<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; = charset=us-ascii"> <TITLE>Message</TITLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1276" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: = #ffffff"> <DIV><SPAN class=000294621-01122003><FONT face="Times New Roman" = color=#000080 size=3>Wim,</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=000294621-01122003><FONT face="Times New Roman" = color=#000080 size=3></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=000294621-01122003><FONT face="Times New Roman" = color=#000080 size=3>Besides voicing it up as needed, or refining the regulation = (perhaps), you might consider this . . .</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=000294621-01122003><FONT face="Times New Roman" = color=#000080 size=3></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=000294621-01122003><FONT face="Times New Roman" = color=#000080 size=3>When I was in music school we had a Mason & Hamlin BB in = the recital hall that was never used because it was dead and dull, lifeless.  I = asked if I could practice on it for a summer, and the faculty agreed.  I = spent 3 to 6 hours a day on it, and at the end of the summer the technician = re-shaped the hammers, regulated and voiced it - and it was used quite a bit thereafter.  It was mainly a chamber music piano anyway (there was = a reasonably good Steinway D there as well plus an old clapped out Baldwin = SD), but once played in a bit people started using the = BB.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=000294621-01122003><FONT face="Times New Roman" = color=#000080 size=3></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=000294621-01122003><FONT face="Times New Roman" = color=#000080 size=3>It really sounds like the action of your D needs work.  = Hard to say what or why, but perhaps the friction isn't what it should be.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=000294621-01122003><FONT face="Times New Roman" = color=#000080 size=3></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=000294621-01122003><FONT face="Times New Roman" = color=#000080 size=3>Don Mannino</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=000294621-01122003><FONT face="Times New Roman" = color=#000080 size=3></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000080 2px = solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV></DIV> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr = align=left><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> = Wimblees@aol.com [mailto:Wimblees@aol.com] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, December 01, 2003 = 1:20 PM<BR><B>To:</B> caut@ptg.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> It's Alive!!!!<BR><BR></FONT></DIV> <DIV>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 anything = 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. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>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. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Any advice will be greatly appreciated. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Wim</DIV> <DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 PTSIZE="10" = FAMILY="SANSSERIF">Willem Blees, RPT<BR>Piano tuner/technician<BR>School of Music<BR>University = of Alabama<BR></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>