<html> <body> Fred, This is great! Thanks very much. Best. Horace At 05:19 PM 3/17/2005, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">On 3/1= 7/05 8:56 AM, "Wimblees@aol.com" <Wimblees@aol.com> wrote: <dl> <dd>My question is, has he gotten in a bad habit or is this "standard procedure"? I realize there is not much I can do about it, other than work like a devil to get it right. But for my own curiosity, is he asking for the moon on this? <dd>  </dl>I agree with those who have said he is reasonable in his expectation, though I would argue that this does not mean voicing every hair of every hammer. There are some fairly efficient procedures to get a good range of color. 1) First, as Mark Cramer mentioned, do sand that left edge. A quick rotational pass with a paddle will do it, but leaving a sharp edge is big, big trouble. When that edge hits a string, it shouts very loud and clear. Don’t miss one. (Ask me how I know). 2) I’ll assume level strings, hammers square to strings (fitted). Space hammers meticulously  to strings. The real goal in spacing is to have just enough felt to the left of the left string at rest so that, when the pedal is half depressed, there is felt to hit the left string, and when fully depressed, the left string will clear and the other strings will still be in “un-grooved” felt (ie, they will be hit by hammer felt just to the right of the felt that hits the strings in rest position). So if there aren’t grooves produced by  playing, mark the hammer with carbon paper (carbon paper between hammers and strings) to be certain you can tell exactly how to space the hammers. 3) Before proceeding, make doubly sure you have spaced the hammers (and adjusted the una corda stop screw) as near perfectly as possible, by playing each note in turn with pedal fully depressed, muting the right two strings with a rubber mute. Can you hear the left string? If so, space that hammer a wee bit again. (It’s okay to have a very slight ghosting sound from the left string – in fact, I like to adjust the stop to get just a ghosting sound for precision spacing, then turn the screw an eight to quarter turn to get positive clearance for final position). Also take care to observe what part of the hammer is hitting the left two strings when the pedal is fully depressed – definitely make sure you have adjusted the stop so that the grooves or carbon paper lines aren’t hitting the left two strings. This is fussy work, but needn’t take all that long, using a flange spacer. (Well, as long as there is adequate space between the flanges. Speaking of which, when installing new shanks, take care to leave equal space before tightening screws. It’ll save a lot of time later). 4) Now it’s a fairly simple procedure. Two needling sites: one just to the right of the two left strings, the other just to the left of all three strings. The first gets a deeper treatment than the second. Exactly what treatment will vary depending on taste and hammer variety, but a tool like Steinway folks use with 4 – 5 shallow needles close together is a good possibility. Another is a single needle, operated with finesse.     When needling to the right of the string grooves (which is where the hammer hits when the pedal is fully depressed), angle to the right, away from the grooves. When needling to the left of the string grooves (at half pedal position), angle a wee bit to the left, and don’t go as deep. Be meticulous, and do exactly the same thing to each hammer (with some adjustment in depth from bass to treble). And, of course, do a few samples to decide what that exact same thing will be. 5) Now play each note, while moving the pedal up and down gradually. Mostly you are listening for any “hot spots” you might have missed. But typically I find that, if I have done the necessary prep work (leveling, mating, spacing), and have been attentive enough while doing the una corda needling, there sill be very little additional touch up do be done. BTW, the Steinway folks (Eric at any rate) don’t teach needling the half pedal position, at least in their more basic classes. But I think it is utterly essential. Not as deep as full pedal position, but it has to be done or there will be obvious unevenness when partial pedal is used.  I have certainly had complaints which have led me to my current standard procedure.     As for 4 or 11 different sounds, well, whatever they want to teach and believe is just fine. A two position una corda voicing will create a very nice gradation of tone, which will please the vast majority in my experience. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico </blockquote></body> </html>