keys white and all the rest black. The keys running away from the player are joined together.The ones next to them are slightly overlapping (interlocking ).The key width is fairly generous . The writing...

Jonathan the 2nd

There is a very good discussion about the Janko keyboard principle with a 70 year old learner on one piano site. Unusually the normal impatience is replaced by some detailed and polite analysis of the pros and cons. It reveals the drawbacks of smaller key areas as if using a typewriter and the benef...

Jonathan the 2nd

There is a diagram of a 6 row Janko keyboard on Wikipedia.Can anybody tell me the possible fingering for a C major scale.Do you need to start with your thumb ? Defenders of the traditional keyboard may come out on top here. Starting on row one looks a bit awkward at first but starting on row 3 going...

Jonathan the 2nd

The nice logical thing is the way each horizontal row is all whole tones. All the next row up are the semitones between those first row notes.The the major point is that every scale is played using one set of finger actions . The mechanics behind the notes is not altered . I thought at first the oct...

Jonathan the 2nd

Just to confirm the fit. All the right side notes are shifted left towards the E.All the bottom notes (left side) are shifted right towards the E. From reading other forums about narrower keyboards this adjustment above would result in a 15/16th size keyboard. I wonder if that could become a Janko K...

Jonathan the 2nd

A reduction of the octave reach which is 14cms down to 13.5cms seemed possible by taping 2 spatulas to the table.They have one centimetre thick handles.That stretch felt comfortable for an octave. The 14 cms is from the left edge of the D to the right edge of the B.That bridges 6 keys. The new width...

Jonathan the 2nd

The basic test is to mimic the position of 2 depressed keys one octave distance apart with a few strips of wood , each 1cm thick . Tape one to the table and adjust the other one . It`s surprising how much trouble a reduction of one mm per key can be.

Jonathan the 2nd

A drawback is imposed by the normal downwards movement of the key top.(about one centimetre).Once the overhang left covers one whole key width the the following one will start to overhang 2 keys.so the one centimetre rule is added on.That means after 20 notes the next batch has to be 2 centimetres a...

Jonathan the 2nd

I came to piano late and invented my own way of dealing with keys. I just check which black notes apply by playing them as a reminder before starting the notes. I have never made a habit of practising scales ,to my shame . But I can manage all the different keys without any uncertainty .

Jonathan the 2nd

Moving away from attaching stuff to my fingers I came across a very unusual idea for a keyboard layout .The Janko Keyboard .Plenty of information on Piano sites seemed to be a good answer. The octave is much narrower with that layout.But the penny soon dropped that you could not reduce the width wit...

Jonathan the 2nd

Perzactly . The tapes are supple and subtle .

Jonathan the 2nd

See also J Cree Fischer .Piano tapes and stirrups. Closely connected with repetition . Grand pianos don`t need tapes for repetition .

Jonathan the 2nd

I have read that No 20 was not originally classed as a Nocturne. But it did not say what it Was classed as. So it seems to be drifting in Limbo at the moment . Is there another edition that contains it ?

Jonathan the 2nd

Anyway. My piano still has the list of casualties written on a sheet on the piano.A circle around 3 lonely notes that have a solid one note sound. All the rest have some kind of slow beating or drifting going on when played. Not good enough . We had windows changed last year.The surrounding frames w...

Jonathan the 2nd

Today a youtube music video came in the e mails. Nocturne no 20 in C# minor(?). Hang on a minute. My ABRSM book only has 19 in it. Wiki tells me there are 21.The plot thickens. What`s happened to the last 2 ? I am dying to play those starting chords in the no 20 . The book does not say Part 1. It do...

Jonathan the 2nd

One effect that was causing a bad tone was the hammers not contacting the three strings exactly together . It made a whining sound.

Jonathan the 2nd

The magazine cover does not do anything so it must be the look on his face. The Cape Town explanation was much better for me than others I have seen, Well it worked too .That must mean something. The tiny effect of the tapes you yourself have mentioned is the most important factor for repetition as ...

Jonathan the 2nd

I actually was an absolute beginner as you quoted from my first post . Two days ago I could not do trills.I thought it was time to learn. As the piano was adjusted ( or not ) I could not do trills . Now , two days later , I can do trills. Simple as that . There was an extra point in the article abou...

Jonathan the 2nd

An article in 1998 --"Function and Replacement of Bridal Straps " by Bernt W Damm. He is a technical piano man from Cape Town , South Africa. The primary function of the straps is explained clearly. Notice how he mis-spells the word Bridal instead of Bridle. It matches his sentences in para 6 where ...

Jonathan the 2nd

Bridle . Used on a horse to keep it in control . Pulls it back . That`s the origin of the word. Also pulls the hammer back! Reins were attached to the bridle. One quick jerk was sufficient . The word tittuped describes the way a horse would suddenly put on the brakes . The poem "A Code of Morals " b...

Jonathan the 2nd

Well how easy is this ? After searching some history of pianos I found a page in Wikipedia--" Action (piano)" . There`s the standard diagram of an upright with all the parts labelled. Run down the list of parts till you see " Bl " which indicates the Bridle Tape. Last 2 sentences sum up the purpose ...

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