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Piano Talk Index: Intro  | Guide | Definitions | Tuning Your Piano | Tuning Your New Piano | Six Month Tuning Cycle| Piano Book
       
    Essential Piano Definitions :
 

 

    
  Printout
page #:
 

1

 • Acoustic Piano

The
Schimmel 7-foot
"Red Diamond"
Tradition Grand

 
  6 • Tuning  
  8 • Regulation  
  9 • Voicing

--   and   --

  
  9 • Full Maintenance Service

The
Schimmel 52-inch
"Wilhelmina"
Concert Uprignt

  
  3 * Humidity Control  
  2 * Pinblock Failure  
  3 * A - 440  
  3 * Pitch Raise  
  2 * Repairs  
  5 • Dampp-Chaser  
  9 • Maintenance  
  10 • Piano Maintenance Program

Piano Maintenance Programs

    
  2 • Inner Working Parts of a Piano:  Action, keys, hammers, pinblock / pins, soundboard    
  11 • The Piano Book:  the Industry "Bible" used for piano purchasing information, new and used    
    * = critical information for owners of older pianos, and of pianos not maintained regularly    
         
   

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'Acoustic Piano'

 • "Acoustic Piano" is a technical name or clarification of the popular name shortened to just    
          "piano" in our every-day conversation.  We say "acoustic piano" when we want to mean    
          the completely physical, historical type of piano that has been around for 300 years;    
          and, when we want to be sure not to be confused with a "keyboard", or an "electronic    
          piano", as they are called.  Keyboards and electronic pianos are not actually pianos,    
          even though that is often what they are called.  This confusion is due to the fact that    
          these electronic types of instruments look like a piano, in the sense that they have    
          keys which look like those on an acoustic piano, but are actually organs or synthesizers    
          that have an electronic program which makes them sound similar to an acoustic piano.    
          These electronic keyboards can do marvelous things, like imitate many other different    
          instruments (called "midi" capability) as well as imitate a piano.  However, these kinds    
          of instruments are entirely electronic in every way, and have none of the physical    
          apparatus that make up the physical acoustical piano — They usually do not "feel"    
          like a piano when they are played, as well as do not usually sound really like the    
          acoustical piano.  There are very sophisticated instruments called "digital pianos" which    
          do imitate the physical piano very closely, but not precisely.  These electronic designs    
          do not require the physical maintenance of tuning, regulation, and other procedures    
          that are discussed on this Website, which apply only to the physical acoustical piano.
 		    
          →  Note:  There is an excellent webpage anyone considering repairing or refurbishing
an old piano should read in detail:  go to Antique Pianos.

Click here to go back to Tuning.		    
         

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'Inner
Working
Parts'

 

 • What makes a piano produce its tones is all those interactive parts inside the beautiful cabinets!
Parts include:  (1)  the Action, with its Keys and Hammers, plus all the levers in between;
(2)  the Strings — totaling some 200 + strings in a small piano, to over 225 in large pianos,
which vibrate when struck by the Hammers;  (3)  the Pins and Pinblock, which hold the strings stretched to correct pitches; and (4)  the Soundboard, with its Bridge, functioning as the "speaker" of the piano, magnifying its sound just an electronic speaker does in a stereo.		    
  The way a piano works is this:  A Piano looks like one big "thing" with 88 keys on the front of it.  
A Piano is actually a beautiful cabinet with 88 physical "motors" all hooked up next to each other, with
each motor doing exactly the same thing:  This is to thrust a Hammer to a String set when a key is
is depressed.  Its "Pitch" and "Tone" is developed by the length of the Strings that the Hammer hits.
Once the Hammer causes the Strings to vibrate, this vibration is physically carried through the Bridge
  into the Soundboard, which is the physical "speaker" of the Piano that amplifies the String vibrations
into the air, just like happens in a stereo speaker.  The only difference between a Piano "Speaker" and

 

 a stereo speaker is that a Piano Speaker operates physically, and a stereo speaker operates electrically.
"Wah-lah" — there you have it, a piano is just as simple as that — although it takes, in terms of parts
  and pieces, from 6000 to over 12,000 tiny, miscellaneous articles and gadgets to get the job done!

