Mason & Hamlin

[David M. Porritt]

David:

I guess voicing techniques are as "cultish" as anything we do.  I wouldn't want to argue with Chris Robinson, but I don't like to beat the shoulders of Renner Blues.  Horizontal needling under the string lines gives me the best results.  Leaving the core hard and the surface felt soft gives the biggest range of colors.  Soft playing can sound nice and dark, but a hard blow (because of the hard core) gives a bright big sound.  This kind of voicing is much faster and easier on the arms too.  

Last week we had our best "D" in very bright condition so a small lady could play Prokofiev's 3rd concerto with the orchestra.  The next day it had to be much warmer for a very strong pianist to do a solo recital.  This kind of approach makes this work fast and easy.

dave

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 4/13/00 at 7:28 PM David Ilvedson wrote:

>I have an accomplished concert pianist customer with an A, built in 1992.
>He loves it but make sure your technician doesn't come in and start needling
>and filing hammers.  This happened with this pianist before I came on the
>scene.  The "tooner" didn't like the tone so he started experimenting and
>then,"horrors", the hammers didn't file like Steinway hammers and he didn't
>know what to do...he was fired too late.  Speaking of filing Renner
>Blues...how do you do it?  I keep getting ugly looking hammers and I do know
>how to reshape.  I remember a class with Chris Robinson some years ago where
>he used belt sanders and said the hammers needed at least 120 jabs in the
>lower shoulders before they were at their potential...I may be slightly
>exaggerating...
>
>David I.
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf
>Of JAMES CUSUMANO
>Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2000 3:54 PM
>To: pianotech@ptg.org
>Subject: Mason & Hamlin
>
>
>I recently went to a dealer in Manhattan and checked out
>a Mason & Hamlin Model A.  It had a beautiful tone and touch.
>I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this
>model from a technician's viewpoint.  Is the tuning stable?
>Are there any particular trouble spots one should be aware of? etc.
>Any input would be appreciated.
>
>Thank you.
>
>James Cusumano




David M. Porritt
dporritt@swbell.net
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX 75275