<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: [CAUT] Gradually improving voicing</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> On 1/11/05 9:11 AM, "Wimblees@aol.com" <W= imblees@aol.com> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE>It might n= ot be as much as an issue of actually doing something about it, but when we'= re dealing with many different pianists, it is hard to adapt one instrument = to the different demands of the many. It's one thing to work with one pianis= t and his/her piano. But to try to change touch or tone to every pianist who= comes along might do the piano more harm than good. I am not a pianists, bu= t perhaps that is one reason, as you pointed out, the experienced players wi= ll adapt, rather than demand the piano be changed to their needs.   Wim </BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE><= BR> Hi Wim,     Yes, quite true. For instance, I do not voice my (I= consider them mine) concert instruments down to the point of really pleasin= g the “ham-handed” folks who really want me to “take all t= he ugly out.” I’ll do it to their private instrument (with much = inner gnashing of teeth), but on the shared concert instrument I’ll do= the minimum reversible surface work needed to “make them a bit happie= r.” Same with regulation. It’s good to have some quick fix solut= ions up one’s sleeve for these purposes, like a very thin strip of fel= t under the backs of the keys (under back rail felt if possible, but it can = lie reliably on top as well) to reduce key dip and hammer blow – fairl= y noticeable change with little time involved.     But if I start to hear comments and rumors that the= piano is too damned bright from multiple sources, not necessarily face to f= ace, I’ll definitely take it seriously. Or I often hear something in a= concert that no one has ever said anything about. Over the years, one gets = a sense of where the middle ground lies – where you will come closest = to pleasing the majority. You won’t learn where that is unless you lis= ten  to as much commentary as you can get, directly or indirectly. I ha= ve received some of the most useful feedback from the oddest and most unexpe= cted sources. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico </BODY> </HTML>