Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Does this voicing request make sense?

I have already posted this in the Piano forums but was advised to post it here to get more feedback.

I have recently purchased a piano directly from the factory, and asked to voice the piano to be my specifications, they responded that i should send them my specifications and that they will see if they're willing to do it.

I sent them the following: "Piano to be voiced for a small room (3.8x4.8 squared meter) with mellow and warm sound"

Does this request makes any sense from a technician point of view? or is it too subjective to be applicable?

Need more info about the piano. Is it a 9 foot concert grand? A 40 inch upright?

Its a Kawai GX2, i think its just short of 6 feet (5,11 if i remember correctly)

The problem is that there is NO WAY to predetermine this sort of thing. It has to be done in place after delivery, after tuning, etc. I would say that it is an unreasonable request. What will you do if they go "overboard" and it's too mellow? I would never grant something like this, unless the piano was already so screamingly bright anbd loud that it is obvious that somnething needs to be done. Otherwise it's always done on site.

Peter Grey Piano Doctor

If your ceiling height is about 2.4 meters (8 ft), and if the room does not have any openings to another area, then a GX-2 might be overwhelming when the lid is on full stick. Especially the treble might sound shrilling and disturb your ears.

I will just provide the relevant part from the RX series voicing manual on pre-voicing done at the factory. Probably that might also be valid for GX series. I am not sure though.

"Pre-voicing. Kawai hammers are pressed for high compression of the felt. This compression should remain unchanged under the strike point, where it will give brightness and power during Forte passages. Some of the tension in the shoulder areas is released by deep needling the hammers in the factory.
This deep needling is done in two stages in the Kawai factory; the first is done mechanically just prior to mounting the hammers on the shanks. Sample hammers are tested for hardness and rebound, and the shoulders are deep-needled by machine accordingly. The shoulders are then deep needled again in the voicing department according to their sound. It is not normally necessary for the hammers to be extensively deep-needled on the shoulders once the piano leaves the factory, although some deep needling may be called for to increase sustain or improve the sound of hammers that have been re-shaped."

Are you buying this piano unseen? Did you try a GX-2 in the show room?

IMO, it might be better to do the final voicing in your room, after the piano settles down in its new environment.

OK, I just remembered your other posts, so please discard my questions.
With a ceiling height of over 3 meters you might be just okay.

Still as P.W. Grey pointed out, the voicing is done on site.

Agreed. Chances are little to nothing will be done, because tonal and dynamic preferences are so subjective.