 

  
   
  The Action The Hammers The Keys The Strings The Soundboard / Bridge Pinblock / Pins  
 

 

        
   

'Repairs'

 * "Repairs" means rehabilitation or replacement of worn out or malfunctioning parts.    
          →  Note:  There is an excellent webpage anyone considering repairing or refurbishing an old piano should read to help understand these pianos — go to this internet page: 
   Antique Pianos : www.bluebookofpianos.com/vintagepianos.html 		   
     

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'Pinblock
Failure'

 * The pinblock of a piano holds the tuning pins, and controls the tension of the strings, and
therefore controls the ability of a piano to tune.  Without this control, a piano cannot tune !!		    
          Scroll back to pictures above, showing cutaway of this pinblock — the entire pinblock
is a laminated piece of wood about 2 inches thick, and about 8 inches tall, covering
the width of any piano — and, it holds the tuning pins you see in any piano.		    
        Time, or temperature conditions, or humidity conditions, or any combination of these conditions can cause a piano pinblock to gradually lose its strength and become "soft".  When this happens, the tuning pins are no longer held tightly enough to adjust them to  control the "pitch", or the highness or lowness of a sound, desired from a wire string.    
          When this situation occurs, if a piano is to be tuned, the pinblock has to be either
repaired or "restored", or replaced.  Replacement is usually prohibitive in cost, as it requires replacing all the strings and tuning pins at the same time.  Replacement is not usually done except in concert level grand pianos, and is almost never done in upright pianos, due to the cost, that are not extremely valuable museum quality pianos.		    
        Repair procedures to "restore" the tightness of a pinblock are almost always successful, and can be performed at a low cost.  An experienced "RPT" (Registered Piano Technician) is usually proficient in these procedures, and some RPTs have the equipment to perform this restoration service in the home.  An "RPT" level Technician will also have the experience to advise you honestly if this procedure is actually appropriate to solve your piano's problem, or if a better solution would be to acquire another piano, perhaps because of overall wear or deterioration of the entire piano in addition to the condition called "pinblock failure."
 		    
          →  Note:  There is an excellent webpage anyone considering repairing or refurbishing
an old piano should read in detail:  click on color thumbnail picture, mid-page:
  Antique Pianos : www.bluebookofpianos.com/vintagepianos.html 		   
        Click here to go back to Tuning.    
     

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'A - 440'

 * "A - 440" is also called "Standard Pitch" or "Concert Pitch".  Tuning to "A - 440"  pitch    
   

or

     is always needed when: you play your piano with CDs, other electronic instruments    
   

"Standard Pitch"

     like keyboards or digital devices, other instruments that cannot adjust their pitch --    
          such as accordions, harmonicas etc, or even clarinets and french-horns which have    
          very little pitch adjusting capability; and, Standard Pitch is always recommended    
          when piano is used for student practice.
 		    
        "A - 440" means specifically a sound that vibrates at 440 cycles or Herz per second.  Musical    
          sounds are often generated by instruments that have keys — a modern piano usually has    
          88 keys.  "A - 440" on today's pianos is the 6th "A" key counting from the left or bottom    
          note on the piano — this "A" key is set during tuning to 440 cycles or vibrations per    
          second, then all the other notes on the piano are set in exact relation to this one note of    
          A - 440.  The reason for this is so that all instruments world wide will be sounding in the    
          same key, and any or all kinds of instruments can all play together successfully.  Pianos    
          or other instruments do not have to be tuned to this standard — but are tuned to this    
          standard for everyone's convenience, for all music, and all musicians. 
 		    
        Click here to go back to Tuning.    
             
   

'Pitch Raise'

 * "Pitch Raise" refers to the recurring need to raise the pitch of a piano before tuning it:  the    
          pitch (highness or lowness of sound) is brought up to the standard of "A - 440" defined    
          above.  The need for pitch raises on pianos is due to the fact that a piano is always going    
          flat because of the very way pianos are made — a piano is a physical machine, and has    
          no means, such as electronic motors or other automatic devices, to change its pitch.  A    
          physical procedure is necessary to do anything regarding a piano, including playing it!    
          The strings inside a piano all added together create a tension on its iron plate of about    
          20,000 lbs. on a tiny piano to over 65,000 lbs. on a huge 10-foot concert grand piano.    
          This profound tension causes a piano to always go flat, very slowly, but it will always    
          continue to occur from the date of manufacture to the end of its service life.  The    
          pitch raise procedure is needed when a piano has not been regularly maintained with    
          tunings on a calendar basis — the longer the time between tunings, the lower the pitch    
          descends, and with a decrease of over about 4% the piano cannot be simply tuned    
          back up the standard of "A - 440" and stay in tune normally — it has to be "pitch raised"    
          up to that "A - 440" standard, then re-tuned to that pitch.  The actual technical term    
          for this procedure is "Tension Adjustment", meaning adjusting the strings to the proper    
          tensions, which in turn produces proper string sounds relative to "A - 440" Herz.
 		    
        Click here to go back to Tuning.    
         

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'Humidity
Control'

 * "Humidity Control" in regard to pianos includes any of the various methods of controlling the humidity level (referred to as "RH", or Relative Humidity) of the air where a piano is located.
 		    
