Uncover the Secrets of Piano Pre- Voicing with this Amazing Technician

[@ciberbri59]

I did a Steinway factory tour yesterday and learned about voicing. I didn’t understand that it involved pricking the felt hammer many times. Thanks for the explanation!!!

[@carlocondoluci574]

well explained, and surpraising. never seen anyone voicing the back part of the hammer using needles the opposite direction. i will try

[@pkrent3461]

Very professional, such delicate work

[@kristinn79]

She summarized this very eloquently.

[@EdmontDantes2]

Good information, but I would point out that an older instrument is very often the better one. Granted, two pedals rather than three. Good explanation. Artur Rubinstein or Vladimir Horowitz playing in the background would be nice. In case of Horowitz, you may mention Franz Mohr, who was his exclusive technician and tuner for 30 years. At times, he complained that Horowitz was too persistent on making the instrument brighter while retaining control. A good example is his performance of the Rachmaninov 3d piano concerto with NY philharmonic. Brittle sound. His performance at other times shows the instrument prepared amazingly well for his remarkable ability to extract an orchestral range of tone and dynamic range. Make a video on that if you like. I spoke with Franz at length and knew him personally. He used to invite me to demonstrate the Steinway instruments during his lectures. He always invited me on a very short notice.

[@josephhapp9]

Avery Fisher Hall would also contribute to the dry/brittle effect of the Horowitz Piano in the Rach 3. When Horowitz commented “will I fill the Hall” I always wondered whether he meant sound rather than seats.

[@saveriosalerno9232]

Thanks for this video!

[@abemoenieo7290]

It's is so informative and I enjoyed your video.

[@Phamtasticmd]

Hi. Do you know how i can contact Khai to voice my piano?

[@pianosmaene]

You can call us at [phone]

[@timelwell7002]

Most new pianos coming from Asia have excessively bright tones, and the hammer felts seem to be like granite when you have to voice them (I'm excluding Yamaha and Kawai pianos which are actually made in Japan). Voicing hammers from many Asian pianos can be very demanding, due to the hardness of the hammer felts. HOWEVER: For those of us living in Europe, Abel is a German company which makes new hammers, and their Natural Felt hammers have become the 'go-to' hammers to use if putting on a new set of hammers on an older piano. Abel Natural Felt hammers are a delight to voice - unlike hammers from Asian pianos. The Abel Natural Felt hammers are now the industry standard for us piano tuner/technicians in the UK and in the rest of Europe. Sadly, Abel are not paying me any commission here - this is just my experience as a piano tuner/technician of 46 years standing, not a sales pitch..!

[@ScaramouchedaVinci]

You're right about the hammers being too hard. But the problem with Abel is the opposite, even with natural felt is, that the hammers are sometimes too soft. It's happened to me several times now. Difficult to produce good overtones without soaking.

[@timelwell7002]

@@ScaramouchedaVinci Interesting. Historically, this has been true of Abel hammers, though less so more recently. Are your experiences more recent as well as being in the past? And do you perhaps favour Renner hammers, or some other make, over Renner or Abel? Of course, the piano in question and the acoustics of the room in question have a bearing here too, as I'm sure you know. If you're talking about a piano in a small concert hall or an arts centre, it might need to be a litle brighter tonally than it would in someone's living room - or indeed in a recording studio. Speaking as a musician for a moment, I recall playing piano in a recording studio in Wimbledon (London, UK) whilst laying down tracks for an album by a singer. The piano in question being a Steinway model D. This was voiced so as to be suitable for a large concert hall, but was IMO somewhat too bright for this setting.

[@timelwell7002]

@@ScaramouchedaVinci Just to add to my last reply to your comment, only yesterday I re-faced and voiced hammers from a 40-year old Elyisian 6' grand (made in South Korea). It started off being offensively bright tonally, both before and after I'd re-faced the hammers. But even though the hammer felts were very hard, when voicing it was all too easy to over-voice them and for the tone quickly to become too soft. They were much more challenging to voice than a new set of Abel hammers. But, when I'd finished, the piano sounded not bad - certainly a massive improvement on what it had been. I think being a pianist as well as being a tuner/technician helps, because I know the sound I want to achieve when I play.

[@ScaramouchedaVinci]

@@timelwell7002 It concerns the past with a natural felt and the present with a normal felt. And yes, I think I would have the hammers manufactured by Renner in the future. Unfortunately, they are complicated for private individuals.

[@MathieuPrevot]

the electronic music over is an utter nonsense, we want to listen to the actual piano

[@pianosmaene]

Please send us your compositions and we may use it in our next videos! Thank you em: [e-mail]

[@cyrillepinton3398]

@@pianosmaene The point is to hear what she's doing while voicing. Useless video to understand the nuances of voicing.