THREE SECOND VOICING METHOD

[Michael J. Wathen]

Sounds pausible if the action is fairly well maintained.  It sort of
reminds of Bosendorfer's method for the un corda.  The action on these
pianos are not intended to shift enough to miss the left string of the
unison but only to have the hammer strike the string in a softer or voiced
down spot.


At 08:13 AM 10/30/97 +0000, you wrote:
>Hello List,   
>     I VOICED down a WHOLE PIANO in THREE SECONDS, - If you don't
>believe me, read on.  I was responding to a faculty complaint about 
>"thunk" when the una corda is released on a two year old Yamaha C-5.
>Upon inspection, I found everything fine, (no loose cheek blocks,
>pedals, rambunctious return, etc.), and the "thunk" seemed to be no more
>than normal.  I didn't want to slow the keyframe return speed thoughout
>its' whole travel as it didn't seem too fast,  just something to cusion
>the impact.  I took an old damper felt, pulverized it into a ball of
>fuzz, and dropped it down the crack along side the keyframe with the
>soft pedal depressed.  The thunk seemed less, or atleast different.  I
>checked the hammer alignment and found that VISUALLY the strings and
>grooves aligned PERFECTLY so the action did not shift much and the piano
>sounded fine.  After a day or so, the faculty member caught me in the
>hall and said "What have you done to my piano?--you must have voiced
>it---It sounds great!--and the thunk is gone!".
>     It seems to me that periodically changing the rest position of the
>action very slightly could have some merits as a voicing method. 
>String  grooves would always be developing in a new spot, making hammers
>last longer.  I suspect that as new grooves form, felt in the old
>grooves puffs up to be like new again--so the action can be moved back,
>(again voicing the piano).  This tactic could be especially useful for
>Asian hammers which tend to brighten fast and sound best when they're
>new, as it restores that new sound.  I cannot think of any
>disadvantages,   Ideas? Comments?
>
>-Mike Jorgensen RPT, Central Michigan University
>
>
Michael J. Wathen			For Information about Wapin click on URL below
michael.wathen@uc.edu		http://ucccm56.ccm.uc.edu