Self voicing hammers/work hardening

[Barbara Richmond]

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Hi all,

Had a little conversation with someone this weekend that got me thinking =
(well, now, there's a miracle!). The setting was the auditorium I where =
I provide the service.  A church group was using it for some musical =
extravaganza.  As I finished up tuning, the choir director came up to me =
and said what a wonderful instrument the piano was---it was so bright =
(that made me cringe!) compared to "their D" at the church (OK, it was a =
comparative comment, I felt better.) and the touch was so even.  I said =
thank you and explained that I had replaced the action in the piano and =
voiced it specifically for the auditorium.  He went on to tell me how =
they (the folks from the church) went to New York to choose their =
instrument and what a great experience that was.  But then he asked me =
for my card--although the dealer tech was servicing their piano, he said =
it wouldn't hurt to know someone else who knows their way around a =
Steinway.  No, it doesn't hurt to know someone else who knows their way =
around a Steinway, but it made me wonder what their instrument sounds =
like.

I can imagine all sorts of scenarios, but I'm thinking the one that =
might match what's happening in this case, is that the church has been =
told to "work harden" to get the sound they want.  Now, it's not that I =
don't believe the benefits of work hardening, but I don't think folks =
should be frustrated by how their piano plays and sounds, either.   I =
worked on a lovely D at Illinois Wesleyan University for the first 5 1/2 =
years of its life.  It was a delight to see it mature, but there was =
also the expectation from the very beginning that it would always be up =
to performance level.=20

Whatever the truth of the situation is, it made me wonder about the =
excuse of "work hardening" instead of putting the piano close to the =
voicing level that is really wanted.  How much "voicing" does work =
hardening account for?   As I said before, I listened to the changes in =
a D for 5 1/2 years in a university school of music, the whole time =
working with the voicing.  Well, I would expect to be constantly working =
on the voicing of any performance piano, anyway.  Would using the excuse =
(exclusively) of work hardening say more about the tech's ability to =
handle the voicing and/or what voicing tools (as in whatever methods) =
they use?  =20

There have been a number of times in my life (including when I was a =
music major), where I played on what seemed like puff balls and was told =
the piano just needed to be played.  Nobody seemed to comment on the =
ones I thought were too bright.   Maybe that's why I became a technician =
who has a thing about voicing.  :-)

My intent is not to offend anyone, but Conrad, send me a flamesuit, just =
in case.  Just wondering what you all have experienced.

Thanks,

Barbara Richmond, RPT
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