A request from Chile

[Susan Kline]

>  He could also try switching around
>a few hammers to evaluate going lighter before any (semi-)permanent changes
>are made.
>
>Terry Farrell

This is a very good notion. On the Kawai in question, I was worried
about the tone weakening, but I was surprised at how little it did.
Also, if the tone seems very bright and hard, maybe a little weakening
might not be a bad thing. The Kawai's room is live, with a big brick wall.

I agree that doing some work with samples would be prudent before
undertaking a major change in hammer weight. It might be interesting
to try some other types of hammers, i.e. cold pressed, etc., as
samples before taking on the whole job. Possibly a hammer built
lighter to begin with might work better than "liposuction" on a
hammer with dense hot-pressed felt. On the other hand, if the
Yamaha hammers have, by some miracle, been over-voiced to the soft
side, that might lead to a feeling that the weight was too great,
since one would have to work much harder to get loud volume.

It also might be good to work on the center pinning on a few
notes, since that can often change the tone and hence the perception
of touch. If the pinning is too loose one gets a floppy but heavy
feeling, and a lack of control. I forget how new this Yamaha is.
If it's new, the pinning is probably excellent. If it has had a
few years of hard playing, repinning would probably be a good
idea.

One thing about fiddling with hammer weight is that while one might
risk having to put on a new set of hammers, that's as far as the
risk goes.

Susan