<!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 6.00.2900.2627" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE 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=antares@euronet.nl = href="mailto:antares@euronet.nl">antares</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> Monday, May 23, 2005 3:58 = PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Self voicing = hammers/work hardening /.....Flamesuit? why?</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><BR>On 23-mei-05, at 21:42, Barbara Richmond = wrote:<BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><FONT face=Arial = size=2><snip></FONT><BR><?fontfamily><?param = Arial><?smaller><?param = Arial><?smaller> <?/smaller><?/fontfamily><BR><?fontfamily><?param = Arial><?smaller>I can imagine all sorts of scenarios, but I'm thinking the one that = might match what's happening in this case, is that the church has been = told to "work harden" to get the sound they want.  Now, it's not that I = don't believe the benefits of work hardening, but I don't think folks = should be frustrated by how their piano plays and sounds, either.   = I worked on a lovely D at Illinois Wesleyan University for the first 5 1/2 = years of its life.  It was a delight to see it mature, but there = was also the expectation from the very beginning that it would always be up = to performance level.<?/smaller><?/fontfamily><BR><?fontfamily><?param = Arial><?smaller> <?/smaller><?/fontfamily><BR><?fontfamily><?param = Arial><?smaller>Whatever the truth of the situation is, it made me wonder about the excuse of "work hardening" instead of putting the piano close to the = voicing level that is really wanted.  How much "voicing" does work = hardening account for?   As I said before, I listened to the changes = in a D for 5 1/2 years in a university school of music, the whole = time working with the voicing.  Well, I would expect to be = constantly working on the voicing of any performance piano, anyway.  = Would using the excuse (exclusively) of work hardening say more about = the tech's ability to handle the voicing and/or what voicing tools (as = in whatever methods) they = use?  <?/smaller><?/fontfamily><BR><?fontfamily><?param = Arial><?smaller> <?/smaller><?/fontfamily><BR><?fontfamily><FONT face=Arial size=2><snip></FONT><?param = Arial><?smaller><?/fontfamily></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV><BR>It is actually quite simple Barbara, as you know too = well...<BR>There are just very few people who know what real voicing is.<BR>When being confronted with a puzzle they can't solve, they will tell stories, if = only to mask their ignorance.<BR><BR>Flamesuit? <BR>why?<BR><BR><FONT = face=Arial size=2>Oh, heck, there could be the chance that I am being blasphemous.  I don't have much experience with too soft = Steinway hammers--mostly over-hardened ones.  But I do have experience = with some that are just fine, just so you know.  :-) </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>On the other hand, I don't think that = after paying $90,000 or whatever for a piano, it should take years(?, if it = takes that) to get the desired tone.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial = size=2>Barbara</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>