Voicing the new piano

[David Love]

What are the expectations on the pianos and what are they used for?  Are
they practice pianos?  Teaching pianos?  New pianos or old pianos?  My
experience is that heavily used Yamaha's are difficult to keep voiced to an
acceptable level without less traditional methods such as steaming.
Steaming is also an easy method for voicing down the uprights where the
hammers are not so needle accessible.  Overall the pianos will benefit from
string seating, proper hammer shaping and fitting.  If the clangy rattly
sounds disappear when you mute the duplex on the tuning pin side (on the
grands), and if you are not steaming, shoulder needling followed by single
needles inserted off the strike point straight down parallel to the moulding
will eliminate those noises).  Heavily used Yamaha hammers are a challenge.
A more radical move would be changing the hammers to a nice soft Ronsen
hammer which will do wonders for voicing stability and rounding out the
tone.

Generally, the hammer will compact most quickly over the crown, more slowly
in the shoulder.

David Love


----- Original Message -----
From: "David Ilvedson" <ilvey@sbcglobal.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: July 10, 2002 5:41 PM
Subject: Voicing the new piano


List,

I would interested in hearing input about maintaining new pianos.
Particularly voicing.  I have a new fleet of 9 Yamaha pianos (is that a
fleet?) I am servicing on a very regular basis...carte blanc.  1 C5, 3 C2s,
3 U1s and 2 P22s.  Another P22 in the near future.  These pianos are played
6 days a week for several hours each day.

How does playing affect the new hammer, or any hammer?  Where is the
compaction taking place?  What do you do with the clangy, rattlely sound in
the trebIe when it shows in ugly face.  I have my own techniques, but I'm
interested in what others do.

Thanks in advance

David I.