<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Message</TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=windows-1250"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2604" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello Alan and List</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I really would like some amplification = on the subjects of:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1. String seating</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>2. Bridge pin = stabilisation</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Any offers?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards from Sussex</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Michael G.(UK)</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=tune4u@earthlink.net = href="mailto:tune4u@earthlink.net">Alan</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">'Pianotech'</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, March 06, 2005 = 6:08 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: Modern Tone II, = the Return of the Question</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial>David, et al,</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial>Well said. </FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial>I DID play = the '28 D that you and Dale had in Sacramento (already posted a comment to Dale). I = sat down at that piano and the first thing I played was an octave in the low = bass. It was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard from a piano, bar none, I = exaggerate not.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial>Please = understand that I live in that mysterious part of the world where old Lesters, Winters, = Wurlys, Chicks, Gulbransens, and Starks come to die. I tune 3 small Steinway = grands, one new (Chinese) Steck grand, one (bless them) nice M&H, a couple = of older small Baldwin grands, and a boatload of Hamilton studios (some = nearly new, one that served on Noah's cruise ship, I think, and was worn = out then). Only the Mason is big enough and nice enough to qualify as an = RPT test piano and I've only seen it once, so far.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial>So I can sure = hear and appreciate good voicing but, as you say, it is hard to = communicate with words. And I only have an intellectual, theoretical idea how = it's produced, not the skills to do it. </FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial>I'm going to = spend time in Frank Henderson's shop doing some work in exchange for some = coaching on this. I honestly think voicing is a skill that cannot be learned from = a book and on one's own. I don't think one can one acquire those "ears" = without hearing pianos and experiencing the difference with a guide at your = side. At least, not I.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial>Hope you = didn't think my comment was a negative reaction to your post--I actually liked the = sound of your words. But how does that all sound in a piano? Ahhh .... maybe = like that bass octave in California. </FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial>Hey, I liked = the racing stripes, too. (Now everyone will be asking you what the heck THAT means!)</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial>Alan R. Barnard</FONT></DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial>Salem, MO</FONT></DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT = face=Arial>P.S.  Part of my pursuit of this at this time is a desire to rescue an = area Methodist church from the shrill, busy, ultra-bright, piercing, = stident, trident (gummed up) sound of the little Samick SG-172 grand they = bought. I'm pretty sure it's going to start with some serious string seating, = bridge pin stabilization, and regulation--followed by a session in the back = room with those hammers ... under a bright light ... with a rubber hose and = brass knuckles, to soften them up. I don't THINK I could make it worse, even = with what I know, now.  And, no, there are no other guild techs = within two hours of here and no local yokels I'd want to invite to help. I am = alllllll aloooooooone here in the elephant ivory graveyard.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=203062905-06032005><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV></DIV> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr = align=left><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <B>On = Behalf Of </B>David Andersen<BR><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, March 05, 2005 11:22 PM<BR><B>To:</B> Pianotech<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: Modern Tone II, = the Return of the Question<BR><BR></FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE><FONT face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12px">4. = For those with limited experience and little opportunitity to mentor with = someone, terms like <I>"large, dark, powerful, clear, and throaty, with = roar and snap at double or triple forte, but NEVER clangy or distorted"</I> = just leave one guessing as to what they mean. I assume that "dark" = means power in the lower partials not overshadowed by the higher ones (?) but = I'd be guessing about that "roar and snap" thing. This isn't to criticize = David's description, merely to point out the difficulties and frustrations = of communicating sensory perceptions through verbage. I've watch = Roger Jolly and Ari Issac do some voicing and marveled at what they can do and = how well they do it. But even trying, in person, to demonstrate and = teach voicing to a room full of people seems very challenging: <I>"See, = the sound is now a broad 'Ohhhhh' instead of an "Ehhhhh and it sits = higher against on the shelf."  (Made part of that up .... sorry)<BR></I></SPAN></FONT><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><FONT face=Verdana><BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial>I think it's like = people describing wines without giving you a sip: <I>Yes, and this = vintage is drier than a moselle, slightly nutty, with just a hint of the vine = not revealed in the bouqet unless consumed at midnight in a graveyard = while holding a dead cat.<BR></I></FONT><FONT = face=Verdana><BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial>Alan R. Barnard<BR>Always Studyin' but Not Always = Gettin' It in Salem, MO<BR></FONT></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: = 12px"><FONT face=Verdana><BR>My friend---I’m just trying to give words to an = aural phenomenon, and it’s tough, but that’s what “developing a = tonal memory” means: developing an internal sense of how a piano is “supposed” = to sound at all volume and attack levels. If you played the concert grands that = Dale Erwin and I brought to the Sacramento PTG Convention, I can say that = both of those pianos are in the ballpark of what most artists, technicians, = and serious listeners would describe as achieving the sonority of the = 40’s and 50’s pianos---powerful and clear, without distortion or a brittle = quality. There I go again :--)<BR><BR>The CDs I mentioned in an earlier post = are a good indication of what I’m trying to put in words. If we’d met = in Sacramento, I would have given you a CD that I had a few copies of there---an amazing young jazz player named Tamir Hendelman, playing = trio versions of Christmas songs on a 1923 long A my shop rebuilt. =  That piano is a touch brighter, but sounds like a Bill Evans record, = which nearly always had imeccably tuned and voiced pianos.<BR><BR>It’s a = lifetime of listening and learning.  I still feel like a rank novice a lot = of the time.<BR>Voicing is a noble challenge. It demands that so many = things about the piano be right.<BR>When you become passionate about the voice of = the instrument, your toleration of unregulated and unprepared pianos = becomes slimmer and slimmer, and your business changes. This coming week, 4 = of the 5 days are one long day, or 2 long days, with a good grand piano. It = wasn’t like that 6 or 7 years ago; it was much more tuning 3 or 4 pianos a = day. As my ears have grown, my practice has grown and = improved.</FONT></SPAN> <BR> <P><FONT size=2>--<BR>No virus found in this incoming = message.<BR>Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.<BR>Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.5.7 - = Release Date: 03/01/2005<BR></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <P><FONT size=2>--<BR>No virus found in this outgoing = message.<BR>Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.<BR>Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.5.7 - = Release Date: 03/01/2005<BR></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>