It's Alive!!!!

[Wolfley, Eric (wolfleel)]

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Jeff,
 
I've been in the same situation before even on hammers that I've soaked 3
times in 2:1 lacquer. The 4th soaking did the job...got it to that magic
place where it was transferring just the right kind of energy to the
soundboard. Heavier hammers need much more juicing in general and some
hammers are definitely more porous than others. My guess would be that piano
#2 has bigger, heavier hammers. Lack of "color" or "dullness" generally
means not enough upper partials so I think you are on the right track. You
will awaken the sleeping giant.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eric Wolfley
Head Piano Technician
Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
University of Cincinnati
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Tanner [mailto:jtanner@mozart.music.sc.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 11:15 AM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: Re: It's Alive!!!!
 
Wim, 
As I have posted before, we have 2 D's both 1993 manufacture, carefully
selected at the same time by our faculty. It didn't take long however, for
one to become the instrument almost everybody plays, and the other sits in
the corner, with rare exception, until both pianos are needed
simultaneously. The reason is that there is not as much life to the tone.
It's not that the second piano hasn't been played in - 8 1/2 years of
occasional playing should have accomplished that I would think (we didn't
take possession of it until Fall '95). 
 
The second piano is capable of plenty of dynamic ranges, just like the
primary instrument, but I've been looking at why they seem to feel one has
life and the other does not. It is difficult to get needles into the hammers
of the primary instrument, but on the second one, you can bury them almost
by dropping the weight of the voicing tool. Plenty loud when needed, but not
much life - er, "color". Plucking strings reveals that the hammers simply
are not getting all they can out of the strings. All I do for voicing the
piano with the harder hammers is to sweeten the strike point once in a while
and everyone loves it. 
 
So, I'm going to try lacquering the way Ron Conors described how he does it
at the convention this summer. My goal is to get to it after the semester
ends, so I'll let you know if that serves as the Fairy Godmother. It is time
for Cinderella to go to the ball. 
 
Jeff 
 
On Monday, December 1, 2003, at 04:19 PM, Wimblees@aol.com wrote: 
 
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 

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