It's Alive!!!!

fssturm@unm.edu fssturm@unm.edu
Tue, 02 Dec 2003 20:05:25 -0700


Hi Wim,
   You've had some good advice from others. I agree that probably the hammers 
need to be brightened up, along with a few other possible items that have been 
touched on. Generally speaking, your travelling virtuoso will want a brighter 
piano, with a steeper voicing gradiant (faster to get from dull to bright) than will 
your state university prof. That, and you may well have a few friction issues - I'm 
thinking marginal key bushing tightness - you might want to address.
   The lazy man's approach, which has much to say for it, is to let nature take its 
course. When the travelling virtuoso comes to town, just bring out 14 year old. 
Tell him or her that this is the one Misha Dichter preferred, and that you also 
have a very nice new piano that hasn't been played much. Which do you think 
they'll choose? 
Regards,
Fred sturm
University of New Mexico

Quoting Wimblees@aol.com:

> Well, actually, it's dead. At least that is what Olga Kern told me
> last week. 
> She was here to give a recital. I prepped our new D, and put it in
> the middle 
> of the stage. At 6:30 I stopped by to see if there was anything she
> needed. 
> She said, "This piano is dead." I said it was only a year old, and
> had probably 
> only been played about a dozen times. She said, it sounded like it. I
> should 
> have kept my mouth shut, but I offered her our 14 year D, which was
> sittting 
> off stage. After playing just 3 chords, she said she wanted to play
> the recital 
> on that piano, but only after warming up on it. I had 15 minutes to
> tune it 
> before the doors opened. Unfortunately, by the end of the fist half,
> there were 
> several notes that didn't make it. 
> 
> But that is not what I'm here to complain about. Olga was not the
> first 
> pianist to complain about the new piano. Last March Misha Dichter had
> the same 
> complaint. (but at least he gave me 2 hours to prep the older piano).
> My question 
> is, how do I put more "life" into a new piano? As I said, the piano
> only comes 
> out of it's hiding place for special occasions. (No, sun down is not
> a 
> special occasion here in Alabama, especially not on Sundays.) Since
> we got the piano 
> in August of last year, there have been about 12 performances on it.
> The 
> piano is voiced, regulated, etc., so I don't quite understand when a
> performer 
> says there is no life in the piano. Not even our piano faculty agrees
> with that, 
> although they do think the piano is a little stiffer than the older
> one. 
> 
> Any advice will be greatly appreciated. 
> 
> Wim
> Willem Blees, RPT
> Piano tuner/technician
> School of Music
> University of Alabama
> 

This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC