PIANO TUNING

Often times, new clients call about an instrument that either hasn't been tuned in a long time or has recently been moved.

And often times those pianos are horribly out of tune, which the technician discovers for the very first time when he arrives for the appointment and begins assessing the work he has cut out for him.

Depending on the age of the piano and the condition of the strings, frequently a piano's pitch cannot be brought up to Standard Pitch (A-440) at the first tuning. 

The most critical reason is that to do so would endanger the piano to string breakage.  

So the tuner finds the closest relative pitch that he feels he can comfortably meet that is between the current pitch and the Standard Pitch optimum.  When the tuning is complete, the piano sounds as good overall as it would had it been able to be brought to Standard Pitch, even though overall the whole piano is a slight bit flat.

Clients who begin with an instrument that can only be brought to relative pitch can still have the technician complete the Standard Pitch mission.  It will require at least one more, sometimes as many as three more, tunings and those tunings must be done within a few months of each other.

At each subsequent tuning appointment, the technician will bring the pitch up until the piano's strings can comfortably handle the Standard Pitch.

So what's the point?

The owner who has a piano that has not been properly cared for over the years, pays a price.  That price especially shows up when the owner first decides to put the instrument back into service.  No technician can successfully rush the process.

Physics and God are in charge of what the technician is able to accomplish and on what time schedule.

MOVING A PIANO

 Whether you use what is advertised as a professional piano mover, or you move the instrument in your friend's pickup truck, there are some very important rules that must be followed to keep from seriously damaging the piano.

First and foremost, all pianos should be completely wrapped in thick blankets and then put in either the right or left corner of the truck.  They must be tightly secured with ropes or webbing to the two sides and the bottom of the truck.

The point is that you want the piano to move sympathetically with the truck as it "bounces" down the street, and not move diaphragmatically.  In other words, you don't want the piano bouncing up and down "crashing:" into the bed of the truck, but to be able to take advantage of the truck's shock absorbers as you move it from one place to another.

HARMONICS

If you remember your high school science class, you'll recall that you learned that every tone is comprised of its root and the harmonic of every like higher tone to infinity.

So when you strike, say, middle-C on the piano, you hear the root (middle-C) and you hear the harmonic of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc., octave C above it.

Well, as strings get older and as they accumulate dust and dirt on them and become discolored, the harmonics they sound are not the pure harmonic of the note's root.  They sound something else, usually just a fraction different, but nevertheless, the full note that sounds is not pure.

You've heard thudding bass notes on old bar room-style upright pianos.  That is a great example of the strings playing the wrong harmonics for the root of the notes that are sounding.

Again, this is another problem that has been caused by improper care over time of the piano.  Can it be reversed?  I've not seen any successful cure other than having the instrument restrung.

And then there's a subcategory....

You've noticed that the bass strings on the piano look like coils.  Well, inside of each of those coils is the string that will make the sound. 

The coil is tightly laminated to the string.  Its purpose is to intensify the volume of the string so that it equally matches the volume of the subsequent strings.  Think of it like a speaker enclosure.  It works the same way.

Sometimes that spring-like casing begins to loosen, and when it does, it makes a sound that piano technicians frequently refer to as a false beat.  What is happening is that the string is vibrating at one frequency, and the casing is now playing something entirely different.   It is not sympathetic with the string.

Consequently the sound that is produced is a harsh, sometimes described as a raspy tone.

Again, the only appropriate solution is to have the bass totally restrung.

BUYING A NEW PIANO

 There are a couple of tricks to buying a piano, especially if you're buying a new one from a piano dealer.

Play all of the brands and sizes of pianos that are on the showroom floor that will properly fit in your home, that are the style you prefer, and within your price range.

Pick the one that sounds the best to you, regardless of the make.

Next, tell the sales person that you want the exact piano you have picked, not one like it that's in their warehouse.  Take a Magic Marker and sign your name in an inconspicuous place inside of the piano.

You want to make certain that the piano that is delivered to your home is the exact one you played and picked.

Make certain that your purchase contract comes with an agreement that the store's technician will tune your new instrument at least three times the first year as part of your purchase price, and then make sure that you follow through with getting those tunings scheduled and completed.

BUYING A USED PIANO

Buying a used piano is tricky business if you do it without the help of a piano technician.

If the piano is not pleasing to the ear, not in relatively good tune, and if everything doesn't work --- every key should sound, the pedals should work, etc. --- then it is best to not buy that particular instrument, but find one that measures up.

Using a piano technician to evaluate an instrument as well as to advise you on what that particular piano is worth, is a smart move.  The cost of this advice should be less than $100, and the insurance that you are being saved from making a costly mistake is worth far more.

214 503-8563