---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Dear List, I take care of 4 concert grands plus 2 other smaller grands at the Frank=20 Lloyd Wright estate in Spring Green, Wisconsin (about 35 miles west of=20 Madison). There are 2 Bechsteins and 2 Steinways, all over 100 years old an= d=20 all have been re-whatevered over the years. A few years ago, the Bechstein in the theater received a new action which di= d=20 improve it quite a bit. The person who did the work tends to use softer=20 hammers with the Steinway like philosophy that over the long run, they will=20 brighten up. When it was first delivered, it played well but was entirely=20 too soft. I ended up doing what I have done many times with great success.=20= =20 I put a tiny amount of very dilute hardener on the striking surface of each=20 hammer. =20 I do this because I know it will have an immediate effect but will not ruin=20 the rest of the hammer. The strings will eventually cut through the area of= =20 felt I treated and it will be filed away in the future. It took all of 5=20 minutes to do and everyone was thrilled at the results. Now, however, the very fine concert pianist who performs there with his=20 ensemble in a series of concerts in late July and early August wants=20 something more than what the piano has to offer. He likes the old Steinway=20 which is in the dining room and which the choir uses to rehearse with better= =20 even though it could really use complete restoration, itself. =20 Expense has always been a problem for the Frank Lloyd Write foundation but=20 apparently they will pay me for a day's work for whatever I can do to make=20 this piano better for the upcoming series. Below are the pianist's remarks.= =20 Some of them seem contradictory. Frankly, I didn't perceive any particular=20 problem with it when I tuned it on June 7. It always stays in tune so well=20 from one year to the next that I can get it tuned in about 30 minutes. When trying to make a piano better, I always look for the worst thing about=20 it to correct first. I think that part of this piano's sound may be due to=20 some loss of crown over the years, something which could only be corrected b= y=20 installing a new soundboard, something which is beyond what I could do. I'm= =20 inclined to think that the usual, align & file the hammers, go over the=20 regulation completely and leave a minimal amount of after touch, plus use=20 again a scant amount of hardener on the hammers would provide what this=20 pianist is looking for. It appears that I also need to look at the damper=20 lift although I don't recall anything out of tolerance about them. List, please read what the pianist has to say and give me your advice about=20 what to do for a day long concert prep of this piano. Again, tuning will be= =20 the least of it, probably about 30 minutes. "Bill, here is a copy of Jeffrey's email to me describing his "wish list" fo= r=20 the Bechstein. I know you can work your magic, and thank you for scheduling it. . . Glad you will= =20 be able to do it on July 26th. . . Thanks, Susan ---------- From: Jeffrey Sykes <jrsykes@mindspring.com> To: Susan Lockhart <lockhart@franklloydwright.org> Subject: Re: BDDS concerts at Hillside Date: Tue, Jul 2, 2002, 12:26 AM hi there, you are so kind to think about this. the bechstein DOES cause me a certain frustration. i WILL say, however, that it has improved greatly since the work done on it several years ago. you know i love the steinway that's in the dining room. i wish that you could trade the two pianos, but i understand that may not be possible for a variety of reasons. the steinway has a fundamentally "concert hall" sound (big, round, beefy, juicy, golden, sunny)--the bechstein has a fundamentally "living room" or "background" sound (softer, gentler, whispery, , moonlight, silvery) and that's just how those pianos are. OK, i'm going to pass this on to stefanie jacob for her thoughts, too, but here's what i think: =E2=82=AC there are some things which are basic to the nature of bechsteins=20= and that piano in particular. those are things that will never change no matter what. however, within those limits, there's a lot that can be done. =E2=82=AC it takes a LOT of effort to make a big sound. partly this is voic= ing, partly action regulation, partly brightness. on the whole, the piano could use substantially greater brightness all over. more "ping" in the sound. less "dying away" and much more "sustain" in the sound. i would like it to be much easier to get a full, bright, singing sound out of the instrument. i would rather have to work hard to play softly than to work hard to play loud. the former takes control and thought, the later takes muscular effort with this piano, and it's exhausting. =E2=82=AC i want the action to be first of all more even across the board--a complete regulation would fix this--but also to be a tad more resistant. it feels a little bit flabby playing that piano, like the keys go down too quickly. the action is a tad too light. generally, bechsteins are noted for having light actions--but this one is pretty extreme. =E2=82=AC the dampers and pedals need fine-tuning. they do not damp evenly=20= and precisely. also, they don't lift evenly or, i believe, high enough off the strings when the damper pedal is depressed. for the damper pedal, there should be a tiny, tiny bit of "dead" space (before it engages the dampers), then the possibility of raising the dampers to different heights off the strings to the maximum allowable height. the pedal seems like it's either on or off w/o any in-between possible." Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin <A HREF=3D"http://www.billbremmer.com/">Click here: -=3Dw w w . b i l l b r= e m m e r . c o m =3D-</A>=20 ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/c3/75/5e/ac/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC