I'd like to pipe in a bit more here after reading most of the posts on the subject matter. It seems evident that some of us are applying different words to different concepts in our attempts at describing how a hammer is brought to its final voice. The term "brightness" for example. Clearly this means different things to some of us. For me, the needling process does not really cause any increase in brightness, tho I think I understand why the term is used by many over there. Rather it releases much of the power of the hammer that lays trapped in the un-needled shoulder areas towards the crown. Personally, I get little sense of increased brightness from this process... some to be sure but that is much overshadowed by the increase in fullness and in power. Said another way, the un-needled hammers inherent brightness is enhanced by the addition of power and the fullness/fattening of the tone that results from the needling process. And indeed sometimes this leaves the hammer require a bit of down toning that perhaps was not so very evident at the start of the process. Another point is the perspective of voicing up rather then voicing down. While I most certainly relate well to the idea that hammers require lacquer equates well to the idea of voicing up, I'm not so well with thinking along the lines that needling new hammers is the equivalent of voicing down. High quality hammers of the sort that require needling need more a kind of opening up, a releasing of inert power. If anything this process is also a kind of voicing up more then it is one of voicing down. The only real voicing down I want do have to do with a hammer by needling is that final stage where I am trying to get that wonderful pianissimo that does not come at the expense of the power and fatness I've just released. If one has to tone down in general ... well this can come with either process and seems to me nearly a separate voicing issue. Cheers RicB
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