In the Steinway factory (Hamburg) we used 2 kinds of hammer dope, the main one being a metal lacquer. This never really made sense to me, seeing as the stuff just dries concrete-hard – it’s just not very like hammer felt!

Much the most of the time, I avoid using dope, as there are other basic ways of hardening up the hammers. But recently, I invented a brilliant hammer dope that dries rubber-hard – much more like hammer felt!

Here’s a picture of my employing it on a Steinway model A in Rudolf Steiner House, London, in preparation for their new International Concert Series…..not that I’m going to give away the recipe!

Hammer doping at Rudolf Steiner House, London