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Pianos by Naomi
20 Years
Experience
Piano Care
Things your Piano would like you to know
A piano for the average family represents a substantial investment.
This information is designed to help you to protect your investment so
that it will pay you many years of dividends in fuller satisfaction.
A piano is sensitive to the changes in both temperature and humidity that
are common throughout our country. In order to protect the
instrument, to prolong its life, and to safeguard the investment you have
made in that instrument, competent home care and periodic service are
necessary.
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Where shall I place the instrument?
The first consideration in the care of your piano is the placement of the
piano in your home. Because of its sensitivity, a piano should not
be subjected to extreme changes in temperature or humidity.
Obviously, a piano placed next to a radiator or a heating outlet will be
subjected to extreme changes. By the same token, a piano placed in
front of a usually open window will be subjected to any humidity or
temperature changes in the outside air. As a general rule, an inside
wall of the living room is the best location for your piano. If it
were possible, ideal conditions would be to maintain temperature from 72
to 75 degrees with relative humidity from 45% to 50%.
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What is Tuning?
Tuning is the stretching of the strings to that exact point at which the
string will vibrate at the proper pitch. All notes with more than
one string must have the strings vibrate in perfect unison.
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How often should a piano be tuned?
Pianos get out of tune, whether used or not, as the result of contraction
and expansion due to atmospheric changes. For that reason we
recommend at least two tunings a year. However, the only true answer
is as often as the user considers it necessary. Concert grands, for
example, are tuned before each concert, and thus receive scores of tunings
each year.
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Does tuning affect the piano's tone?
Tuning does not affect the tone of your piano. Tuning sets the
proper pitch of each note; the tone of each note is most directly affected
by the felted hammer which sets the strings in motion.
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Can the tone of the piano be adjusted?
A qualified technician, skilled at voicing and action regulation can
successfully adjust the tone of the piano to your liking.
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What is Voicing?
The tone quality of a piano is determined by the character of the felt
which covers the hammers. Tuning in no way affects the tone quality
of a piano. With considerable use, the felt of a piano hammer
becomes hard and the strings cut the upper surface of the hammers. With
normal use, the hammers will need revoicing every two or three years.
This is an operation which must be performed by a highly skilled and
trained technician, but periodic voicing will pay dividends in tonal
satisfaction and pleasure.
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What is action regulating?
Action regulation is the adjustment of the mechanism which transmits the
pressure of your fingers through the various action parts, to cause the
piano strings to vibrate. The action of a piano, in order to give
the best service to the owner, must from time to time be regulated so that
the relationship of each individual part of the action is maintained.
Thus, periodic regulation will maintain the smoothness of the response to
the players fingers throughout the length of the keyboard.
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What shall I do if a pencil falls
into the piano?
The action and tone of your piano can be seriously affected by foreign
objects which find their way into pianos. Piano technicians annually
remove hundreds of pencils, coins, hairpins, candies, toys, etc., from the
action and soundboard of pianos. By all means do not try to
removed these objects yourself. Call a competent piano technician to
remove anything which has fallen into the action.
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To sum up
The most important point of all is the necessity of regular attention to
your piano by a competent technician. A good piano mechanic trained
and experienced is the best friend your piano can have.
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Naomi at (408) 593-8493
Member of the Piano
Technicians Guild
Ó Copyright 2005,
Pianos by Naomi. All rights reserved.
Email:
pianosbynaomi@yahoo.com
Website:
www.pianosbynaomi.com
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Website created by: M. L. Pribyl and Associates
Last modified date:
01/19/2005 |
