<html> <body> Hi Wim,                 Comments like, "It is stiffer".  Is all too often tone related.  Just last weekend I had this comment from Vladimir Viardo, who was playing Rach2, sprayed the strike points with hair spray, and he thought I was a genius.  He thanked me for making the action more even and lighter.   (Chuckling)  All I did was spray the hammers.5 mins work tops.  Next time I see the piano, buff off the Hair Spray crust with 400 grit paper.  Now how do I charge for  for a full voicing job? Since you are getting these comments from visiting performers of out standing quality, it really sounds as if the piano needs more tone building,  Are your Profs  in the league of Misha Dichter?    OMG University politics.  <G> Walk carefully and carry a big stick. Roger At 03:19 PM 12/1/2003, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Well, actually, it's dead. At least that is what Olga Kern told me last week. She was here to give a recital. I prepped our new D, and put it in the middle of the stage. At 6:30 I stopped by to see if there was at i wasnything she needed. She said, "This piano is dead." I said it was only a year old, and had probably only been played about a dozen times. She said, it sounded like it. I should have kept my mouth shut, but I offered her our 14 year D, which was sittting off stage. After playing just 3 chords, she said she wanted to play the recital on that piano, but only after warming up on it. I had 15 minutes to tune it before the doors opened. Unfortunately, by the end of the fist half, there were several notes that didn't make it.   But that is not what I'm here to complain about. Olga was not the first pianist to complain about the new piano. Last March Misha Dichter had the same complaint. (but at least he gave me 2 hours to prep the older piano). My question is, how do I put more "life" into a new piano? As I said, the piano only comes out of it's hiding place for special occasions. (No, sun down is not a special occasion here in Alabama, especially not on Sundays.) Since we got the piano in August of last year, there have been about 12 performances on it. The piano is voiced, regulated, etc., so I don't quite understand when a performer says there is no life in the piano. Not even our piano faculty agrees with that, although they do think the piano is a little stiffer than the older one.   Any advice will be greatly appreciated.   Wim Willem Blees, RPT Piano tuner/technician School of Music University of Alabama</blockquote></body> </html>