What is Tone Regulation or Voicing?
In simple terms it is balancing the charactor of tone all the notes produce individually when the hammer strikes the string.
We find words to fit these characteristics such as Bright, Harsh, Tiny, Thin, Metallic, Pingy, Shrill, Sharp, High, Rich, Dull, Dead, Low, Mellow, Soft, Warm, Round, Deep, Bell Tone and so on. A piano can be brightly voiced or have a mellow warn tone or many ranges in between. A piano's size, quality, age, and over all condition contribute to the character of tone it will produce.
When does a piano need voicing?
1. When random notes stand out or sound louder than other notes when the same down force is applied to sound those notes.
2. When sections are not balanced: for example the middle of the keyboard is one character of tone and as you travel up the scale the tone weakens and becomes softer charactor of tone. This example can also be in reverse.
3. Worn and deeply grooved hammers, hammers misaligned or unlevel to strings, loose hammer flanges and or screws will cause inconsistant hammer contact to the strings. These conditions need correction before consistant voicing can be acheived.
4. Dynamic demands of written music are defeated when voicing is not evenly balanced.
What ever tone a piano produces, if all the notes in all sections produce the same character of tone evenly through out the keyboard than that is acceptable voicing. A piano's voicing can be altered to the players preference and this is where the skill of the technician is important.
The piano has an average of 235 strings. Two thirds of the notes have three strings per note. It is essential that a piano be fine tuned before any critical voicing be performed so that an out of tune string does not mislead our ear.
What is Tone Regulation or Voicing
