Voicing down a piano

[lewisk1811]

Hello everyone!

I have an 1879 Schiedmayer 6' grand, but in a very small room, with wooden flooring. As a result the piano is extremely loud, which is rather a big problem for me as I have to practise for at least 2 hours a day, and it is starting to have an effect on my hearing. Furthermore, the dynamic range of the piano seems somewhat limited at the moment; it's basically loud, or a bit louder if you put a lot of weight into it. I think that this is more the problem than the room that it is in.

Therfore, I have been thinking about asking a technician to voice it down, but wanted to know whether people think that this would be a good idea or not. As well as generally making the piano quieter, I was hoping that this might help to increase the dynamic range, but I'm not really sure. Does anyone know if this is the case? If anyone doesn't think that this is a good idea, other than buying a smaller piano, which I am not in the financial position to do at the moment, could you please advise me as to what the best thing to do might be?

Finally, if possible, could someone also give me an idea of how much it might cost to have the piano voiced down, as I really don't have a clue!

Thank you all so much, I look forward to your responses.

Lewis

[indianajo]

Carpet or sound treatment foam (from rock music supplies that sell microphones etc) applied to the walls and floor would be cheaper IMHO, and this would  not potentially damage the piano. The sound batting does require glue on the walls, but overstuffed furniture scatted around, and bookshelves, do not.  These bits of used furniture do break up standing waves and reflections in a bright hard room.   In this tiny town of only 2 million people, I had trouble even getting my piano tuned to pitch without special pleading.  I certainly wouldn't ask any of the techs here to do anything like voice a piano.  The agency that advertises the most on the classical station, and have the sales franchise for the number 2 piano brand these days,  they quoted $2000 to completely repair a 1920's upright that IMHO has nothing really wrong with it.  Sleazebags! I understand practices of Mr "A=427" continue.  Work fast, take the money and run.  
In my previous location in Kansas, the piano store wouldn't even discuss sending a tech out 130 miles to tune my piano after I bought it.  And I bought the number 2 console piano made in the US at the time.  
If you still have your upper frequency hearing, by all means wear earplugs in a confined room. I find the "EAR" brand to be the most consistent, and those won't squirt out of my oily ears. Rolling one end of the earplug a little before you insert it is part of the training one gets in the Army, and not in piano class.  But musicians stuck in front of the percussion section really need to know this skill.  I read last week 60% of professional classical musicians have ear damage.  It is not all motorcycles and hunting that causes ear damage; a pair of cymbals can do permanent damage to you.  
If you live in London or the East coast metroplex, you may be able to get competent piano tech work.  By all means talk to local pro musicians about techs after concerts.  Just because a tech has the guild certificate and works for the store of the best brand made, doesn't mean he is going to do the highest quality work for insignificant nobody you.
(for those in the know, A=428 is correct for a 1920's upright in good condition, but not for a Sohmer console made in 1982). 

[pristinepiano]

Be careful in who you select for voicing on the piano, it is a special skill, and very few techs have it.  It is also one of the few adjustments on the piano which cannot be easily reversed,or reversed at all, once initiated.  Deep needle voicing and chemical treatments are unforgiving.  I have heard of some techs who voiced down pianos a bit with fabric softener/water mixture doped into the hammers but have not resorted to that myself.  

I would address the volume issue first with adjustments in the room.  This will not effect the playing dynamics of the instrument itself. A throw rug directly under the piano would help reduce about 20% of the reflected energy immediatly.  Heavy curtain material/foam on the corners of the room will address the bass and lower tenor...even moving a couch there can help.  Wood objects cabinets, shelving, windows and hard flat surfaces can be covered or some even directionally re-oriented to reflect less of the higher frequencies back to you.  

There are also custom form fitted,battened, thick cotton string covers (Dawson, Barnes, Edwards all make good ones) that can be placed in the piano's case and they can be left in place while the piano is played.  These can be effective at cutting down the sound a bit which is projecting from the upper side.  They can also provide a support base where additional material can be put on top to reduce projection even more.  It will also protect the instruments upper side from dust and humidity extremes.

  Likewise, the lower casing of the piano can have material stuffed in between the beams to cut down the sound projection there also.  This can have dramatic effect on baffling/reducing the amplitude of the instrument.  Roxsol/mineral wool insulation batt works extremely well for this. Just be carefull the material does not touch the ribs or soundboard or it can cut down the sustain duration of the instrument.

 Lots of good options to pursue before turning to the more invasive voicing.  Setting the hammers closer to the strings/reducing the strike distance can also be done if the action geometry allows for it.