Hennessy & Sons Music -- Hennessy Music Collection
...and voicing and tone
regulation...
Isn't that a Hoot?
The customer liked the Hennessy '47 D, but thought the NYC restoration was more powerful in the bass. Was anything wrong with the NYC piano...Heck, No! A gorgeous instrument... Were there differences?.... Of course, there were... Each Pianoforte is Different on this planet!
Bear's Cardinal Rule #1 = Each Piano is Different! Just like People!
I said to "concert pianist" customer that he needed to talk to Frank personally to suggest how the instrument needed to be tone colored for his personal use, and that Frank needed to watch and hear him play the '47 D Steinway. Voicing and regulation, in my opinion, are more easily accomplished by the experienced piano technician when he or she knows how the "rascal" is being played and will be played.
No, I am not just whistlin' "Dixie,"...I am serious.
Concert artist pianists demand this every day... Why doesn't the average piano customer demand this? Because, they generally don't know enough about the 12,000+- or so moving parts in the grand pianoforte, how they can function, and what tone results can be attained by someone who knows how... Simple!
Voicing and Tone Regulation can affect the power of the bass and the upper registers, overall tone and color of the instrument, brilliance, dimension and clarity of the upper registers as well as evenness of tone color from the bass to the treble registers. Frank calls this "darkening" and "brightening." Tone and Color can also vary on the same piano when playing piano or forte. When comparing two like kind pianos in different stores one should always pay attention to the physics of sound and the accouterments of the store. A piano will sound deeper, louder, better on a hard surface floor as compared to a carpeted floor.... Most of the time, the piano will sound better in your living room than in the piano store... Why...? Simple... Less massive bulk objects in the room to absorb the sound... Like Other Pianos!
A vintage restoration or a new piano can be voiced by the expert piano technician or rebuilder to tone satisfy the customer.... For Example: Horowitz's Steinway concert grand was stretched to the outer limits on brilliance such that for many concert "artists" the piano would have been too metallic, harsh, and brilliant... That's what I hear in the recordings...only, Horowitz had the technique to control such a harshly voiced Steinway concert grand. But Horowitz being Horowitz, knew what he wanted and liked what he played. His piano technician has written a book about this. Go listen to the recordings by Horowitz and compare them to more modern concert artists and just listen to the piano tones and colors... And of course... Use Steinway Artists.
You can have your restoration voiced to your liking... warm, mellow and fuzzy....medium, and non-descript... pushed to the max.... or somewhere on the bright side of brilliant, but still with a lot of bass... the restoration of the "critter" is 90% of the work...the other 10% is giving the customer that final voicing and tone regulation that makes it the "correct purchase of my vintage pianoforte". And, the tone has to be smooth and even from the bass to the upper treble....If the tone gets weak or uneven an octave above middle C...are you the customer going to be happy???
No, of course not.
So how does Frank generally voice and tone regulate his restorations?....
Most generally for the greater vintage buying public in order to initially satisfy the greater number of buyers who come into the store... Wouldn't you?
A very serious
customer will be able to tell the differences... if they seriously view
and play a piano as an instrument....and not a piece of decorative furniture.
Bear's
1988 Baldwin SD10 Artist Series Concert
Grand,
partly rebuilt, tone regulated and voiced for the Bear
by
Frank Hennessy, RPT of Columbia, Mizzourah.
This
is a recording, composing, and serious Baldwin with "Balls".
"No,
It Ain't No Steinway..."
Tom
Andes, a local jazz artist/composer recorded on
Bear's
Baldwin in Spring 1998.
Where can one find a restoration shop or piano retailer who will tone regulate and voice an instrument for a specific customer?
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