Voicing for a big, dead hall

[David Love]

Barbara:

It can be a problem.  I take care of some S&S D's in hall venues that are
less than stellar pianos, i.e., they simply lack power.  If you try to push
them too far, they can just get ugly.  That being said, you can push them
farther than you think if you voice for the hall and not for the bench. 
This can create some problems for some pianists who don't have enough
experience to understand this difference, which is common.  It can be
useful to have someone with you to play the piano while you go out in the
hall to hear what it sounds like out there.  It can also be useful with a
pianist who is having a hard time with this to have them go out and listen
while you play so they can hear a bit of what's going to happen "out
there".  There isn't a lot of choice with a NY Steinway hammer but to add
more lacquer of you want more projection.  Power and sustain seem to be,
unfortunately, inversely related when it comes to this kind of treatment. 
You hope that the hall accoustics will cover for the lack of sustain if you
power it up.  If the hall is dead you're stuck either way you go.  A dead
hall won't give you any more sustain even if you go light on the juice in
order to encourage more sustain out of the piano.   I would probably opt
for a bit more attack in this case and make sure that the piano can be
heard clearly from the middle/back of the hall.  

David Love
davidlovepianos@earthlink.net


> [Original Message]
> From: Barbara Richmond <piano57@flash.net>
> To: Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Date: 3/22/2004 5:12:11 PM
> Subject: Re: Voicing for a big, dead hall
>
>
> >>Now I am faced with a "whole nuther" situation---a really big,
cavernous,
> >>suck up the sound sort of hall.  What does it take  to reach the back
of a
> >>place like this (besides redesigning the hall).  I was thinking perhaps
a
> >>brighter attack than I usually go for, still keeping the give on the
> >>shoulders--after all, adequate sustain should help (shouldn't it?).  A
> >>local tech, whose concept of tone is a bit different than mine, once
told
> >>me that you have to have that granite sound to carry.
>
> >>What's your experience?
>
>
> >What you need is POWER Barbara.
>
>
> >friendly greetings
> >from
> >André Oorebeek
>
>
> Well, yes.  So........do you have any you can ship over here?  ;-)
>
> Umm, I hoping for a few more specifics.  Are there any?  I guess the
> question is, is there anything different to do in this situation besides
my
> usual "let's get this baby to sing" routine?
>
> Just looking for suggestions before I go in.
>
>
> Barbara Richmond
>
>
>
>
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