<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2523" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Dave,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Definitely with permission.  But I = don't wait for the customer to say something--I'll bring up the subject.  = (Voicing is my "thing"--perhaps because I'm a pianist.  I'm no Andre, but deal = well with day to day stuff & did well on staff at a university.)  = Depending on the situation, I may say:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>"Do you find it difficult to play = softly on this piano?'</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>or</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>"Have you heard those old uprights that = sound like tin?"  (Your piano can sound like that, too!)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>or</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>"Can you hear how much brighter this = section is compared to others?"</FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Of course, there's voicing up, = too.  But very often on the pianos I see that is a power or regulation = issue.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>A major voicing issue to me = is, would I have trouble tuning the piano with the way it sounds now.  Perhaps = I have delicate ears.  If there isn't a major voicing issue or just an = overall adjustment to be made, I will go ahead (without permission) and even up = some notes when I'm done tuning or do some string/hammer mating while = tuning.  Of course, I'm not changing the character of the tone-just = smoothing things out.  That has never come back to "bite" me.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'll explain in whatever terms = necessary to get the message through--there are a multitude of angles.  Either I'm = fairly good at communicating with folks or I'm really lucky, because I've always = been allowed to do the voicing I felt was necessary.  Maybe it's = the way I get business (no ads, only referrals, I just work part-time these = days).  Currently, I find myself doing mostly institutional stuff and I've = usually been told to do what I think is best (my usual service call time on these pianos has been 4-5 hours including a bunch of different stuff).  Of course it's true, sometimes just removing the = action and tightening the screws improves the sound by leaps and = bounds--but that's not the voicing I'm referring to. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Well, it's time for me to go out and = shred some leaves.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Barbara Richmond</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></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=dporritt@mail.smu.edu = href="mailto:dporritt@mail.smu.edu">David M. Porritt</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, October 31, 2004 = 6:37 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Voicing</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>Barbara:</DIV> <DIV align=left> </DIV> <DIV align=left>Do you voice the piano with or without the owner's ideas?  When I was still doing in-home tuning, I never voiced a = piano unless the owner said something about the sound.  On extreme = pianos I'd ask them if they like the sound and let the conversation go from = there, but just voicing without their saying anything usually bit me in an = inappropriate place!</DIV> <DIV align=left> </DIV> <DIV align=left>dave</DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <DIV align=left><BR>__________________________________________</DIV> <DIV align=left>David M. Porritt, RPT</DIV> <DIV align=left>Meadows School of the Arts</DIV> <DIV align=left>Southern Methodist University</DIV> <DIV align=left>Dallas, TX 75275</DIV> <DIV align=left><A href="mailto:dporritt@mail.smu.edu">dporritt@mail.smu.edu</A></DIV> <DIV align=left> </DIV> <DIV align=left><BR></FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>