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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That would be laquer -- ie: spray laquer in
another guise. It has a different cachet when diguised with perfume &
labeled hairspray, thereby making it more politically correct than the spray
bomb this old Idaho spud advocated some months back -- to no comment from the
gallery, he added with a hurt & wistful keystroke. ;-) Ah, you
are a fickle bunch! :-) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Actually, the spray laquer (under whatever guise it
lurks) can provide a surface stability to the hammer, somewhat akin to the skin
on a golf ball. It allows the core to remain resilient while containing
the energy within so it rebounds off the string quickly, thereby giving power
without sacrificing tone/colour. A little acetone on the strike point
eliminates most of the zings associated with harderners. The results are
almost instantaneous and can be easily reversed. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Soaking the hammer with laquer, or whatever one
chooses, merely makes a solid felt & laquer lump on the end of the
shank. Kind of like golfing with a rock -- makes lots of noise but
doesn't go very far. (Don't get me wrong here. I use hardeners
which soak into the hammer as well, but try to keep the solution thin &
applications minimal.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Try it on that old/new duffer D & see what
happens. It can allow the piano to develope some decent tone & the
resulting increased playing time that is a pleasure, rather than a
sentence. When the piano gets played in, the first shaping will probably
take that crust off. You can then elect to re-apply or not.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Otto</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=dm.porritt@verizon.net href="mailto:dm.porritt@verizon.net">David M.
Porritt</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=caut@ptg.org
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, December 03, 2003 10:15
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: It's Alive!!!!</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<P align=left>Roger:</P>
<P align=left>What kind of hairspray?</P>
<P align=left>dave</P>
<P align=left><BR>__________________________________________</P>
<P align=left>David M. Porritt, RPT</P>
<P align=left>Meadows School of the Arts</P>
<P align=left>Southern Methodist University</P>
<P align=left>Dallas, TX 75275</P>
<P align=left> </P>
<P align=left><BR>----- Original message
----------------------------------------><BR>From: Roger Jolly <<A
href="mailto:roger.j@sasktel.net">roger.j@sasktel.net</A>><BR>To: College
and University Technicians <<A
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</A>><BR>Received: Wed, 03 Dec 2003
11:02:16 -0600<BR>Subject: Re: It's Alive!!!!</P>
<P align=left><BR><BR>Hi
Wim,<BR>
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?<BR><BR>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><BR><BR>Walk carefully and carry a big
stick.<BR>Roger<BR><BR><BR><BR>At 03:19 PM 12/1/2003, you wrote:<BR></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR> <BR>Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
<BR> <BR>Wim<BR><FONT face=arial size=2>Willem Blees, RPT<BR>Piano
tuner/technician<BR>School of Music<BR>University of
Alabama</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>