    →  Go down to end of this entry for a list of currently available and acceptable "evaporative" units    
               
       The reason for this extreme attention given to "humidity control" in dealing with pianos, is that an acoustic piano (see definition above) is constructed necessarily by design of wood or wood product derivatives, and is extremely vulnerable to severe humidity conditions.  Very simply, it can break up, crack apart, deteriorate or become non-functional when the humidity levels in the air around it become too low or too high and outside of its design parameters.  A piano is not alone is this predicament, as all wooden products suffer this limitation — it is well understood how solid wood furniture cracks and breaks apart in low humidity conditions, and how expensive musical instruments like violins or cellos or clarinets and even brass instruments need protection and humidification to prevent damage from adverse humidity conditions.		    
                If you feel this attention to humidity control for pianos is exaggerated, even irresponsible, I humbly suggest that this attention is very well founded.  The reality is that your piano, when located in adverse low humidity conditions, really will crack or break or self-destruct in some way.  It is not a matter of "if", but rather a matter of "when".  I have observed new pianos "explode", and older pianos become useless, deteriorating into firewood because of storage or location in uncontrolled humidity situations, such as garages or storage units or vacation houses.            
                Almost every piano I visit in Arizona is suffering from some form of low humidity damage, in the form of pinblocks deteriorating to softness, soundboards showing stress cracks, tunings becoming very instable, pitch levels going crazy.  Sometimes inner parts in the action are suddenly breaking, which requires immediate and expensive repair to avoid further damage.  Often the damage is already fatally done, and the piano becomes useless without extensive repair — for examples, see Review #10 on this Website, describing a Kawai 7-foot home concert grand piano shipped to Arizona from Florida, which was both shipped and stored improperly before delivery:  what should have been a simple tuning became a $3000 raising from the dead, because the pinblock was ruined, and most all glued parts of the action separated and had to be repaired, which in turn necessitated a Full Maintenance Service as well as totally re-tuning; and, also see Review #22 on this Website, describing the early and effective results of an area humidifier.    
               
        Low humidity conditions affect a piano most severely, and often suddenly.

        High humidity conditions also affect a piano, but not as severely or suddenly.
 		    
                The simple and least expensive solution to control low humidity conditions is to install  an area humidifier in the general location where a piano "lives", and keep the RH level above 30% RH at all times.  An automatic humidifier can be set at 35% RH, and the piano as well as all the people living with it become very "happy campers" !!

        The choice of area humidifiers for this protective purpose must be the "evaporative"  type, and not the mist type used for medicinal purposes.  The unit should also have a built-in and automatic device called a "humidistat"  ( or a "hygrometer" ), which is an "RH" or relative humidity meter that measures the humidity in the air, and automatically turns the unit on and off to control an exact level of humidity.  An evaporative humidifier unit without a built-in humidistat can also work just as well, but then you must also purchase a free-standing hygrometer to work with it in order to control an exact level of humidity — it is plainly much easier and less expensive to get a humidifier with the built-in automatic humidistat, and many such units are available on today's market. 

        Pianos are known to be "safe" from low humidity atmospheric damage if the humidity level is kept above 30% RH in the air surrounding it.  Pianos can usually tolerate high humidity conditions, even 70% RH or above, without structural damage, but pianos often begin failing progressively when located where humidity levels drop below 30% RH for any length of time.  Setting an automatic humidifier at 35+% RH virtually solves low humidity protection problems.

        To control high humidity conditions, or conditions where the humidity or temperature conditions are variable all the time, the Dampp-Chaser system is the only solution - see below.

        Please note:  the Dampp-Chaser climate control system is the best, although the most expensive to purchase yet the least expensive to operate, long-term solution to control all types of weather temperature or humidity conditions that affect pianos — see information below.  The total conditioning obtained by using a Dampp-Chaser system also protects and preserves tuning, thus tunings will last much longer using a total climate control system like the Dampp-Chaser.

        To control low humidity conditions, an area humidifier does a completely acceptable job of protecting a piano.  But it does not, and cannot, help preserve tuning duration and stability as does the Dampp-Chaser climate control system, because an area humidifier is only able to control the humidity factor of air surrounding the piano, and has no way to control the temperature factor involved in preserving both piano tuning and piano tonal qualities.

        Another method of humidity control is to install a humidity control system into your household air-conditioning system.  This method is the most expensive, but adds additional benefits at no extra cost of providing comfort and protection to all the people who live in the house with a piano, as well as to all the contents of the house, including furniture, cabinets, house structure, and to other valuable possessions you might own such as other musical instruments, antiques, historical books and libraries or similar treasures, etc.  Please note, however, that household humidity systems are "protective" only, and only accomplish the same purpose as area humidifiers already mentioned above — they cannot accomplish the tuning and tonal benefits provided by a piano climate control system such as the Dampp-Chaser system described below and in the "Climate Control" section of this website (click tab at top of this page). If budget is no problem, the perfect solution is to install a household humidity control for all the reasons mentioned here, as well as the Dampp-Chaser system in the piano itself to develop both the ultimate care factor and ultimate performance capability for the piano.
 

