Dear All,
Those of you with an interest in music might be interested in the
pianos made by Stuart & Sons in Newcastle, Australia as they use the
metric system in every phase of their construction. Currently, they
have available a 2.2 metre Grand Piano and a 2.9 metre Concert Grand
Piano.
Our interest in this piano goes back to the mid 1990s when my wife,
Wendy Pomroy, collaborated with Wayne Stuart to edit his book, 'Piano
Technology'.
I helped a little with the measuring part of the book and I recall a
letter from Wayne about the use of the metric system in piano
building in 1996. Here are some extracts:
**
'Although Australia had adopted metric measurement before 1974 it was
not until I studied piano technology that I actually began to
appreciate its benefits.
'I read an original copy of A Treatise on the Art of Pianoforte
Construction by Samuel Wolfenden, published in 1916 by Unwin
Brothers, London. The following lines from Wolfenden confirms the use
of this system of measurement by experienced English piano makers
despite a deeply conservative and imperialistic society. Wolfenden's
treatise was written in his retirement and all measurements and
calculations use the metric system.
"It is to be regretted that in this country (UK) and in the United
States, this system has not been adopted. Its advantages become very
obvious, when dimensions have to be multiplied, divided, or adjusted
to proportion … The millimetre is equal to a trace more that 1/25 of
and inch, and the smallness of this has a beneficial effect on the
mind and working habits.
"Many English rules are not marked with closer divisions than 1/8 of
an inch, and a workman grows to regard this as a small quantity, and
thus his sense of accuracy is impaired … The only adaptation of the
English rule which renders such calculations as are used in scaling
fairly easy, is to divide the inches decimally and express all
dimensions in inches and decimal parts; but even if this is done, the
full metric system is much more convenient".
'Western music and musical instrument technology has, for a very long
time, had an international focus. Dominant European influence ensured
dissemination of their version of science and technology. Piano
design requires many long, tiresome calculations and measurements to
establish the string scale and the most convenient system was bound
to find favour.
'Building pianos without the metric system would simply be much more
of a hassle than it already is!'
**
If you have any interest in metric pianos, you can find Stuart & Sons
web page at http://www.stuartandsons.com/ and you can contact Wayne
Stuart directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Coincidentally, the year that Wolfenden's metric piano book was
published was the same year that the United States Metric Association
was formed (See: http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/ ).
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See
http://www.metricationmatters.com/ for more metrication information,
contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or subscribe to
the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter at http://
www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/
