Charles Stent Charles Stent Charles Stent (1807–1885) was a 19th-century English dentist notable for his advances in the field of denture making. In 1847, Edwin Truman introduced gutta-percha as a material for making dental impressions; however, this was unsatisfactory for several reasons, including its tendency to distort upon removal from the patient's mouth, and to shrink upon cooling. In 1856, Stent added several other materials to the gutta-percha, notably stearine, which markedly improved the plasticity of the material as well as its stability. He also added talc as an inert filler to give more body to the material, and red colouring. The
Piano extended technique inserted between the strings or attached to the hammers. John Cage pioneered this technique. He worked with another pioneer in the field of extended techniques, David Tudor. Pianos have also been constructed that include microtones (and extra keys to hit their strings). Piano extended technique Piano extended techniques are those in which unorthodox or unconventional techniques are used to create the sound. Though some of these techniques had been explored by earlier composers—Robert Schumann introduces the silent pressing technique into his "Carnaval" (at the end of "Paganini")—the use of these techniques was not widely practised until the 20th century. Composers