<html> <head> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)"> <style>  </style> </head> <body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=blue> <div class=Section1> I guess I’m getting crotchety and opinionated.  Believe me, I’ve also used many “outside the box” techniques over the years.  I’ve come to the conclusion that most outside the box techniques (alcohol, steam, vice grips, lacquer) come about because of flawed hammers.  No question that you can impact the tone of a hammer by all of those including side needling.  My point about “meant to be…” is that the hammer, in my view, should perform a certain mechanical function: imparting adequate energy to the string in an efficient way with hammer/string contact time being a critical component.  The hammer, like the other essential elements in tone building (string and soundboard) should also function like a spring.  The firmness of the spring may need to vary depending on the string scale and soundboard, but it should always perform like a spring—at least in order to optimize tonal control.  Further, it should really match the soundboard and string scale but that’s a separate issue.  The spring component is influenced mostly by the tension in the felt, the flexibility in the shoulder and the flexibility over the crown.  While the tension in the felt is a determined by how the hammer is manufactured it can be influenced by needling.  Excessive heating of the hammer, btw, destroys the inner tension of the felt, and is the reason that many hammers will not respond that well to needling.  In those cases you are simply needling a dead lump of felt rather than releasing tension.  Lacquer also destroys the inner tension by binding everything together.  Needling the shoulders will have no effect in a lacquered hammer because everything is glued together.  But I digress.  With proper needling, you can, then, reduce the tension and, in fact, you can increase the tension, at least toward the crown to some degree when the need arises, though this technique has some limitations.  The spring tension over the crown will be influenced by the tension on the shoulders.  If you release tension from the shoulders, you will release tension from the crown (though if you are not careful about where you needle you can actually release tension toward the crown and make the crown harder—yipes this is complicated).  My problem with needling under the crown or into the crown without releasing tension or creating a bit of give in the shoulders first is that it doesn’t really help to create a more efficient spring for your overall system.  It just creates a soft spot at the strike point.  It will take the edge off, at least to some degree and at some level of playing, but the hammer won’t respond correctly at all levels of playing.  It is faster in a pinch, but nothing is free.    Anyway, that’s the best I can do for the moment at 7:30 on a Saturday morning.   Now I’m off to my real job—driving kids to soccer games!   <div> David Love davidlovepianos@comcast.net www.davidlovepianos.com </div> -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of PAULREVENKOJONES Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 11:34 PM To: Pianotech List Subject: Re: Voicing needles?   <div> David: </div> <div>   </div> <div> All of the methodology you describe is in the arsenal of voicers, including me. I question the phrase "meant to be treated". I doubt that there is any inherent built-in intended methodology other than those recommended by specific hammer makers (Steinway comes to mind with the discussion several years ago about the pre-lacquered hammers). I've attended numerous classes at meetings over the years given by particular hammer manufacturers. To a one, they speak either generally or specifically about the procedures you outline below and nothing more, and all with the intent to sell their hammers (can't fault them for trying). Chris Robinson, Steve Pearson, Bob Davis, and Dale Erwin are the only class lecturers I've run into (I'm sure there are more) who have actually demonstrated "outside the box" techniques which work such as side-needling. You gave away the reason to do it: toning down the attack on a hard hammer. It's certainly not the first thing I do, and maybe not the last, but it is in the arsenal of techniques. I have run into several concert technicians (CSO, Tanglewood, Boston Symphony years ago) who literally swear by this with a great deal more fervor than I. It's just another method. And just for the record, I was responding to the use of single glovers needles in the original post. A single stitch all the way through right above the molding will do an amazing job in reining in a recalcitrant attack while not changing the other characteristics so carefully created. I'd be interested in your trying it yourself to see the effect (not on your concert D, please). </div> <div>   </div> <div> Paul   </div> <div>   </div> <div> <div> "If you want to know the truth, stop having opinions" (Chinese fortune cookie) </div> </div> <div>   </div> <div>   </div> <div> In a message dated 08/31/07 21:17:53 Central Daylight Time, davidlovepianos@comcast.net writes: </div> <blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid blue 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt; margin-left:3.75pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'> <div> I don’t care for that approach.  While it will tone down the attack on a hard hammer, I don’t think it’s really how those hammer were meant to be treated.  The problem with tensioned hammers is often that the shoulders have no give, not that the hammers are too hard under the crown.  They should be relatively hard there.  First you need to needle the hammer from 10 – 11:30 and 12:30 – 2:00 and create a softer area there.  That might take several stitches on each side—maybe more than several depending on the hammer.  After that there should be an inverted triangle that doesn’t get needled directly except for maybe 2-3 mm at the surface.  After you soften the shoulders, you can insert a needle very close to the strike point and pointed slightly away from the tip of the molding to release some tension from the crown but only after you have created a cushion in the shoulders so that the tension from the crown has somewhere to go.  That type of voicing will be much more stable, will produce a similar tone at all levels of playing and also will not sound crappy and distorted when you play a forte, which a hard shoulder softer crown will.  Lacquered hammers are a different story and some hammers just don’t respond to anything.  They should be thrown out.    <div> David Love davidlovepianos@comcast.net www.davidlovepianos.com </div> -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of PAULREVENKOJONES Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 1:14 PM To: Pianotech List Subject: Re: Voicing needles?   <div> Ed: </div> <div>   </div> <div> I've found their greatest utility to be in stitching from the side of the hammer at or just above the wood molding. A single needle all the way through at various positions in a straight line up from the tip of the molding can do wonders. But with care! A stitch at a time. </div> <div>   </div> <div> Paul </div> <div>   </div> <div> <div>   </div> </div> </div> </blockquote> <div>   </div> </div> </body> </html>