Voicing

[hstauber]

I inherited a Steinway music room grand last year from my father. It is in wonderful condition except that the upper register is weak. My technician recommends having the piano "voiced," but explained that voicing is an art form that must be done with extreme care. Does anyone have any useful information for me? Have others had voicing done?

[ajspiano]

I inherited a Steinway music room grand last year from my father. It is in wonderful condition except that the upper register is weak. My technician recommends having the piano "voiced," but explained that voicing is an art form that must be done with extreme care. Does anyone have any useful information for me? Have others had voicing done?

I've had minor adjustments done, not my whole instrument. Its not something I'd trust to an average technician - the guy I use is VERY experienced, has been a full time tech for ~ 40 years, and who's dad was also a tech. Impeccable ear, usually starts out by tuning the whole thing bottom to top chromatically, blows my mind how he doesn't create a mess doing that.

They do things like "pin" the hammers, which alters the apparent hardness of the part that actually hits the string. So the tone can be dulled or brightened etc. I watched him fix some individual harsh hammers in my piano a few months back.

I would certainly say its an art.. a good job would be dependent on understanding how the piano reacts to the room as well as just how to alter the piano itself. I suspect it takes some time to learn to do it effectively and efficiently.

[faulty_damper]

If it needs to be brightened, the hammers need to be hardened.  I don't know what the current techniques are but one way to harden them is to apply lacquer.  Softening hammers is a lot easier but really requires someone with a lot of skill.

At my local university, the technician turned one of the school's favorite Hamburg Steinway into the least favorite just due to over-voicing.  No one wanted to play it because it sounded so bad.  It used to be a powerful and balanced instrument with a treble that would ring.  Afterward, it was like someone shoved a blanket on the strings, very muted and couldn't modulate dynamics very well.  It still looked nice, though.

[hfmadopter]

They still use a hardening agent to brighten notes where the hammers are too soft. Typically you wouldn't needle the upper register but they may need shaping and after shaping apply a hardening agent. shaping requires filing away hammer material, thus the old lacquer or hardener or what ever agent that might have been used leaving the hammers softer than before. Needling in the mid and lower register can be overdone, it's very effective so a little goes a long way.

It's very common practice in tuning to touch up a few notes here or there with a bit of needling. A full voicing job however should be left to a guy with great knowledge in doing this. However, if the piano needs voicing then it needs voicing and so that person should be sought out or suggested by your tuner.