    
   

Humidifier
Sources

 •

New — Nov 2009 !  Ace Hardware now has EssickAir  humidifiers (the maker of many other
brands of humidifiers, including Moist Air, Emerson, Bemis, etc.)  Two models are listed below.

    
      •

Note:   Do not rely on website information completely for purchase information or purchase decisions.  This is why these lists below are provided.  Sometimes stores will not stock what is on a website, or will stock items that are not on the public side of a website.  All stores will usually bring an item to your closest location if they are out of stock, or if it is available on their company "ordering" website (but not the public site).

    
      •

Home Depot and Sears Roebuck are consistently good sources for humidifiers with built-in humidistats, are locations which stock quality products, and stock availability of filters

    
      •

All products listed below are equally good -- understand that the larger the unit, the more
quietly it can operate, and the less refilling of water is needed. All are "evaporative" design.

    
             
   

Ace
Hardware

  

Size:

Manufacturer:

Model #:

 Filter #: Water Additive #:    

Medium - 1300 sq ft

EssickAir

TD6-710

#1040

 EssickAir 1970
Bacteriostat treatment

Small - 700 sq ft

EssickAir

7D6-100

#1040
               
   

Home
Depot

     Size: Manufacturer: Model #: Filter #:

Water Additive #:

    
      Largest - 2900 sq ft Moist Air HD 1407 HDC-12

All evaporative humidifiers
can use "Humidi-TREAT"
or EssickAir  #1970
Bacteriostat treatment
from ACE Hardware for
odor and scale control

    
   

*
*

 Large - 2500    "   " Moist Air MA 1201 MAF-1    
   

*

 Best Overall Choice for both value and size for most home situations    
                   
   

Sears

     Size: Manufacturer: Model #: Filter #:

Water Additive #:

    
   

±

 Largest - 2900 sq ft Kenmore 15420 14911

All evaporative humidifiers
can use "Humidi-TREAT"
or EssickAir  #1970
Bacteriostat treatment
from ACE Hardware for
odor and scale control

    
   

*

 Large - 2500    "   " Kenmore 15412 14906    
      Medium - 1700  "  " Kenmore 15408 758    
      Smaller - 1100   "  " Moist Air 0500 MA1040    
      Small - 700   sq ft Moist Air 0300 MA1040    
   

±
*

 Model 15420 sometimes not in production, and unavailable
Model 15412 has most features of all the above listings
The size "2500 sq ft" is best size for most all locations, especially for home situations with constant family in-an-out-of-doors traffic.  The smaller sizes work fine for no traffic or low traffic areas -- but also remember the larger units are quieter and need less refilling		      
                   
         

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'Dampp-Chaser'

 • "Dampp-Chaser" is the every day name of the biggest selling and best known product for the    
          purpose of controlling humidity and temperature conditions inside a piano cabinet.  The    
          piano is constructed basically out of wood in the cabinet and soundboard, then steel (and    
          copper wrapping) is used for the strings, then cast iron is used for the plate that holds    
          anywhere from 20,000 pounds of tension in a small piano to 65,000 pounds of tension    
          found in large grand pianos.  All of these materials used in constructing a piano are at    
          odds with each other regarding expansion and contraction rates that occur when there    
          temperature or humidity changes — which occur all the time every hour of every day of    
          the year. This phenomenon of stretching in contrary and opposite directions at different    
          rates cause a piano to "go out of tune."  This can happen slowly or very quickly with a    
          sudden or severe weather change.  Using the Dampp-Chaser almost eliminates this kind    
          of problem, and keeps the piano much more closely in tune, as well as protected from    
          either the normal and slow or the fast and severe weather changes.    
      • "Piano Life Saver System" is the actual trade name for this product, and it is manufactured    
          by the Dampp-Chaser Corporation.  The product has been in use since 1947, and has    
          taken on the nick-name of "Dampp-Chaser" as it is commonly known to everyone today.    
          More information can be found both on this Website, by clicking the 'Climate Control" tab    
          above, then by clicking on the corporate links in that section.  Click here for pictures.    
      • "Climate Control System" is the generic name for systems like the Dampp-Chaser.
 		    
    • See definition above "Humidity Control" for general information about pianos and humidity.
 		    
