Voicing

[Kdivad@AOL.COM]

In a message dated Wed, 14 Aug 2002 11:40:04 AM Eastern Standard Time, davidlovepianos@earthlink.net writes:

> 
> 
> I've sort of exhausted my thoughts on this subject but as I said earlier,
> prevoicing means before the hammers are installed, much less delivered.

Most of the techs I know wait to voice until after the hammers are hung and heard to get a baseline.  I realize your technique is also perfectly correct.  

>I
> wouldn't need to "sell" voicing because it's already in the price.
> Generally the customer doesn't sit down to try the piano until I'm done.

I understand, but in the situation of the original thread the tech would have had to "sell" the customer the voicing.  Generally the customer does wait until you are done but this customer did not.

> When the action goes in it needs regulation, alignment, hammer to string
> fitting, tuning and voicing.  I'm usually there for several hours.  If you
> want me to say explicitely that leaving the piano unvoiced is incorrect,
> well I won't say that, but I will say that leaving the piano unvoiced is
> incomplete.  What if when you put in the action the let-off was at 1/4" and
> the customer played the piano and liked it and said don't touch it?  Would
> you see that as an opportunity to leave it that way?  Or would you explain
> that the piano will perform better if you take the time to set it right.  I don't view basic voicing any differently.  

Of course, I would explain, and if you will remember thats exactly what the tech did and only after the customer insisted did he leave it unvoiced.



The bean dip analogy is fun but
> you're looking at the wrong part of it.  To make bean dip, you've gotta have
> beans.  In voicing, you have to have a certain foundation for the hammer.

I believe you missed the point, the beans are the hammers unvoiced, the jalapinos represents the voicing, most of us would not call it bean dip without some jalapinos, but there are customers who insist on just the beans.  You can try to convince them, but after all is said and done it's their decision.  Did you do anything wrong by leaving off the jalapinos, of course not.  

> Let me reiterate, that doesn't mean that I'm imposing bright or mellow,
> spicy or not spicy on the customer.  They can well decide that part of it
> but I will still voice for a certain consistency in the supporting structure
> of the hammer, balance and evenness.  If they say they like it as it is,
> they are almost always responding to the level of attack.  I will explain
> the process and the goal and reassure them that their tastes will be adhered
> to but that certain procedures need to be performed to ensure range,
> uniformity and balance of tone.  It's easy to let the customers enthusiasm
> for the improvement of a new hammer lull you into a false sense of
> completion.  I would personally try and avoid that.  Then again, an
> improperly voiced hammer is probably worse than an unvoiced hammer.


It would seem the tech did just that, tried to explain, to no avail.


> 
> Voicing is part of the preparation of a piano.  It is, in my opinion, the
> most difficult and artistic part of what we do.  There are guidelines for
> procedures but because each manufacturer's hammers are different and because
> each set of hammers varies a little bit, experience and a strong tonal
> concept have to guide you, a few pianistic skills don't hurt either.  My
> sense is that many techs are uncomfortable with voicing and look for ways to
> avoid doing it.  I think all of us would love to have a hammer that you
> could just put on out of the box and they would be right.  I don't think
> that is possible because of the differences between the structure of the
> hammer off the press and the structural needs of the hammer to produce all
> the elements of good tone.  Some manipulation is always required.
> Complicating the issue are the inherent inconsistencies within each sheet of
> felt.  Some hammers sound better than others out of the box but in my
> experience that period is usually short lived.


I agree completely!

> 
> My goal is always to please the customer.  Part of the problem is
> understanding just what the customer is communicating about their
> preferences.  So if after I've discussed with a customer the merits of
> creating resilience on sustain, tonal range, etc., and if after I've
> explained that the piano needs to be balanced from top to bottom, and if
> after I've explained that the piano needs to produce similar quality tone
> from note to note at all levels of playing, and if after I've explained that
> they can still have it bright or mellow as they wish, they still want me to
> leave it alone, I would leave it alone.  So far, that has never happened.
> 
> David Love


I agree with you completely on this point.  
It has never happened to me either, that doesn't say it won't happen to either of us tommorrow. 
Somehow this thread has gotten twisted from its original point.  I am also weary of this thread, but the implications that this tech was incorrect in the way he handled the situation bothers me. 

David Koelzer
Vintage Pianos
DFW