Voicing & Owner Education

[Farrell]

I tuned an small old Baldwin/Ellington grand last night. Hammers appear to
be less than 10 - 20 years old. This thing was brighter than most 50 year
old spinnets. I asked the guy if he ever plays any other pianos (read: do
you realize this piano is brighter (harsh) than any other piano on planet
earth). He said no. I would love to voice this thing to a more mellow state
(it was a bit of a bear to tune - hitting the strings with steel hammers and
all). I broached the topic, and he seemed uninterested (I think he just
simply did not have a clue).

Any suggestions on educating a piano owner on this topic so that he can make
an informed decision - such as let me voice his piano so that it sounds like
a piano. Man it's horrible - bright, harsh, nasty in all plain wires, then
dull & tubby (old strings) in bass. YUK! Sounds like two separate horrible
spinnets. At least softer sounding plain wires would make it whole - maybe
then he could learn tunes that did not utilize bass strings (oops, am I
letting my sarcastic inner thoughts out?)!

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com