       

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'Tuning'

 • Acoustic Pianos have 3 Tuning Options — each one serves a different purpose:    
        1)   "Full Remedial Tuning", often called a "Pitch Raise" Tuning     
  — the tuning method used when "Standard Pitch" level of "A-440" is desired or needed,
  and also when piano is so far out of tune that the temperament must be restored
— includes 2 completely separate procedures: 


(1) Restores piano's pitch level to A-440 — as well as re-establishes a temperament
(2) Installs a "Set-up" tuning at A-440 — including fine tuning the new temperament
 
  — both procedures are done in one session; requires 2 hours or more at the piano
 
        2)   "Set up Tuning" only, sometimes called a complete "Fine Tuning"    
  — the tuning method used when piano has not been tuned during the last 6 months 
— a complete tuning procedure, setting a temperament at a piano's existing pitch level
— this procedure is always necessary the first time a technician works on any piano
— procedure requires up to 1:30 time at the piano
 
        3)   "Maintenance Tuning" only, sometimes called just a "Regular Tuning"    
  — the tuning method used when a piano has been tuned previously within the last
  few months, using any of these three tunings described here
— must be scheduled on a calendar basis, at 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 day intervals
— procedure requires from 45 to 60 minutes at the piano
 
        Note:     Repairs may be necessary before any piano can be tuned —    
→

 

   Click here to review a difficult problem for all pianos in Arizona, which is
Dehydration, caused by dry weather conditions, and called "pinblock failure."
—  Also, see notes on "Older Pianos" and "Player Pianos" below.  
  —  And, visit this internet page  — click on the color thumbnail picture, mid-page:
     Antique Pianos : www.bluebookofpianos.com/vintagepianos.html
 
      • More Explanations about these 3 tuning procedures:    
  (1) Full, or "Pitch Raise" style tuning:  This is a full remedial tuning method which includes two separate procedures:  (a) first, a special procedure, different from tuning, is used to stretch the piano's strings and iron plate into a tension level that produces "Standard Pitch" or "Concert Pitch" of "A - 440"; and, (b) second, a normal procedure follows, which is the actual tuning, called a "Set up" tuning (explained in #2 below), which tunes the piano to this newly developed pitch level of A - 440 established by the first procedure. 
 
     This style tuning process is called either a "Pitch Raise" tuning, or a "Double Tuning"; or, the technical name for this procedure is "Tension Adjustment" tuning – which means the piano has been re-tensioned to a new pitch level before it was actually tuned.

     This "Tension Adjustment" or "Pitch Raise" procedure is mandatory when a piano's pitch level needs changing more than 3-4% higher / lower than the piano is found to be at the time of a new tuning.  Otherwise, if an acoustical piano is simply tuned at a new pitch level exceeding this 3-4% parameter higher or lower than its existing pitch level, the new tuning will invariably become unstable, not durable, and will fade away earlier than necessary, in a degree depending on the amount of pitch change beyond this 4% limit.
 
     Click here for the definitions of Pitch Raise and A - 440 to see why or when you might want or need to have this "pitch raise" style of tuning.
 
(2)

"Set up" style tuning:  A new "Set Up"  style tuning is always needed when a piano has not had regular calendar-based maintenance before a new tuning, and therefore does not have a basically correct tuning already in place at the time of the new tuning.  It is also the
style tuning used the first time a Registered Piano Technician works on a piano.
    
This "Set Up" tuning is a procedure which, first, measures a piano's existing pitch level at the time of tuning; then, second, measures the piano's individual and unique acoustical properties; then, third, develops a musical temperament for that particular piano's  characteristics in an extra forceful and deliberate way, in order to "set" the tuning pins and strings very precisely and firmly to give the tuning its best possible stability and duration.  This procedure takes about 25% longer than a regular, or "maintenance" tuning.      
 
A tuning simply will not hold well  that is not set up  right in the first place — and, you will wonder when a new tuning fades quickly why you paid a technician some bargain price to do a cheap, quick tuning for you — but, if that should happen to you, now you know  what happened, and why!
 
 
 
 
(3) "Maintenance" style tuning:  a procedure which is a calendar-based tuning following a
Set-up tuning, a Pitch Raise tuning, or a Maintenance tuning performed within the previous 6 months.  It is a faster procedure, requiring less time, because these types of previous tunings will still be basically in place inside of 6 months. The Maintenance tuning gives attention mainly to re-setting the "unisons", refining the existing temperament, and does not need to address as much re-setting of the pin positions as a "set up "tuning.
 
Maintenance tunings are scheduled in calendar-based cycles of 30 up to 180 days.  Choice of time cycles depends on how perfectly you want or need your piano to sound daily.

Click here to go back to Tuning. 
   
        Older Pianos:  To make tuning possible on older pianos, certain repairs may be necessary.    
          For details, go to:  Repairs and pinblock failure.  For full information, go to:
Full Maintenance Service;   next, go to the five definitions above on this page marked with a red star "*";  and, then go to:  Antique Pianos.
 		    
