Voicing

[Baldwin Yamaha Piano Centre]

>
>Roger, do you mean literally tap the pin top itself, not the string on the
>cap?  Would this push string down as well as _slightly_ push pins into new
>wood(tightening pin)?

Hi Lance, you got it. Tapping the pin gives enough shock to drag the string 
to the bridge, it's a good temporary fix.

As for the capo, I am not afraid to burnish it with the strings,by tapping 
a string spacer back and forth.  Place the spacer between the strings just 
behind the capo, and tap away. Providing you have time to stabilize the 
piano.   Very rarely have I broken a string, but it does happen.

You will need to lift the strings after you do this.

Worn out hammers are just that.   Get some decent shape on them, and use 
good judgement re juicing.  If the shoulders are rock hard, then deep 
needling the shoulders will improve sustain and open the sound up.

You may want to check to see if the board is flat, in the treble, voicing 
may help but it will not cure that problem.

30 to 45 mins is reasonable for practice times. For a competition it is 
more like a sound check and not practice.

Regards Roger





>No advice on the hammers themselves, huh?
>  This piano is not horrible as is, I am just wanting to get the most out of
>these hammers for the week.  The director just learned that another contest
>in (Utah?)he attended last month only let their contestants practice on the
>performance instruments about 30 min each per day, WAY LESS than they were
>allowing here and at least they are finally listening to my cries on that
>point. Steinway brought in a Hamburg and NY D for that along with a tech.
>(free) Maybe I can swap gigs with that tech....  ;~) Thanks again,
>
>lance
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-caut@ptg.org [mailto:owner-caut@ptg.org]On Behalf Of Baldwin
>Yamaha Piano Centre
>Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 3:47 PM
>To: caut@ptg.org
>Subject: Re: Voicing
>
>
>Hi Lance,
>                   Moving the strings on the capo bar and lifting them will
>often help increase power and reduce the 'zings'.  Give all the bridge pins
>a tap, this will help seat the strings on the bridge, get rid of some
>'falsies' and help sustain.  Re evaluate the piano after this is done, you
>may be pleasantly surprised.
>It will take a couple of tunings to get the piano stable again.
>Regards Roger
>
>
>At 01:58 PM 7/10/02 -0500, you wrote:
> >Hi list,
> >I have a situation coming up that I thought was common, but not talked
>about
> >in detail much.  I will be prepping and maintaining a Steinway D next week
> >for a week-long competition with recitals,etc.  Very good players,
> >often-times Van Cliburn contestants/winners (12).  This piano has been
> >approved to get new Hammers, Shanks, flanges, damper felt, and maybe back
> >checks, but not in time for the competition.  The hammers have been filed
> >many times, running out of felt with some areas weak, lots of nasty
> >twang/buzz.  I have leveled strings, seated them and fit hammers to
>strings,
> >but I suspect most of the problem is in the hammers.  The piano is from mid
> >80's. These hammers have been worked on and stabbed by several techs, so I
> >don't know the whole history.
> >The Question:  What are some of the common (if any) remedies needed on
>older
> >hammers in this situation.  Do you sometimes have to harden again after
>much
> >needling, (weak areas) do specific needling, (noise) after this much use?
> >Are there common procedures followed to extend the usefulness and increase
> >the quality of tone in these older hammers?  I would appreciate input from
> >the experience out there. Thanks,
> >
> >Lance Lafargue, RPT
> >Mandeville, LA
> >New Orleans Chapter, PTG
> >lancelafargue@bellsouth.net
> >985.72P.IANO
>
>Roger

Roger