<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; = charset=windows-1250"> <TITLE>Message</TITLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2604" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <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></BODY></HTML> <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>