          Click here to go back to Tuning.     
        Player Pianos:  (meaning antique mechanical / pneumatic player pianos built c. 1900 - 1950)    
          Be aware that most antique player pianos require removal of at least part of the player    
mechanism in order to access the piano's tuning pins, and therefore cost more to tune or to service.  If the player system does not work, and the piano does work, you may want to remove the player entirely for future convenience.  Modern electronic piano player systems take up almost no internal space and do not require removal for service.
 
     A "player piano" is normally a regular piano with a huge and complex player system literally "stuffed" inside to operate the piano mechanically.  There is usually no room remaining to service or to repair the piano normally, and this system usually has to be removed partially in order to do any kind of work on the piano itself, including only  tuning.
 
     Also be aware that all the normal warnings for "older pianos" above apply to player pianos regarding any kind of services or repairs to the actual piano itself, in addition to the player mechanism issues — whether to disable it, try to improve it or to repair it, etc.
 
     Further, realize that, although repair of mechanical piano player systems is actually possible, such repair is usually prohibitive in cost except for unusual situations with unlimited budgets, and where goals of nostalgic or historic restorations are ruling your decisions. 

     Repair service for mechanical player systems is almost unavailable in today's world, takes forever to get done, and the costs are unbelievable.  If you must do this, you are best advised to get an "RPT" - Registered Piano Technician to guide you down this road, as well as be prepared to both pay big time and wait big time for your goals to be met.  You can visit these links for a start on information:  Player Techs,  Player Rolls,  Antique Pianos.
 
Click here to go back to Tuning. 
 
      • Why tune a piano, in the first place?    
          Acoustical pianos are physical machines.  They go flat naturally and normally, by design,
due to the very high tension on their strings.  An acoustic piano is always, all the time, going microscopically flat due to this tension — so time between tunings determines much of how flat a piano goes down before its next tuning.  Playing a piano affects tuning only by a small amount.  Temperature and humidity changes affect the tuning of a piano by a large amount.  Acoustic pianos tuned regularly, however, usually stay acceptably in tune;
and, when tuned on a regular calendar basis, they stay up to pitch acceptably, as well.
 		    
      • How often should a piano be tuned?    
          There are 4 essays on this Website that cover every known piano tuning requirement.    
          Click below for answers:    
          — Tuning Your Piano — a complete overview of Tuning Cycles
— Tuning Your New  Piano — explains special needs of new pianos
— Six-Month Piano Tuning Cycles — the history and logic of this approach
— Piano Maintenance Programs — ideas for serious piano and piano music lovers
  		   
      • Some details on meaning of "tuning":    
        — The non-technical, popular use of the term "tuning" is to describe making a piano sound    
          "right" or "normal", without any reference to what procedure might be involved.    
        — The technical meaning of "tuning" refers only to a procedure that tightens or loosens the    
          strings, which causes the sounds made by piano strings to go up or down in pitch.     
        "Tuning" is not, by technical definition, either "Regulation" or "Voicing" or "Repairs."    
   

unisons

   —  About unisons:  "Tuning" also includes the meaning of drawing the strings on notes using    
          more than one string (most of the piano) into equal tensions or sounds, called "unisons".     
          back up to "maintenance" tunings    
        — The overall maintenance condition of a piano directly and strongly affects its ability and    
  potential to accept or benefit from any kind of tuning procedure.
          See "Full Maintenance Service" above for details on how this works.

Click here to go back to Tuning.
  		   
   

 

 • Tuning  Technology    
  Modern piano tuning technology is the result of 300 years of research and development, beginning with the invention of the piano in 1709.  Today's tuning techniques are just as reliable and predictable as flying techniques are in aeronautics.  A basic problem in tuning technology has always been to cope with the physical design of acoustical pianos — their strings constantly go flat due to stretching from the very high tension needed to produce the 88 different piano pitches.  The correct and effective methods developed to overcome this tendency are explained in the 'Tuning' section above;  properly executed, these procedures provide very stable and durable tunings, even in locations not having the benefit of climate controlled conditions. 

Click here to go back to Tuning.
 
         

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'Regulation'

 • All the keys and hammers and other internal working parts of a piano are called the "action."    
          These parts number from about 9000 parts in an Upright Piano up to as high as    
          12,000 parts in a huge 10-foot Grand Piano.  "Regulation" refers to the adjustment    
          of all these parts so that each note mechanism moves and performs its individual job    
          correctly, as well as evenly and efficiently in relation to all the other notes in the piano.    
      • "Regulation" also includes the concept of properly Lubricating all these working parts.    
          The first signal that your piano needs Regulation is when the keys start feeling heavy and    
          more sluggish than normal, and piano seems tiring to play.  Part of this symptom is due    
          to need for Lubrication, and part due to need for adjustments — both are done together.    
      • "Regulation" also most often means careful attention to the condition of the hammers, and    
          includes the idea of re-shaping and reconditioning the resilience of the hammer felt    
          to interact with the strings properly (provided the hammers are not so worn down that    
          they can no longer be reconditioned to work efficiently).

