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Andr=E9,
I for one enjoy very much your posts on hammers. I agree with you tha=
t some
hammers are all but impossible to produce a good tone with. And some =
pianos
also have the same problem. I just wish I could get all your experien=
ce in a
can or something quick...;-) But I really enjoy getting more knowled=
ge a
day at a time. It's a nice long road to great voicing. And sometimes =
the
piano itself is limited and by trying to make it sound as it won't, a=
few
otherwise good sets of hammers are ruined.
Please keep on sharing your experiences.
Marcel Carey, RPT
Sherbrooke QC
-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]O=
n
Behalf Of antares
Sent: 21 f=E9vrier, 2004 06:51
To: Kevin E. Ramsey; Pianotech
Subject: Re: Voicing up Shigeru Kawai SK3
On 21-feb-04, at 2:24, Kevin E. Ramsey wrote:
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 techn=
ician,
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 w=
ouldn't
want any other kind on that piano.
I hope that I've helped, at least I've stopped something bad fro=
m
happening. Please feel free to write back after this is resolved, per=
haps I
can learn something here also.
Yours,
Kevin E. Ramsey R.P.T.
Hi Kevin,
From the information from the owner of the Kawai grand, we could de=
duct
that, although there may be some voicing problems, the instrument bas=
ically
is beautiful and that it will be alright after treatment. The warning=
sign
are flashing, so something will have to be done.
Indeed, a hammer change would be drastic and premature, especially =
if a
well trained technician has worked before on this instrument.
On the other hand, why be so afraid of a hammer change?
I do nothing but hammer changes, and have done so for many years, o=
n old
instruments, but also on new instruments.
The new instruments had for instance been voiced too much in the fa=
ctory
and could not be helped anymore.
I have also encountered quite a number of new concert grands (and
especially Steinways !) which had big trouble already right from the =
start,
and why? because of over filing, over needling and over doping.
A hammer change is/was often the only answer but this answer always=
came
to light after a year or so..
I remember for instance this guy at B=F6sendorfer who had been fili=
ng and
voicing and filing and voicing his concert hammers all day long, so t=
o
speak.
At the end of the day, he came to the embarrassing conclusion that =
he had
gone too far. The next day he happily did a new hammer filing and sta=
rted
the process all over again. That instrument has been sold of course b=
ut was
in need of new hammers right from the start.
Somebody bought it and it could have been yours.
here a quote from the owner:
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 orderin=
g. I've
well noticed the need to give more power to these notes to get more b=
alanced
sound, and I've considered this a minor problem. The MPA told me to p=
lay the
piano for 6 months and he will improve thisduring the visit at my hou=
se
(MPAs are licensed by Kawai to service Shigeru's).
This is a very clear case to me as I have encountered it many times=
:
Basically the instrument is fine, but indeed, it might be possible th=
at a
technician in Japan had just a bad night or a cold, and thus had some
trouble with the area described, and over-needled it - slightly (why =
not? is
he/she a saint?). Then the instrument was put in a crate and into a
container and loaded on the deck of a ship, and so the long journey s=
tarted
to Europe, or where ever.
- (There was this moment when this very respected voicing technicia=
n in
Japan told me that 'tomorrow he could not be there to give me instruc=
tions,
because he had to prepare some concert instruments for a selection by=
a
famous pianist.
I immediately jumped up and asked him whether it would be possible =
to
listen to his work after the pianist had been gone again. And so it h=
appened
that the next day he took me to a small hall within the factory, I ha=
d not
seen before.
10 concert instruments had been prepared and my instructor asked me=
to
pick out the nicest ones.
Within a few minutes I had made my choice and told him that there w=
ere two
I liked very much because they were very rich in tone and very even.
It was a lucky moment because these two instruments were the ones h=
e had
prepared himself.
I then asked him why it was that not all concert grands were just a=
s
beautiful, to which he answered that "not every technician has the sa=
me
qualities and that to some he would give a 7 (on a scale of 1 to 10) =
and
others a 9. "They are people, and all people are different".) -
It is well known, that a journey in a container may cause some prob=
lems
with the product, due to temperature and humidity changes. For that r=
eason,
all instruments, 'normally' speaking, undergo a check on arrival. Thi=
s check
is usually not done in the shop, but in the place of transhipment whe=
re the
products will be stored temporarily.
