hammers

[Peter Kestens]

PETER KESTENS
Het Muziekinstrumentenatelier
BELGIUM
KESTENS.P@Debcom.be

Ed, 

How can one learn to voice hammers? Or where?
Do you know if literature exists about voicing hammers?
Peter Kestens
----------
> Van: A440A@aol.com
> Aan: pianotech@ptg.org
> Onderwerp: Re: hammers
> Datum: mercredi 11 juin 1997 18:16
> 
>  Greetings, 
> 
> Wim writes:
> 
> >For the most part, shaping the hammers, and maybe a little lacquer here
and
> >there, gets me where I want to be for voicing. And voicing is more of an
> >evening out of tone, than changing the color. 
> 
>      I cannot agree with this.  The difference between an unvoiced
hammer,and
> one that has been properly prepped is considerable,  and I rarely see
> anything but Ronsen or Steinway hammers that need no needle at all.   I
> prefer to look at voicing as finding the best tonal response from a set
of
> hammers, and then, getting them all there evenly. 
> 
>  >As I explain to my customers, tone is like collor. One is not better
than
> >another. Just as one person likes blue, but not green, one person is
going
> to
> >like a bright sound, and another a soft sound. 
> 
>      Is it possible to actually describe  a hammer's condition by saying
it
> is bright, or mellow>?  I don't think so.  There is another, more complex
> description that should be considered.  It has to do with the voice of
the
> hammer at different velocities. 
>      If a hammer is voiced properly,  it will describe a changing tonal
> property as the force of play is changed.  A properly voiced hammer will
>  produce upper overtones that are a smaller percentage of the total
signal
> when played softly,  and as the force is increased, the percentage of the
> note's output shifts to emphasize these higher partial.   In this way a
ppp
> note can evoke the tonal colors of French horns, and when played FFF the
> sound is more akin to trumpets. ( the comparison from the string players
> tends to compare violas and cellos with violins).   
>    It is this variability, ( what some of my more sensitive customers
regard
> as "malleable" tone),  that I find pianists responding to.  I have never
seen
> a set of stock hammers producing this, without considerable needling. 
The
> aforementioned brands are the exception,  and with proper chemical
hardeners,
> will produce a very nice range.  They are just very high maintenance
hammers,
> needing constant attention to keep them there in the "zone",  and if
voiced a
> lot they do not last as long as the Renner premium blues.  ( of course,
the
> tires on a race car don't last very long either, so high performance has
high
> costs, no matter what you do.) 
> 
>     Several years ago, I was called into a country music recording studio
to
> hear the "future of the Piano".  A Bosendorfer Imperial, with the
computer
> piano player attachment.   The studio owner had had the hammers treated
with
> so much lacquer, that there was no difference between the tone produced
at
> any range,  it all sounded like glass.  " Doesn't that sound great?"  he
> asked.    I replied,  " when is the last time that you had your hearing
> tested?".  ( this was generally regarded as the low point of the
> conversation..........) turns out, he was not hearing much above 3.5K.  
> 
>      I find that the more powerful, i.e., larger, pianists prefer the
tonal
> range to begin softer, and if they want more brilliance, they just add
power
> . Some of the smaller pianists, and many of the older players, prefer the
> brilliance to be more accessible, and they are happy to have their
hammers
> voiced with less range in order to get it.  
>     The harder the hammer is,  the narrower the range of tonal 'color" is
> available,  and the greater amount of control needed to keep it from
sounding
> all the same.  Totally dead hammers are just as bad.  They have no tonal
> range either. 
>       My point is,   the range of tone produced by the hammer is no less
> important than the evenness. 
> 
> Regards, 
> Ed Foote 
> Precision Piano Works
> Nashville, Tn.  
> 
> 
> 
> 
>