 

  
      • Grand Piano Action "Motor" Picture:  Click here for a side view of a Grand Action "motor" —  
          A very useful way to think of the Action in a Piano is to consider that each one of the 88  
          keys on a piano represents an independent physical "motor" located directly behind it in the  
          inside of a piano  — then think of 88 of these individual motors as simply hooked up side  
          by side, next to each other, and there you have it!  That's what any piano action is!  
      • Very important:  Sometimes a piano cannot be regulated without some basic repairs!    
         

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'Voicing'

 • "Voicing" is the last step in Piano Preparation, and requires that all the rest of the piano is    
          working at a near perfect efficiency before "voicing" can be useful.  Voicing is specifically:    
          working with upgrading the efficiency of both string behavior, and hammer behavior.    
          The purpose of voicing is to first cause the sounds of all notes to have equal qualities,    
          and then second to cause all these sounds to be even as well as desirable to the listener or    
          owner or user of the instrument.  Voicing is done in a general way by the manufacturers    
          of all pianos.  The term "Concert Voicing" is a better description of the custom voicing    
          that is done to Concert Venue Pianos and Recording Studio Pianos — This kind of    
          procedure is very tedious, time consuming, and extremely expensive, and it can take    
          sometimes many days of work by a Technician to complete these goals of perfection that    
          are usually required to achieve those 'perfect' piano tones demanded professionally.  The    
          work involves countless procedures of needling, shaping, testing of hammer characteristics,  
          as well as testing, measuring and adjusting of string positions and shapes, and repeating    
          these procedures almost endlessly until the instrument is as 'perfect' as it is possible to be.    
      • Very important:  Sometimes a piano cannot be voiced without replacement of hammers!    
   

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'Maintenance'

 • "Maintenance" is the overall term for caring for a piano.  It can include all the procedures    
          described on this Website, and others not mentioned.  The most common use of the term    
          is "good maintenance", usually taken to mean regular calendar scheduled tunings, and    
          attention to other factors whenever necessary, such as regulation, voicing, and repairs.    
     

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'Full
Maintenance
Service'

 

 • "Full Maintenance Service" means adjusting, lubricating and tuning the systems of your piano — these systems include as many as 12,000 parts, depending on type and model.

        This term intends the meaning of maintaining all operating parts of your piano, for the purpose of enhancing their actions to perform physically as smoothly and efficiently as their design will allow, then tuning the piano's sound as clearly as its design can achieve.
 		    
• What is this service, why is it needed, and what does it do?
 
 
       The degree of accuracy and efficiency possible to achieve with a Full Maintenance Service goes well beyond what the factory can achieve with a new piano prior to its "breaking in period".  After a piano has been in use for a sufficient time, all its many thousands of parts of wood, leather, felt, metal and other materials become naturally compacted and polished and smoothly acclimated one to the other.  This process is commonly known as the "break in period" for a new piano. 
     What happens is, that through normal use, all the piano action parts change their shape microscopically, and thus the action becomes naturally and normally out of adjustment.  The action parts over time also become dry, thus sluggish.  Like all machines, the piano now needs its normal maintenance and lubrication procedures.  It is only after this "break in" development, followed by re-regulation / lubrication / hammer service, that the highest level of performance be accomplished by a piano.   		  
       A piano actually tells us when it needs this service.  The keys usually become stiffer, harder to play; sometimes notes double strike or do other unusual things, even stick; usually the tuning quality becomes brighter or harsh due to increased strike-lines and resulting fuzz on the hammers; and, always we can hear the piano beg for lubrication by the internal squeaking sounds made by the action.  
       An analogy here would be to compare a piano to a fine set of binoculars which operate, but are so dry, tight, and hard to manage, that it's almost impossible to focus and use them — maintenance service in this case would be to perform whatever lubrication and adjustment procedures were needed to make them operate in a normal manner.  Perhaps little change, only lubrication and small adjustments and not even parts might needed to make this wonderful set of binoculars operate and focus perfectly.  In the exact same manner, Full Maintenance Service for a piano takes the dry, tight, out of focus condition of the piano, and applies skillful regulation, lubrication and tuning to its working parts.  The results are invariably astonishing to an owner.   
       It is only after "break in", and the re-setting and lubricating of all the action parts in their mature condition to their highest operational efficiency, that we actually discover what our piano is really like.  
       This scenario holds true in pianos that are very modest in their concept up through the most advanced performance style pianos — they are all astonishingly better and amazing after they have once been broken in and then had this developed maturity re-regulated and lubricated and thus refined and focused into more highly critical operational settings.   
       This Service translates immediately to solid enjoyment and pleasure using a piano.  The piano becomes much faster and more efficient than is the player, allowing the player to become more involved in managing the music the piano makes, rather than struggling to force the piano to make music !!  It is always a big shock to witness the "before and after" difference of the Full Maintenance Service.  
•

