Steinway hammer voicing

[A440A at aol.com]

 Greetings, 
   I wrote:


>  As far as "bloom" goes, there may or may not be any there.   >>

Barbara  asks: 
<< Is this the result of too much lacquer in the shoulders?

      A stiff hammer doesn't transfer the energy the same way as a more 
resilient one, and I have always associated harder hammers with less fundamental.  
The bloom requires the lower frequencies to be present in the spectrum.  
So......  the answer is yes/maybe.  Presently, Steinway seems to be soaking their 
hammers in a dilute lacquer solution, so I think the stiffness is nearly evenly 
spread throughout the hammer.  
     I still prefer to add lacquer on the shoulders in sufficient quantity to 
"meet in the middle".  This leaves the strike point and the felt immediately 
under it with less stiffness, which not only allows the hammer to maintain 
some resiliency, but also, greatly increases the longevity of its useful life.  
The completely soaked hammer tends to get brittle sounding after a year or so 
on the stage, and sticking needles in it does little more than kill the attack. 
 
     The factory hammers sound great, but don't last as long as the Renners 
that I have also used.  
Regards,


 



Ed Foote RPT 
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html