Comments for Tilman Skowroneck

Comment on teachers and students: transmission versus copying by jmccarty3

jmccarty3 — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 13:54:45 +0000

Tilman, thank you so much for posting this fascinating account. Utti’s transcriptions were among the first recordings I heard of his playing, particularly the 1969 Telefunken DAW of BWV 1005 and 1003–I found them extremely compelling. In 1978, he played his first concert in Houston on my 1976 Dowd Blanchet (the performance included BWV 1004), so you can imagine my interest in your experience. Best regards, Jay

Comment on oiling quills: new findings by skowroneck

skowroneck — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 11:01:33 +0000

Thanks for your input. There are a few points where I think I can answer, on the basis of my own observations, after about half a year of having the plectra (gull, crow, wild turkey) in some of my instruments treated with ballistol.
The differences between the sound that various kinds of feathers make in harpsichords undisputed, I believe to have understood that all bird’s feathers are naturally water-repellent, otherwise birds would drop like stones from the sky with every spot of rain. To verify Denzil’s theory that oil is easier absorbed from the underside of quill, one would have to make tests and check the results with a microscope. I am not having that kind of time, and have been happy with developing a rough practical idea about why his idea makes sense. Some types of feather quills are in fact almost visibly more porous (more matt) from the inside than on the outside surface. Thinking of wild turkey and some parts of the crow I’m using here, for instance. Other than that, here’s what I think:
1) If the surface of the plectrum is oiled, and the oil doesn’t get absorbed in a reasonable timespan, more of it than otherwise will end up on the string, which takes a while to wear off and sounds dull. Not a big deal, but it has been an occasional issue here. I’ve had less of that when oiling the undersides, which seems to support Denzil’s observations.
2) Many quills are anyway too thick, hard, unbendable, whatever you like, when they are first fitted in the tongue of the jack. Especially the area of the (often black, harder) single ridge of the top of the feather (so, not the round shafty bit) needs always to be cut and smoothened from below in order to work as a plectrum. Any area of a bird quill plectrum where I have been cutting or scraping will absorb oil easier. So in the end, more often than not, Denzil’s idea works out just fine in practice.
3) I agree that rather often, the problem of quills that seem (!) to get harder/louder (because their surface gets rough and the tone creaky) in new instruments solves itself rather soon, if one keeps doing maintenance regularly during the first few weeks and plays a lot (Stephen Birkett has on the hpschd-l forum pointed out that some historically more appropriate types of wire also might help to solve this issue. I haven’t had the opportunity yet to test that. Working on it). And yes, making a new plectrum isn’t all that much of a deal. The reason I began testing ballistol in my instruments is twofold: curiosity and, to find out whether this treatment has any effect on (subjectively perceived) across-the-keyboard reliability. An additional question I have lined up for my little Italian harpsichord, whether oiling prevents the tendency for hangers, is yet unanswered; I had no time yet to work on that instrument.
4) The question of whether it is worth spending 40 minutes once to oil all the plectra of an instrument (while, later, simply having a bottle with oil ready for replacements, where all the other quill materials are kept) is personal. I’m curious, so I invested these 40 minutes.

Comment on oiling quills: new findings by melonsoda

melonsoda — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:57:40 +0000

I have been testing Denzil Wraight’s oiling procedure too; two harpsichords (French double, Italian single), overall usually 2-5 hours practising/rehearsing per day. So far it seems to work with ballistol. However I am not sure if one really has to oil the underside of the plectrum – this could also depend on the kind of feather used. Wraight uses swan, and those have a very smooth surface – I guess to reject water in nature. Same with gull; that’s probably also the reason why swan and gull sound so differently to raven, vulture, condor or eagle (which I couldn’t distinguish in a blind test). I can well imagine that the smooth surface of those swan quills reject the oil more than others.

Some time ago we had one of our harpsichords in swan/gull, but changed the quills so I can’t really test if the underside absorbs the oil better (unfortunately I’ve thrown away the swan and gull feathers I had left). Now we use raven, condor, griffon vulture and golden eagle, and it doesn’t seem to make a difference which side is oiled.

Anyway, while I agree the ballistol procedure is interesting, quills getting harder isn’t much of a problem I think. Even with our new harpsichord it happens rarely. If one plectrum gets harder, it’s much simpler just making a new one. That takes about two to five minutes. So why would you want to try to sort of repair those in a 40 minutes oiling procedure in the first place? Or am I missing something here?

Comment on tuning: overthinking inharmonicity by Scott Portzline

Scott Portzline — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 02:34:10 +0000

I am very interested in this debate (discussion) and agree with the premise that too many people are impressed by the math, or impressed by their new discovery of inharmonicity. Hence, they “overthink it” as stated by the author of this page. That plays out in tuners giving more “weight” to the “math argument” than the please the “ear argument.”

May I provide an example of this debate through the use of architecture. Building designers have realized that when standing at ground level and down the street, and looking toward the far upper corner of their building, it appears to be sticking out further than it should. It is a perception problem. To relieve that “condition of the eye,” designers added parapets (a decorative extension) to diminish this optical illusion. (Notice this next time in a city)

Furthermore, the ear has aural illusions. Paying too much attention to the math would not recognize what happens to the “ear.” Just like, if the architects had adhered strictly to math, there would be no parapet and the eye would not be as pleased. If tuners pay too much attention to the math, the ear can become annoyed.

Therefore, since we are talking about human perception, I like a good tuner who can please his and my ear. And, that certainly varies because of perception, for the tuner and the listener.

I think too many people are impressed by the math when we are really trying to please the ear – not a calculation.
Scott Portzline

Comment on oiling quills: new findings by Siebe Henstra

Siebe Henstra — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 22:03:22 +0000

looking forward! In my Hemsch after quilling and oiling 2 years ago it goes fine without oil:-)

Comment on Gustav Leonhardt 1928-2012 by skowroneck

skowroneck — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:16:24 +0000

Thanks for your comment, pratiquepiano. There has a discussion been going on among Leonhardt’s colleagues and friends about whether these recordings were at all authorized. Friends (including myself) tend to believe that they were not, since GL did not usually allow live recordings. You don’t happen to know more about this?

Comment on Gustav Leonhardt 1928-2012 by pratiquepiano

pratiquepiano — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:49:23 +0000

Hi, If I may, G. Leonhardt last recital can be listened to here:
http://pianopratique.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/gustav-leonhardt-1928-2012/
thank you for this post

Comment on Gustav Leonhardt 1928-2012 by jmccarty3

jmccarty3 — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:33:31 +0000

Thank you for this wonderful tribute, Tilman. We are indeed fortunate that he has left us with such an extensive legacy. May his memory be eternal.

Comment on Gustav Leonhardt 1928-2012 by Siebe Henstra

Siebe Henstra — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:40:29 +0000

Mooi!

Comment on performance versus research by Patricia

Patricia — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:59:30 +0000

I have to say how much I liked to read this post and how marvellously it fits with the situations I face in my (far modest) own work. Very nice reflection, indeed…