Margaret wrote:

>Stephen, just what characteristic of modern music wire is it which makes it
>sound so nasty compared to any mild steel wire of the same diam?

Material stiffness - i.e. Young's modulus. And a lower internal friction
associated with this - i.e. the damping of the wire material at the
molecular level. In my view these factors are probably related to carbon
content, so mild steel (e.g. Rose) is more flexible than high carbon steel
music wire, but neither is as flexible and mellow-sounding as historical
carbon-free wire.

This hypothesis is currently undergoing some experimental investigation.
For now the above has not yet been verified objectively, but I will report
back when we have some results.

Some information about this research can be found at the website
below....follow the "historical materials" link, then go to "wire", then to
"article".

Stephen

Stephen Birkett Fortepianos
Authentic Reproductions of 18th and 19th Century Pianos
464 Winchester Drive
Waterloo, Ontario
Canada N2T 1K5
tel: 519-885-2228
mailto: [log in to unmask]
http://real.uwaterloo.ca/~sbirkett