Using voicing pliers would be like tuning with an air wrench. Although the idea is to use many jabs to soften the hammer felt, the goal is to get the "feel" of what the felt should feel like. You can only develop this skill with practice. However, once learned, the pianos can sound more magnificent than you could have imagined with just steam or rote punctures. Practice using a single needle tool; learn what parts of the hammer are voiced for power, sustain, or intense harmonics. Many, many times all the client wants is for their piano to sound better and they usually don't know the difference between tuning and voicing. The best tuning in the world will still sound unsatifactory if the hammers need even just a little "sugar coating". I find that after all these years in the business, voicing is a more critical skill than tuning. It is voicing that brings out the tone and makes pianos sound their finest. Not even the stringing scale, design of the soundboard, materials used or perfection of craftsmanship in design and building of a piano will make a piano sound all it can become if the voicing is not done skillfully. Probably the hardest skill you will ever learn as a piano technician! Carol Beigel, RPT
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