What the procedure includes:
         

 

(1) cleaning of the piano, inside and out, both for cosmetics, and for the technical requirement of keeping dust and soil from interfering with lubricating its action;  DUST ACCUMULATION
on the action mechanism inside a piano can be very destructive, and cause the action to literally chew itself up like sandpaper would do!  Actions must be cleaned  periodically to prevent this.
(2)  regulation of the action mechanism, then lubricating this action with permanent lubricants to assist keeping these new regulation settings working correctly as long as possible; 

(3)  hammer service, a procedure which maintains or restores the hammers (a) to a shape similar to their original "egg-like" look, (b) removes the fuzz and extra long strike lines (developed from normal use) from the crowns of the hammers, and (c) restores a basic default style voicing quality to the hammer consistency; 

(4) recalibration of the keyboard, which includes easing and/or adjusting all key behavior to reduce key friction to a minimum, and adds correct lubrication for the entire keyboard system;

(5)  leveling of the keys and adjusting key behaviors to their most accurate settings in relation to all the other many movements of the inner action parts; and, finally, includes

(6) installing a fine tuning, which in most cases resets the piano's pitch level to Standard Pitch, or A440, which therefore enables you to play your piano with CDs, or play in concert with almost any other instrument that exists with ease and pleasure in listening.   

     Very important:  Full Maintenance Service does not specifically include making repairs needed to allow maintaining or tuning the piano, although it does always reveal what repairs that are needed, since all working parts of the piano are examined during this procedure. 

Costs for repairs are always in addition to a maintenance service, and costs depend on the replacement cost of any parts needed plus the labor needed to perform any particular repair.
 
 

Full Maintenance Service is needed based on both the use of, and the age of a piano. 

High-use pianos (such as found in college music schools, or other concert venues) need this service done often and regularly to avoid excessive wear on their piano action parts. 

New Home Pianos need this service once the piano has been used and played sufficiently to be fully "broken in".  A new piano owner will know his piano needs this service when his keys (and action) start to become stiff in use and progressively hard to play -- this trait will appear from any time between 3 and 7 years of home use.  Also, the action can begin squeaking and groaning, really telling you it's time for service and lubrication!

Used piano owners nearly always need to consider having this service done, if they seriously like having a piano that plays and sounds well.  In fact, NO piano either new or used ever truly plays its best until this procedure has been done, and it will truly amaze anyone the difference it makes in the playing and performance ability of the piano.  You can read the reviews of this service on this website for owner / user reaction to the results, benefits and blessings of the procedure -- it causes a "jaw dropper" reaction every time!
 
  For examples, go to Reviews, and look for this symbol:  §  — then click that number review
   

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'Piano
Maintenance
Program'

 • "Piano Maintenance Program" is a scheduled and comprehensive plan of procedures for
a piano which takes care of its every need on an "as needed" basis as well as a calendar basis.
An entire page about this procedure is included in the "Piano Maintenance" section of this
Website — its tab can be found on every page of the site — refer to this page for full details.		    
       

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'The
Piano Book'
by
Larry Fine

 •

 

"The Piano Book" is literally the "Bible" in today's world for factual and unbiased information about Pianos.  Book #1 at the right is the Annual Supplement, and is primarily used for buying new pianos.  Book #2 is the Original, a large 9x12" - 300+ page book, published over 20 years ago.  The Original is an exhaustive reference on all aspects of a piano, its history, construction, quality issues, as well as maintenance and climate issues which affect pianos.  It is quoted on this Website in the Section called "Piano Talk", under its title "The Piano Book" as an authority on the subject of tuning frequency and Climate Control Systems.  Both books are available from Bookstores or the publisher.  For more information, click:  www.pianobook.com and, www.pianobuyer.com

(1)

(2)


 

  

...bi-Annual Supplement,
subscription
about $30

...the
Original book,
large 300+pgs,
about $25
           

Piano Talk Index: Intro  | Guide | Definitions | Tuning Your Piano | Tuning Your New Piano | Six Month Tuning Cycle| Piano Book
 

©2010 Piano Tuning Phoenix
Website designed, written and built by Wes Flinn RPT - Registered Piano Technician
info@pianotuningphoenix.com / PO Box 8548, Phoenix, Arizona 85066 USA
  
     

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