I agree about the concert hall in most situations although I do have a piano that I work on in a small concert hall in which I worked closely with a committee of pianists to select hammer and voice for the piano as they wanted it when I was rebuilding the action for them (Steinway B). The group of 5 or 6 professional pianists and teachers ended up choosing a Wurzen felt hammer (Ronsen), a comparatively soft pressing when compared with the more typical lacquered up hammer or a Renner performance type hammer, and with the exception of the top two octaves received no hardeners, and even then a very light application. The piano sits next to a 30 year old Bosendorfer 228 which produces somewhat more power and the complaints I get (not too many :-)) are never about the Steinway being too soft but do happen with the Bosendorfer being too loud and bright and I've voiced it down some to please the even below where I would prefer to hear it. The hall is rather live though. Just one example. Personally, I find that Steinway a bit dark (and I probably lean toward warmer and slightly darker as my own personal taste) so that might tell you something at least about this one situation and this group of pianists, FWIW. I find that with the professional pianists that I work with (and there are quite a few) brighter is rarely the choice for their practice pianos. Most want a pretty round and warm sound, clear and not muffled, but not what I would consider bright. Softer hammers have often been the choice here (though not on a D necessarily, but most I know don't practice on D's). They seem to have no trouble extrapolating to the concert hall but for day in and day out practicing they want something more pleasing even erring on darker over brighter. Not always true, of course. Many of the professors whose pianos I keep at Stanford prefer the pianos brighter, but not all. Perhaps that's because they are going back and forth between their studios and the stage pianos more often. Outside of that setting, however, with most of the professional pianists that I work with I would say that I'm generally asked to bring things down far below the level of where you would expect a concert stage piano to be. I do find that serious piano students (on the other hand), especially those on the ascent, often prefer brighter. I don't want to delve into my own theory about what that psychology might be but I do see a trend coming out of one, in particular, well known East Coast music school that seems to value power and brashness over nuance and depth. Standards get set in all kinds of ways. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com The softer hammer may make some customers very, very happy, but I don't think it works in the concert hall, or in the professional pianist's studio (or as the serious student's practice instrument). Perhaps there are exceptions, and if so I'd like to hear about them. Regards, Fred Sturm fssturm at unm.edu “Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.” Brecht
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