This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Jeff, I've been in the same situation before even on hammers that I've soaked 3 times in 2:1 lacquer. The 4th soaking did the job...got it to that magic place where it was transferring just the right kind of energy to the soundboard. Heavier hammers need much more juicing in general and some hammers are definitely more porous than others. My guess would be that piano #2 has bigger, heavier hammers. Lack of "color" or "dullness" generally means not enough upper partials so I think you are on the right track. You will awaken the sleeping giant. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eric Wolfley Head Piano Technician Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music University of Cincinnati ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -----Original Message----- From: Jeff Tanner [mailto:jtanner@mozart.music.sc.edu] Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 11:15 AM To: College and University Technicians Subject: Re: It's Alive!!!! Wim, As I have posted before, we have 2 D's both 1993 manufacture, carefully selected at the same time by our faculty. It didn't take long however, for one to become the instrument almost everybody plays, and the other sits in the corner, with rare exception, until both pianos are needed simultaneously. The reason is that there is not as much life to the tone. It's not that the second piano hasn't been played in - 8 1/2 years of occasional playing should have accomplished that I would think (we didn't take possession of it until Fall '95). The second piano is capable of plenty of dynamic ranges, just like the primary instrument, but I've been looking at why they seem to feel one has life and the other does not. It is difficult to get needles into the hammers of the primary instrument, but on the second one, you can bury them almost by dropping the weight of the voicing tool. Plenty loud when needed, but not much life - er, "color". Plucking strings reveals that the hammers simply are not getting all they can out of the strings. All I do for voicing the piano with the harder hammers is to sweeten the strike point once in a while and everyone loves it. So, I'm going to try lacquering the way Ron Conors described how he does it at the convention this summer. My goal is to get to it after the semester ends, so I'll let you know if that serves as the Fairy Godmother. It is time for Cinderella to go to the ball. Jeff On Monday, December 1, 2003, at 04:19 PM, Wimblees@aol.com wrote: Well, actually, it's dead. At least that is what Olga Kern told me last week. She was here to give a recital. I prepped our new D, and put it in the middle of the stage. At 6:30 I stopped by to see if there was anything she needed. She said, "This piano is dead." I said it was only a year old, and had probably only been played about a dozen times. She said, it sounded like it. I should have kept my mouth shut, but I offered her our 14 year D, which was sittting off stage. After playing just 3 chords, she said she wanted to play the recital on that piano, but only after warming up on it. I had 15 minutes to tune it before the doors opened. Unfortunately, by the end of the fist half, there were several notes that didn't make it. But that is not what I'm here to complain about. Olga was not the first pianist to complain about the new piano. Last March Misha Dichter had the same complaint. (but at least he gave me 2 hours to prep the older piano). My question is, how do I put more "life" into a new piano? As I said, the piano only comes out of it's hiding place for special occasions. (No, sun down is not a special occasion here in Alabama, especially not on Sundays.) Since we got the piano in August of last year, there have been about 12 performances on it. The piano is voiced, regulated, etc., so I don't quite understand when a performer says there is no life in the piano. Not even our piano faculty agrees with that, although they do think the piano is a little stiffer than the older one. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Wim Willem Blees, RPT Piano tuner/technician School of Music University of Alabama ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/d0/ba/60/9a/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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