Of course I don't know anything about your technical background (so
forgive me if this is old hat to you), but let me tell you that often=
this
technical brush up is a bitter laugh, and the work minutes are counte=
d,
literally, out of commercial consideration.
The next place where the instrument goes to is the piano shop.
I have travelled very much, and I am always interested in the local=
piano
shops where ever my journey takes me (sounds familiar?).
Most often, almost all instruments in any shop, anywhere, are in so=
so
shape. They are always out of tune, and always need regulation and vo=
icing.
Why? That is because
1. often - the shop owners don't have the technical knowledge
2. often - the shop owners don't have experienced technicians (beca=
use
they, the techs, work for themselves)
3. often - the shop owners don't want to invest extra money and hol=
d the
importer responsible for technical complaints.
The importer always grumbles and first tells the shop owner to fix =
the
problem himself, and when this has no result (or, when it - usually -=
gets
worse) and the customer keeps complaining, a trained tech will come b=
y to
fix the problem.
This all costs extra money which nobody wants to pay.
Factory technicians are not holy, you know.
I have been in quite a number of factories and was often amazed at =
the way
their instruments left the factory.
In my opinion, the finest instrument is an instrument that has a hi=
gher
and recognizable quality from the start and as we know, maybe oneout =
of ten
is uniquely beautiful.
Usually, such a fine instrument has already been selected in the fa=
ctory
for special occasions.
There were for instance the fine Yamaha CFFIII-S grands, specially
selected for Mr. S. Richter on which he played his concerts all over =
the
world, accompanied by the finest technicians.
If we encounter a 'diamond' piano, even a bad technician may have s=
uccess
with it.
The other ones, the ones with 'some problems' ask for more refineme=
nt. The
tech servicing these more difficult instruments, has to be very awake=
and
sharp and of course highly experienced from the start.
Coming back to changing hammers :
I have now described in detail several circumstances that could lea=
d to a
premature hammer change on a fairly new instrument.
If we have experience in doing hammer changes and we have done so f=
or many
years, we go from level to level, year after year, just as everyone e=
lse who
gets more and more experience in his/her field.
In a factory this goes of course much faster because it is a daily
routine. If we trust the voicing technician in the factory, can we no=
t also
trust the highly experienced and factory trained technician in the fi=
eld?
Of course we can.
If an experienced technician, indeed, not only has technical qualit=
ies but
also has an artistic disposition, we should be assured that a hammer =
change
on such a fine instrument (and any hammer change) will be brought to =
a good
musical end.
They are just rare, that's all.
P.S.
quote from the Shigeru owner :
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 c=
leaner
attack at soft playing. it's likely something that could be tested, i=
n a
conservative way of course. What do you think ?
unquote
A correct regulation of the bedding screws belongs to regulation an=
d that
should have been done right from the beginning and a check should alw=
ays be
made because the key frame changes position all the time due to chang=
es in
humidity.
I have used the word 'banging' here because it has been taught to m=
e in
several factories. It is a highly successful but should be done caref=
ully in
order not to overdo it.
I am against ironing hammers because it is always a temporary measu=
re and
it is very dangerous.
If hammers contain too much water, due to high humidity, we should =
alter
the climate conditions in the hall or room, or install the right damp=
p
chaser system.
In my opinion we must avoid working on hammers as much as is possib=
le. If
we have an exquisite instrument the regulation, the hammers and the t=
uning
are of the greatest importance.
Of these, the hammers are the most important and dangerous items be=
cause
they are much more complex. Why are they complex?
Because of the fact that hammers have a 'certain' wool quality, the=
y have
a hammer molding which plays a role in making sound and which also de=
fines
the volume, and we have here a very complex number of tension area's =
which
play an incredibly important role in defining the tonal outcome.
Hammers (and thus hammer felt) are actually so important, that we (=
Grand
Piano) now give lectures about Wurzen felt and how to voice it.
Because I personally put so much emphasis on hammers, it was rather
'strange' to me that, generally speaking, hardly anybody on this list=
reacts
to my ramblings about this issue.
Apparently it is not considered important or interesting enough.
On the other hand, maybe I should turn off my computer and read Don=
ald
Duck instead (?)
friendly greetings
from
Andr=E9 Oorebeek
Amsterdam -
The Netherlands
0031-20-6237357
0645-492389
0031-75-6226878
www.concertpianoservice.nl
www.grandpiano.nl
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