voicing mixtures and procedures

[Antares]

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: zoran grujic <mailto:zorang@mgnet.co.yu>  
To: pianotech@ptg.org <mailto:pianotech@ptg.org>  
Sent: Friday, September 03, 1999 7:12 PM
Subject: voicing mixtures and procedures

                    
    Hi List,
 
     my name is Zoran Grujic,I work as piano teacher and technician in
Yugoslavia.I will have much voicing work on rock-hard hammers in old,bad
grands in musical school here.I would like to hear some of your experiences
about hammer softeners (alcohol/water,or some other mixture).How much water
goes into alcohol?How to apply it?I am also interested in shelac hammer
hardener,which was in use before lacquers.The same questions as before.I
checked archives,but didn't get all answers about it.
    Many thanks in advance.Regards,
 
 
                                                             Zoran
 
                                                            
zorang@mgnet.co.yu 

As I am living somewhere in Europe, and, as I have no experience at all with
hammer softeners (since this seems to be an exclusively American tradition,
I would like to point out that, besides the use of hammer softeners there is
also the old fashioned softening of the hammers with a voicing tool i.e. da
needles.......
Just to make sure that our dear American colleagues will not feel insulted,
critisized, or otherwise, I must emphasize the fact that I know nothing
about the process of softening hammers with softener, and that I have never
worked with it, and thus have no opinion nor critiscism
I do have, however, an opinion about hammers, since I have specialized over
the years in regulation, tuning and..voicing.

It might be that not all of us technicians have more, a lot, or less,
experience in voicing. 
It therefor could be wise to point out for the inexperienced ones on this
list that in all major piano factories there is a first voicing, and a
second. (to experienced or very experienced colleagues here on this forum :
push the delete button please, there may be much more interesting messages
waiting for you)

The first voicing is the one that is most important, for during this process
of initial needling, the hammers will receive their energy-absorbing (or
dampening) amount of needling in their specific places (note that there is a
big difference in first voicing between most piano factories).
The first voicing, or, as they happen to call it in Japan "the making of
cushion", is crucial : too much cushion will result in a maybe sweet, but
weak and powerless tone (nothing to do about it really, except
turbo-needling from the bottom up, filing, or the last resort.. hammer dope.
Too little cushion will have as result a hard and narrow tone, like a loud
but nasal voice. The tonal quality will actually always demand for more
openness by applying more cushion, but, since some technicians do not really
have a tremendous experience and insight in this, the tone will probably
remain unbalanced and underdeveloped for ever.

Voicing is so incredibly complex... 
First of all, as intoneurs, we must have a talent.
This talent we must develop, amongst others by sharpening our musical ears,
by tuning thousands and thousands of instruments, and... by accumulating a
thorough knowledge of the regulation process.
In one factory I learned the following and important rule : 
"A perfect tone is" : 
a perfect regulation - a perfect tuning - a perfect voicing.
And indeed, if we keep aiming for the highest result in these three totally
different disciplines, than the result will be accordingly, but only as far
as the development and experience of the technician involved.

Now, why did I write all this down?
Because it is necessary to point out that once the piano leaves the factory,
it will have received its first and second voicing already (when it is a
decent factory of course).
If a piano tone gets hard, irregular, and more pronounced, it is usually due
to the fact that the upper part of the hammers, the crown, will have gotten
harder because they come into contact with the strings all the time. It is
the crown that gets hardened first by playing, not the middle section, or,
the cushion.
Technicians often make the mistake to needle only "halfway" out of fear for
needling the crown.
The result will then be : more cushion, a weaker tone (like a big old buick
slamming on the ground because of a weak and worn out suspension), but still
a shrill and tinny sound, because the crown is still rock hard.
I would in this case reccomend needling on the sides of the crown, but
certainly not in other places. Only when a hammer is older, would it be wise
to apply some more cushion, because now the middle section may have hardened
too.

This process of needling the upper section takes me about 5-10 minutes, plus
afterwards some more "evening out". Don't be afraid by just "picking" at the
hammers....it will have hardly any result, and for one concert only......
no, stick'm in with some force and not too fast (there is a nice American
song about "a slow hand with an easy touch" if you know what I mean (;>)).

Applying a softener might do wonderful work, but I just would not like to
use any strange or new stuff on an otherwise perfect and healthy hammer
(unless it had been hardened before with hammer dope, but that is a
different story).
We have had this discussion before but then about the opposite : about
hardening hammers, but we found out that hammers made in the US are
different from the ones made in Europe.
Still, I like a hammer best, when it has the most beautiful felt (Wurzen
felt), when it has a lot of "natural" power through the pressing process and
the natural strong resilience of the wool fibers, and, when it doesn't need
any additive in whatever form.

Friendly greetings,

Antares

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