I have heard, though I cannot remember whose class, that voicing can be a kind of three-phase process, 1. clang, 2. bloom, 3. sizzle There is an initial attack effect, then, what potentially can be an actual rise in decibel level, then, the sustain part after these first two steps. When comparing the Hamburg with the American, the Renner hammer and European voicing technique seemed to be big on bloom, but sacrificed on attack. The American, on the other hand, has a great bang, but the bloom is not so prominent. The harder pressed hammers do have a punch all their own, I find, however. One finds in voicing itself the same sort of trade offs. It is not a matter of what is better or worse. Just different results. Guitar strings wear out fast, and need to be replaced frequently. Now there is a lot more contact with the strings in the case of a guitar, but one also can dramatically improve the sound of a piano by rubbing out worn strings with a plummet stone. Stringing alone can be very time consuming at an institution filled with practice rooms that have pianos we cannot tune due to pin block wear flanked by pianos that need action jobs. -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David Love Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 9:03 PM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway or Forgery? Well that would be nice but you can only bring up the treble to the degree that the board allows you to bring it up. A very bright percussive and distorted splat won't necessarily be a good match for a huge gnarly bass. I think, on the contrary, that what you can reasonably get out of the treble dictates to some degree how you must voice the rest of the piano. If the treble is a disaster then you choose your poison. My view is that the introduction of the full diaphragmatic soundboard created a much more flexible assembly and in the process (and combined with a heavier hammer) boosted the whump at attack creating a sense of greater power. It also created more distortion in the middle and shorter sustain in the treble. Sadly, it may have also shortened the effective life of the soundboard. While I can't really attest to the motivations it seems that it was driven by a lust for power but there was a trade off and the older minimally thinned (bass and treble shelf only) boards perform better, in my view, with a more balanced tone and better control in a broader dynamic range. It's interesting when you have the opportunity, as I have recently, of comparing side by side a pre diaphragmatic soundboard (a healthy one) next to a fully diaphragmatic one. The new one is clearly louder, bigger whump, but the quality of tone is diminished (at least in my view): more distortion, poorer sustain, lack of control in the lower dynamic range. Pianos are more than just a big bass. Bass sections in the literature are mostly supportive. It's not rock and roll, after all. With the piano literature we don't wait anxiously for the bass solo (if we ever did:-)). This is not necessarily to fault Steinway for making this change. I assume they had their reasons. But you don't get something for nothing and I think the trade off wasn't necessarily all positive. Perhaps in the short term for a louder whumpier big bang concert instrument. But even then, I've seen many of those pianos begin to fail after a relatively short time. With the smaller instruments that don't need that bigger whump I think it was a poor trade. Of course, that's my esthetic opinion. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Sloane, Benjamin (sloaneba) Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 11:53 AM To: 'caut at ptg.org' Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway or Forgery? Every one criticizes the CBS years. Yet one thing I find consistently when I sit in front of a CBS Steinway is a powerful bass that outpowers every Steinway I hear, from decades before and after, even 25, 30, 40 years into its life. With a bass like that, you can bring up the treble 'till your heart's content.
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