Dear Colleagues, I too have some experience in voicing, and I have learned my voicing skill in three different factories. >From these factory experiences, I can tell you the following (those who know everything and are bored already, please use the delete key) : In all piano factories there are voicing rooms, manned by a smaller or bigger group of voicing techs. We all must understand that each technician has a slightly different ear or a more or less developed voicing technique. The result we can hear immediately after the instruments have been finished. Their is of course in each factory a general consensus on the over all quality of "their" sound, but nevertheless, people differ from each other, and so do the pianos they individually worked on. Sometimes, a technician makes a grave mistake... maybe he or she had a very bad night, or drank too much (or too little) coffee. I remember cases where a tech had worked on a beautiful instrument for a whole day, and at the end of the workday he had needled to much.. this can happen. So the next day the same tech refiled all his (new) hammers and re-started the whole voicing procedure. In many cases (but not in all factories, as far as I know) the voiced hammers will, after a check from a manager or head of the voicing department, receive an additional amount of hardener in some hammer sections. In more expensive factories, the instrument will, in addition, be tortured by a special "pounding" machine, and, after many thousands of key strokes, will be checked again on regulation and.. voicing. The final result will, generally speaking, always be satisfactory. However, sometimes, it is possible that the head of the voicing section is ill, or absent minded (from lack of the right supply "stimulants") and a "lemon" will slip through...... hopefully by accident..... In my experience, a proud factory, will of course send a factory technician to do a hammer change, or farm the work out to a factory trained freelancer (like me). A not so proud factory will not do this, and in my personal opinion that is not unwise, for they will acquire a bad reputation. It is an old story... Friendly greetings from the muddy Low Lands, André Oorebeek
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