Pre-Voicing

When confronted by tone problems, many piano technicians seem overly anxious to find a quick remedy by using voicing needles or lacquer. Both needling and lacquering are important elements in the over-all voicing picture; a skilled technician must know when and how to use voicing needles, as well as how to prepare and use lacquer solutions for hammer hardening. The point is this: both these methods are ultimately destructive to hammer felt, and shouldn’t be used until all other possible solutions have been explored. What are some of the things to check before we begin to needle or lacquer?

A. Before thinking about voicing we must make sure the piano is well tuned. We all have had clients comment upon the remarkable change in tone or volume after a good, solid tuning. A major pitch change will most assuredly change a piano’s voice, so tune it first. As part of our preliminary tuning procedure we must consider several areas which can affect tone:

1) Tighten all plate screws.

2) Seat strings properly, using a wooden or brass tool to tap them down on bridges, aliquots, duplex bars, and counter-bearing bars. This can clear up false beats, and clean up a muddy sounding tone.

3) At this time, check and, if necessary, correct the tuning of the duplex scale - if the instrument has one. You may notice a brighter, louder tone when the duplex strings properly reinforce the harmonic structure of a given note.

4) We also double check the location and tension of stringing braid. A minor point, but one which can either add or eliminate high partials without using needles.

B. Next, we consider the role of proper action regulation in piano tone-building. Perhaps this is an obvious point, but sometimes we overlook regulation problems and are quick to blame hard or soft hammers, old strings, etc., for tonal problems. Some areas of regulation seem to have a greater effect on the tone we hear:

1) Of primary importance in this area is the bedding of the keyframe. This foundation for all our regulation has a very direct influence on what the artist hears, both physically and psychologically. Generally, an improperly bedded keyframe will cause loss of power and consequent loss of tone.

 2) Another major item to check here is the proper hammer striking point, especially in the high treble. Many a hammer has been unnecessarily hardened, when the problem was really an incorrect strike point. Check by experimenting- results here are immediately obvious.

3) Travelling of hammers and shanks can affect tone, so do this work carefully.

4) Of utmost importance is the actual hammer-string contact point: each hammer must hit its strings squarely and simultaneously. Space the hammers to the strings. File the hammers if necessary to remove dead felt, and to provide a perfectly level surface at the strike point. Later, we will discuss filing to bring up volume and brilliance.

After checking that the hammers are level, we check for level strings. String levelling is much over-looked, both by manufacturers and technicians. Here is an area that can dramatically improve tone. The symptom of an unlevel unison is an unclean, almost buzzing sound. It can also seem like a false beat, and can make tuning difficult.

Check all unisons by pulling the hammer up to the strings and blocking it there. Use either a hook to support the shank from the bottom, or use the method of pushing up on the bottom of the jack and not allowing let-off to occur.

When the hammer is blocked in such a fashion, the strings are individually plucked. It is immediately apparent if one or more strings is not level. The high strings will sound, while low strings will be deadened by the hammer. Carefully lift all low strings to the level of the high strings. Use a tool available from supply houses (string lifter) or make yourself a stringing hook using heavy gauge music wire epoxied into a handle of some sort. 

In string levelling we are actually pulling up and slightly bending the wire near the agraffe or cape bar. This technique is easily learned and is an important part of pre-voicing. (An added bonus of level strings comes when we regulate dampers- especially in fine adjustment of the tri-chord wedges.)

C. The piano can be well tuned and properly regulated, but still lack volume or brilliance. Don’t lacquer yet. If there is plenty of felt on the hammers, another filing can increase tone quickly. Getting down closer to the hammer molding, the layers of felt are harder and can create a more brilliant tone. This is especially useful to bring up sound in the high treble.

Some manufacturers count on the technician to remove...

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Concert Piano Preparation – part 2 (Conclusion)

The primary concerns in concert voicing are evenness (funny how often that word comes up in piano work, isn’t it?) and colour flexibility. By evenness, of course, I mean that notes should not stand out from their neighbours by being either too powerful and brilliant or too soft and mellow. By colour flexibility, I mean that the tone should be able to change to meet the artist’s needs. For instance, a note should sound mellow or “pearly” when played pianissimo, but should sound brighter and have more “bite” when played at louder levels. The best way to achieve these results in voicing is to start out with good quality hammers and a solid regulation, then follow the tried-and-true methods laid out in Franz Rudolf Dietz’s “Grand Voicing “(1). Short-cut voicing methods may make a quick and obvious difference in a piano’s sound, and may be fine for some home pianos, but I prefer the slower and more controllable traditional voicing techniques, especially when dealing with fine concert instruments.

Because pianists do not all have the same preference as to piano tone, no one piano and no one voicing are going to keep everyone totally happy. I recall attending a piano recital where a faculty friend approached me at intermission and said, “Steve, I think your piano is too bright.” Another friend, overhearing, said, “I think it sounds gorgeous. It’s perfect!” A few minutes later, I ran into a technician friend who thought the piano sounded nice, ‘but it could stand to be a bit brighter.” Three different people, three different opinions. That incident taught me not to take any one person’s opinion too seriously. Naturally, the best approach to voicing pianos that are used by a wide variety of performers is to keep the hammers in good shape (some technicians file the hammers after every performance!) and keep the sound as even as possible. I try to make the overall tone quality match my conception of what a piano should sound like, always remembering that it’s generally better to err in the direction of “too brilliant” rather than “too dull” where a concert piano is concerned. If a particular artist requests changes in a piano’s voicing, I will usually attempt to meet that request, but now we’re entering the realm of “working with people.”

