Richard and list, My time spent with the Yamaha concert tech from Japan was very rewarding indeed. It is very hard to explain in words what was learned, but here goes a good try. Of course after the finest regulation and tuning he began to move chromatically up and down the piano with lightning speed almost as fast as one would gliss with one finger... but with precise technique. Getting an overall feel for the pianos voicing. Then he layed hammers forward and in groups of three he grasped the group with left hand...thumb next to shank, and index finger on other side.( supported with a voicing block) He pulled them together as if they were one solid hammer. If you grabbed more than three you would damage the center pin joint he explained. Then he made a dot on the hammer molding half way between the molding and the shank(not half way from the top of the hammer). He then began his thrusts with a 6 mm needle into the shoulder on the back side with fire. Starting at two thirty, pointing the strokes straight at the imaginary dot, and moved back and forth in the group of three up to the 11 o'clock position on all three hammers. He hit each hammer ten to fifteen times a side. On the side facing the keys(front side) he did the same, being carefull to point the needles almost straight down with total precision at the dot. On this side he voiced to the 2 o'clock position. (because of hammer flex in stroke) After each fury of needles he packed the felt back with the handle of his voicing tool. He instructed that it may take up to thirty times a side with very fast motion on each shoulder in bass and mid section up to 15 and maybe 5 to 10 a side in the high treble. He then listened carefully to the voicing saying that the speed of thrust was the key to this. He said I voiced too slowly. That is why his voicing was more effective. He said the same number of thrusts would ruin good hammers with my approach. (I hate admitting this to the group) I was there to learn and wanted the best information...so I endured his chiding. He then began filing the hammers lightly. I wish I could show a video of this procedure. He said to use a flat padal not a contoured padal. You remove felt by thin layers. He used a stroke that stayed perfectly flat with a long follow through motion and rolled the hammer into the stroke with his left hand. It was poetry to watch this happen. He kept saying ... "patience is key to great voiced pianos". Every hammer should be filed lightly to contour to strings. He also said never remove the groove completely. Just every layer up to the groove, giving the correct shape. Then he began the final voicing. This was amazing to me. Sometimes when he played a note that sounded dull he said "string not level do you hear that?" of course I said ..."yes". ( all I had heard was a dull hammer that needed packing or juice) He then string leveled and said that is why he filed hammers so he knew it was the string not the hammers. Then retuned that string and listened again. He cleaned up most of the voicing with the leveling of strings. Then when he found a bright hammer he muted two of the strings in fast repetition to find the offending bright string (or better said...groove). He then had a voicing tool with two needles set at 2 mm. He then voiced in the crown with one maybe two slow strokes in the offending groove. He then satisfied the entire keyboard and went back to voice the final voicing. He began to move again with lightning speed up and down the piano keys as a great chromatic glissando. Listening for sections of the piano ot individual notes that may need a little voicing. I have to say you had to be there. I wish I could demonstrate this technique in person because it was amazing. You would think that after all this that the piano would be so mellow that it would sound like cotton balls hitting the strings but it was warm and dynamic at the same time. No loss of power at all. The voicing took three hours or more. I am sorry for the long post but it was shortened as much as possible. Thank you to Yamaha for such a fine class on voicing technique. Thank you Terry Niimi for the class I will never forget. Ed Tomlinson Tomlinson Tuning and Repair Vancouver Wa << This also > was a week of discovery of new techniques from Terry Niimi of Japan. His > voicing class has changed how I will voice forever. > > Ed Tomlinson > Tomlinson Tuning and Repair > Vancouver Wa How does he voice? Richard the Curious >>
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