Voicing

[Kdivad@AOL.COM]

In a message dated Tue, 13 Aug 2002 7:09:52 PM Eastern Standard Time, dm.porritt@verizon.net writes:

> I've been fascinated by the discussion on voicing.  I try to listen to the kind of words people use to describe the tone they like.  If they say "I like a bright, crisp piano,  I don't like the muffled ones"  I know how to proceed.  If they say they like a mellow, warm piano not a brassy tinny one, I know how to proceed there.  The analogy of the engine timing is not appropriate as there is indeed a right and wrong timing specification for each engine.  
>  
> A better analogy would be how much jalapeno to put in the bean dip.  Tastes vary, and there's no right and wrong.  We are like chefs that are hired to cater a party.  The customer wants her bean dip to suit her tastes and it's our job to deliver what they want whether it is our preference or not.  Of course we can gather up our pots and pans and go home if we want to be temperamental, but I'd rather give them what they want.
>  
> I have a customer with a D.M.A. in piano performance who likes her piano somewhat brighter than I like.  She has stated that she would rather work harder for the pianissimo than to have to work so hard for the fortissimo.  It's her piano.  She spent thousands on it, and it's hers, not mine.  I have another customer with an equal academic background who wants his piano darker than I would like.  He claims that if he practices several hours on a piano that is brighter, his ears fatigue and he misses little subtle nuances.  It's his piano, not mine.
>  
> If we remember who bought and paid for the instruments I guess it's up to us to give them what they want, or gather up 
> our pots and pans and leave.  I'd rather stay.
>  
> dave
> _____________________________
> David M. Porritt
> dporritt@mail.smu.edu
> Meadows School of the Arts
> Southern Methodist University
> Dallas, TX 75275
> _____________________________

Well put David, thats been my point all along.
  
As far as the analogy goes I was a mechanic for many years and before cars had electronic ignitions you could vary the timing from manufacturers specs to alter the way the car would run.  You could safely tweak the timing up till just before it would spark knock for more top end or run it back for better acceleration, at that time a perfectly exceptable technique, even on the old family sedan.  Most of us shade tree mechanics would set the timing by ear.  Perhaps I should have said a 1965 Chevelle Super Sport to put it in better perspective. Most hammer manufacturers have specifications for voicing, but most techs have there own different techniques.

Don't get me wrong if it were my own instrument I would always voice, but using the bean dip analogy what if the customer arrives early and tastes the dip and says thats perfect don't touch it, before you put in jalapinos.  Now some of us (me included) would say, that's not bean dip.  But as you said, it's what the customer wants.

David Koelzer
Vintage Pianos
DFW