Voicing

As a piano ages the hammers can develop deep groves where they come in contact with the strings. The hammers may also flatten out. This causes the piano to sound harsh or metallic. If the hammers are not too worn or too ancient they can be filed to remove some of the felt and restore the original shape. This procedure will always improve the sound of the piano to some extent . Some times however the hammers are too old and worn to produce satisfactory results. When this happens its time to look at replacement. Replacing old hammers with a set of new, high quality hammers can suddenly bring a piano back to life. Installing new hammers also involves voicing as they may sound too harsh or too soft when they are first installed. It is very rare for a set of hammers to have an even tone throughout the piano until they have been voiced. All new pianos have had some voicing done to the hammers in the factory. When a piano owner is looking at having new hammers installed in their piano it is important to ask the technician about voicing as it is often overlooked and can make all the difference to the end result.