The Artist

Whenever possible, I like to meet with the pianist during the piano selection process. If the artist has chosen the piano prior to coming to the hall (some choose a piano solely by brand name), or if there is no choice available, I try to meet the artist at the beginning of rehearsal time, when the pianist is first trying the instrument. I introduce myself, ask the performer if there are any problems with the piano, and after any necessary discussion, I leave.

Where voicing is requested, I prefer to have the pianist present while I voice the piano. This approach helps eliminate misunderstandings, especially when I can get the pianist to participate with me in the process by trying the piano after each stint of needling or filing. If for some reason the pianist can’t be on hand for this type of work or to try the piano after the voicing is done, I’ve found he or she is usually reluctant to have any work done besides tuning. That’s for a good reason: they would rather know exactly what to expect when they sit down to play at concert time. (2)

Other People

Besides the artist, we often deal with promoters, stage managers and stage hands. The rule with all these people is...

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Concert Piano Preparation – part I

Most piano technicians have the opportunity to experience many different facets of piano work. While comparatively few of us actually specialize in tuning and preparation of fine concert instruments, I think most of us, at one time or another, are called on to perform this service. My first concert tuning experience came when I was barely three months out of tuning school. The pianist was famous and I was nervous. Nothing really terrible happened on that occasion, and for the next few years, one of my regular duties was to care for that same piano whenever it was used in a concert. When I took this university job a few years ago, I assumed responsibility for a stable of concert grands now numbering five (representing three different makes) which are used for both performing and recording. In addition, I frequently take calls to tune for performances at different halls in the city. Since most technicians may expect to do this sort of work at some time, I would like to share some of what has “rubbed off” on me so far, during my own continuing education.

Like nearly all areas of piano work, concert piano preparation consists of two basic types of work: working with pianos, and working with people. These two aspects are equally important and necessary; no matter how brilliant the technician, if he can’t communicate and assume certain responsibilities toward the people who are necessarily involved with the piano, he will ultimately fail. I’ve found that customers are usually quite willing to exchange a small amount of technical brilliance for a large amount of conscientious and responsible behaviour. On the other hand, a technician may have “personality plus,” always be on time, and charge the lowest rates in town, but without technical expertise, will not be able to “cut it” where piano performance is a critical factor. So, both are necessary. Let’s talk first about working with pianos.

Tuning

Even if you have the job of caring for a given concert piano on a long-term basis, tuning is the job you will be asked to do most often. Tuning is still an indispensible job before each performance. When we speak of concert tuning, we imply that it is somehow different than ordinary, everyday tuning. Actually, I think of only one real difference.’ That difference deals with the concept of “point of diminishing returns,” a point which is reached much sooner with the average home piano than with the average concert grand. What it means is this: on a good concert grand, it is worth our time to be especially nit-picky about our tuning, because the extra time spent translates to a discernable difference in the finished product. This would apply to the areas of regulation and voicing as well.

Within the realm of “concert” tuning, every part of the tuning is important, but we must give special emphasis to unisons and tuning stability. At this point, I still hold with the belief that beatless unisons are important to a tuning because of the crisp, clean effect they give it. I have yet to be convinced that a unison with a two-cent spread is in any way desirable. Unisons drift rapidly enough without our setting them “on the edge” to begin with, and the average layman will complain about bad unisons long before hearing misaligned octaves or uneven temperaments. For these reasons, we should pay close attention to unisons, going over them two or even three times in the course of a concert tuning.

The other area of special emphasis is tuning stability. Conditions are often aggravated by circumstances surrounding the piano, such as temperature and humidity fluctuations in the hall, the fact that concert instruments are often brought in from somewhere else, and must readjust to the hall, and the fact that, in performance, a piano often undergoes extremely heavy playing. In light of these factors, we must make sure that, when we tune the piano, we are hitting the keys at least as hard as the pianist will, and that, before tuning, the piano has acclimated as well as possible.

I will never forget the time I had to hurry through a concert tuning and managed not to hit some of the keys as hard as I should have. Sitting in the fourth row at the concert that evening, I was mortified to hear Bb50 suddenly become a very wild unison during a stressful part of the Schumann Fantasy. Thereafter, the note was played often in some very exposed melodic passages, and I cringed each time I heard it. At intermission I hurried onto the stage to touch up the unison, and was greeted by a smattering of applause. As I bent over the piano, someone shouted, “It’s the Bb!” Needless to say, I was thoroughly embarrassed.

By thoughtful practice, a technician can overcome problems with unison tuning and tuning stability. Tuning tutors can be helpful even to experienced tuners, sometimes spotting small deficiencies which have become ingrained in our technique over the years. I find it instructive to watch others tune and see their methods of pin-setting. By experimenting with different hammer techniques and measuring slippage with a good electronic tuning aid, a tuner can learn a lot about which method works best for him or her. A machine with one-tenth cent accuracy is a great help in honing unison tuning as well.

One other aspect of tuning that is sometimes critical is the...

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