"Temporary" voicing

[Jim Harvey]

At 03:23 PM 4/13/01 -0700, you wrote:
>8<snip>8
>While trying to elicit a placebo response may feel like a dubious tactic, 
>the shocking thing is how well it sometimes works.
>
>Susan

Ah! Thanks Susan. Finally, the RIGHT approach! In a private response to 
David, I mentioned the use of "words and a magic wand". Good to see I'm not 
the only one who endorses this method.

For the extended version of this situation, this is the way I see it:

We're talking about ONE piano, ONE pianist, ONE performance, ONE 
benefactor(?), ONE technician, ONE concert hall, in and/or for ONE school.

Pianist: If he's really good, he's played under a lot worse circumstances, 
and certainly on pianos that weren't as well prepared. Besides, he's only 
gonna need to finish out an arpeggio or two. Gee, he's not playing an 
entire performance on the last 1-1/2 octaves I hope. For that 3 seconds of 
last octave "fluff", let him play it with his elbows.

Orchestra: Usually denotes having a director. Directors are supposed to 
know about dynamics, and should be able to hold back the band to a mild roar.

Piano: I'll spare my other thoughts, and make this short for once. The fact 
is, if this were a Yamaha G1, it MAY have received 12~18 minutes in final 
voicing (likely not). However, with most manufacturers, the larger and more 
expensive the instrument, the more quality time is permitted between voicer 
and piano (last time I checked, full-pop retail on a CFIII was $108,000). 
Effectively, the voicer is "off the clock" until satisfied with that 
particular unit.

Meanwhile, David mentioned that the piano is just right for the normal 
location/requirements. If he feels the piano is correctly voiced -- albeit 
momentarily -- for it's normal environment, that's the way it should stay. 
Back to my first paragraph -- one pianist, one performance, one hour, etc. 
NO WAY would I jeopardize that on ONE person's say-so. Sometimes we just 
have to know when to say "NO", or, to imply "YES" but in reality, wave the 
magic wand.

Jim Harvey
[who once had a humble opinion]




Jim Harvey, RPT
Greenwood, SC
harvey@greenwood.net