---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Barbara Well isn't it good to know the tonal pendulum is swinging & that quite a few of us are feeling it's breeze &on the same page here.: The tone issue is what pushed me out of being a full time tuner & farther and farther into rebuilding/ building & finding my own tonal brand of piano restoration. I had to get away from all the clangers & bangers coming from the pacific rim to preserve my hearing/sanity. It started with the revelation that I really didn't enjoy the sound of most pianos I heard. This meant I had to learn to voice. Norman Neblett gave me my very first hands on voicing lesson in 1979 on a Yamaha CF. After that I was then armed & dangerous. Promptly went out & applied Yamaha voivcing techniques to a set of old Steinway hammers. Well that didnt' work. So after I replaced that set ... for free, I decided I had to learn a few more things. Oh well . It's been an awesome trip & I'm liking a lot of what I hear these days. Thanks for the encouragement! Dale Very nice, Barb, You are one of the 'real' ones. EAR On 3-mrt-05, at 20:25, Barbara Richmond wrote: > Alan, > > Tone quality is always an interesting topic to me. I've gotten rid > of a few recordings because I couldn't stand the voicing of the > piano. One was of the 500,000th Steinway (I think), a lot of > different artists playing. To me, it was a really glassy sounding > instrument. I sold the CD to a faculty member. > > I'm not sure how I learned to hear the subtleties and form my opinion > of piano tone. But I did practice voicing every chance I had, > starting with evening up notes on the pianos I tuned. Are you a > pianist? As a pianist, I am always looking for the greatest spectrum > of tone color available. When I'm playing, I feel like the piano IS > the orchestra, and I want to be able to produce as many different > voices possible. > > Recently I serviced the home piano (Steinway B) for a university > professor (of piano). When I was at his house he said something to > the effect that he didn't want "that generic Steinway voicing." Let > me explain that I've often felt like I'm in minority because it seems > no matter where I go, so many of the pianos (not just Steinways) are > way too bright--for my taste, anyway. I can produce that raucous kind > of voicing if I have to, but I don't like it and I don't like to have > to tune it. If given artistic freedom, I go for a broad sound--not > too bright (but capable of being bright) and not so mellow to rob > power. In fact, at one time I had doubted my voicing strategy (only > because it seemed to be different than so much of what I've heard out > there), until I got the e-mail from the professor asking me to service > his piano. I'll quote the line that made me want to do cartwheels: > > "I have greatest admiration for your ability to bring out the highest > artistic potential in pianos." > > Well, I'm not sure I actually do, but, golly, I'm going to save that > one! A little affirmation at the right time can work marvels for a > person. OK, I'll stay the course, I'll stick to my ideals. > > Go for it, man! > > Barbara Richmond > > > ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/ba/c5/fe/d0/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC