Lighten Up

Ed Littlefield, Jr. at the Steinway grand piano at Sage Arts.

The grand piano in the Sage Arts studio is no ordinary instrument. It represents the state of the arts in the finest tradition of hand-fit instrument making. The studio piano, built in 1982, is a nine-foot Steinway, the biggest and longest that they make. While the basic Steinway design is a proven success, Ed McMorrow has developed a way to improve upon it...

Ed is a highly trained and innovative piano technician who has a special technique to set up the piano. He makes the action lighter and more responsive to the player’s touch. Steinway hammers are heavy and balanced with lead weights. He lightens the hammers by shaving them down and removing some of the lead.

“This piano has been prepared using Light Hammer Piano™ tone regulation that integrates the tone of the piano with touch by better matching the weight of the hammer to the frequency of the string. It produces a piano with the greatest dynamic range for total color and sustain,” Ed said.

He adjusts the piano action string by string to make the instrument the best it can be. With a heavy hammer, there is more damping action and the felt packs down faster. With the light hammer, the felt lasts longer and the tone is more stable. With heavy hammers, mass is higher and the action must be loose to play. The structure of the piano beats itself to pieces, plus it beats up your hands.

“It’s a natural piano when I am done with it. The structure just resonates. It’s all about touch and tone, which is all integrated. It plays with great ease, records well and is extremely durable. You can feel that hammer. The finger and the hammer are one.”