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Stephane,, Thanks for the letter writing back to me, I though about this =
quite a bit today. So the french technician is trained by Kawai? Good =
for you. If he is to see the piano again in the near future, he should =
be able to take care of it for you, to your liking. Ironing can make a =
difference however slight, it may be enough. We don't use ironing here =
in Arizona because it's so dry that we don't really see much of a =
difference. If he's a MPA, he'll know about mating strings to the hammer =
and all the techniques which should restore the power that you desire. I =
was worried that someone who wasn't highly trained got to your piano and =
did something which could probably be undone by a qualified technician, =
and when I saw the comment on changing hammers, I felt I had to jump in =
and bring a stop to such rubbish. I don't think you can even get Shigeru =
hammers for a small section, without replacing the whole set. You =
certainly wouldn't want any other kind on that piano.
"I'll also take care of the keyboard frame level in that range."
I was referring to the levelness of the top of the hammer, when at the =
position at which they stike the keys, by the way.
This is an important prelude to leveling the strings so that each =
contacts the hammer in the same way, so that all three strings are "in =
phase". Helps with the power, you must know...
I hope that I've helped, at least I've stopped something bad from =
happening. Please feel free to write back after this is resolved, =
perhaps I can learn something here also.
Yours,=20
Kevin E. Ramsey R.P.T.
----- Original Message -----=20
From: St=E9phane Hanriat=20
To: Pianotech=20
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2004 1:47 PM
Subject: Re: Voicing up Shigeru Kawai SK3
Hi Kevin,
Thanks a lot for your comments.
Actually, the piano was very harsh when coming from Japan. A french =
Master Piano Artisan has prepared the piano and I've tried it before =
ordering. I've well noticed the need to give more power to these notes =
to get more balanced sound, and I've considered this a minor problem. =
The MPA told me to play the piano for 6 months and he will improve this =
during the visit at my house (MPAs are licensed by Kawai to service =
Shigeru's).
I'm confident the technician will recover some brightness to these =
notes. I'll follow you regarding juicing. I agree that "banging" the =
hammers might do the trick. I'll also take care of the keyboard frame =
level in that range.
The piano tech of my local dealer (familiar with S&S) tells me dry =
ironing on the shoulders, not directly on the crown, would anyway =
recover a cleaner attack at soft playing. it's likely something that =
could be tested, in a conservative way of course. What do you think ?
Your remark regarding losing high frequencies is relevant, but I'm =
still OK for the moment (still young 40 years old man, isn't it ?). By =
the way, I've checked with other pianists playing my piano who are =
having the same perception than me.
Stephane Hanriat
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Kevin E. Ramsey=20
To: Pianotech=20
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2004 4:47 AM
Subject: Re: Voicing up Shigeru Kawai SK3
I'm a little shocked at the response from my fellow technicians =
here, perhaps they're not familiar with the Shigeru.
First of all, don't even think of changing the hammers on your =
piano. Those hammers are very special, and they are one of the secrets =
of why the Shigeru is what it is. If you had a technician file the =
hammers, his technique may leave a lot to be desired. With Shigeru's I =
always finish off with at least 800 grit, with the hammers set at the =
strike point, so that I'm getting an absolutely level strike surface. If =
you don't get the strike surface level, you lose power. Unless a =
technician who is not familiar with the special techniques used on one =
of these happened to over-needle the hammers, they come from the factory =
well in the range of where they should be in your home. Only you can =
answer as to who may have worked on your piano.
I don't want to offend you, but this question sometimes comes =
from people who are losing a little of their high frequency hearing, =
which is more common today than most people realise. I just mention it =
so that you can consider whether that may indeed be a possibility. If =
the hammers have been over needled in that area of the scale, usually =
they will brighten up when filed properly, and or "reset" with the back =
end of a voicing tool, or a small 2 oz. mallet, in a voicing tray. Do =
not, nor let your technician, treat these hammers with chemicals. These =
are not Steinway hammers, so they don't need the juice, you'll lose your =
dynamic range if you do. Have you had a Japanese technician come out to =
your house, yet? Explain your concerns to him, and I'm sure he can do =
what you want. I read what someone else wrote on the list before I =
hastily jumped in here, about them not coming out to the college.. I'm =
not sure that they do that for institutions, only individuals perhaps. =
I'm sure that Don Mannino is going to jump in here, he's the final =
authority, not me. I only posted this to keep you from doing anything =
too drastic in the meantime.
Kevin E. Ramsey, R.P.T.
----- Original Message -----=20
From: St=E9phane Hanriat=20
To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2004 2:31 PM
Subject: Voicing up Shigeru Kawai SK3
Hello,
I own a brand new Shigeru Kawai SK3 that the Kawai technician in =
France has
made, according to me, too deep voicing on notes in the treeble =
range (octave 5 to 6).
Although he disagrees with that, the tone is slightly too mellow =
in this range,
from pianissimo up to mezzo forte. At pianissimo or piano, the =
higher partials are
reduced compared to neighboring octaves (impacted notes are from =
55 to 69),
and the attack looks a bit dull.
Those higher partials are coming back with more strength on the =
key. However,
these notes always require slightly more strength to produce a =
balanced sound.
From Mezzo forte up to Forte, things are OK (overall loudness and =
tone quality
is well balanced)
The technician made several filing with very limited improvement. =
I'm not a
specialist, just a pianist - but my engineering background and =
what I learned
reading your very interesting posts, tell me that there has been =
likely too much
deep needling in the higher section of the shoulders.
The Shigeru hammers are cold-pressed and are considered as =
medim/soft in
europe. May be they are not very robust to extensive voicing.
I'm wondering what could be the best solution to recover some =
power to these
15 hammers : dry ironing, juicing or changing those 15 hammer =
heads ?
Kawai says the tone will not be even if I change only a sub set of =
hammers
(they don't want to replace either full set of subset anyway...).
Have you experienced changing subset of hammers in this range ?
Which hammer head brand would you recommend for those Kawai pianos =
(softer
than Yamaha...) ?
Do you think dry ironing would make it ? (actually the recovery =
level I'm expecting
is not that big and the felt thickness is small in this range, so =
this could work).
Many thanks for your feedbacks,
Sincerely yours,
Stephane Hanriat
stephane.hanriat@free.fr
PS : This being said, the SK3 is an outstanding instrument. Action =
is close to
perfection, overall tone is wonderful, rich, not too harsh like =
Yamaha and the
softer hammers give you great control and margin in the way you =
produce louder
sound.
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