This too is an excellent commentary to my mind Jim. It is without a doubt true that preferences for what piano sound should be vary widely... wildly perhaps. Which in turn is a very strong motivator for having full control over the entire process of hanging, regulating, and voicing a new set of hammers. If you know everything that has been done, then making adjustments to deal with individual pianist needs as they arise...even accounting for such adjustment as part of the installation process is more easily accomplished. You know whats been done before, and how to counter or enhance as the needs arise. I also had the experience of hearing some rebuilt pianos at an earlier convention. And tho impressed by some of the fine workmanship and the willingness to forward alternative sound pictures, found that all in all most of the pianos did not meet with my own personal tastes. Some were beautiful... but as you say tame and without much contrast in sound at different levels. There seems to be a growing desire amoungst several rebuilders in the states to opt for a very moody and softish sound base. The idea that a super ppp level should be needed goes to the expense of any real brilliance, seemingly because these same equate that kind of brilliance with noise. It matters not that the vast majority of pianists seem to on the other hand opt for that kind of brilliant sound base. On the one hand, I applaud the willingness to explore different colour pallets, yet on the other hand I am skeptical to the apparent insistance of some to declare their own ideas as superior others, writing off clear market preferences as meaningless in a variety of ways. I liked especially your closing sentence Jim. A piano should be able to get mean. A piano is for the audience listening as well as the pianist playing. Only a few instruments need to be tamed a bit for use in the audio microscope a sound recording studio is. The tendancy to voice overly pretty was described by both the Japanese and Hamburg academy voicing instructors as a typical misconception that beginning voicers fall into. I'm not sure I'd go that far.... but the willingness to push the upper limits of piano power should IMHO be the base line. Cheers RicB Alan, I put a set on a D last month and I still had to add juice. Not being as experienced with these hammers as some of you, I got Vince to give a listen and he had me put in even more juice! There seems to be quite a range of what people think constitutes good tone in a hammer. I rely on Vince's experience (both Eric S., Scott Jones and others think very highly of his voicing) and the difference seems to be that the Steinway folks (and Vince) want "contrast" in tone color, not just a "pretty sound" that can get louder and softer yet still has the same basic timbre. The sound I heard at a previous convention (from rebuilt S&S pianos) had no contrast! On the other hand Vince's pianos can get the most sublime pp and an almost, but not really, harsh/nasty ff. It has a true color contrast that concert pianist who have played here have raved about. At the PNWC Scott Jones couldn't say enough good things about the old M that Vince voiced for me. Later, Eric Schandall came by and glowed about it. BTW, it was a 1967 M right next to a brand new M voiced "pretty". No contest! A piano should be able to get mean if the music requires it. I don't know how else to express it in words... JMHO - FWIW. Jim Busby BYU
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