The piano is extremely sensitive to climatic changes.  In a sense the piano is a living thing.  This because much of the construction of a fine piano is of wood.  Woods remain hygroscopic long after they are  not "living" or after being made into something beautiful like furniture or a piano.

 In my hundred plus year old home I have noticed that every fall our interior  stairs begin to creak and a  crevasse opens in the fall at my living room ceiling above the crown molding.  This seasonal change occurs like clockwork.  There are many other examples we can all think of to be sure.  None of which are surprising at all if we understand the nature of wood.  Quite simply, wood expands with moisture or humidity and contracts with dryness.  There are scientific reasons forthis. Understanding the effects of  atmospheric changes around your pianois easy.

The piano soundboard is the largest single component of the instrument.  The purpose of the board is to transduce sound to the environment surrounding the piano or to the air.  Piano sound is a combined phenomena involving the structure itself,  felted hammers, steel and copper strings, wood bridges and  soundboard.  A complex "action" delivers  hammers to steel and copper wrapped strings which then in response vibrate.  The vibrations are carried to the soundboard by hardwood bridges.  The soundboard is arched and loaded with pressure from the strings and responds to  energy in the form of vibrations.  The purpose of the soundboard is not really to amplify sound but to receive vibratory pulses generated by the various parts of the sound generating systems of the piano and convert them into air movement. 

When everything is right for a piano we say it is stable.  In order for a piano to remain stable it must be in a controlled environment that is conducive to the woods, felts and other natural materials which are parts of it's make up.

With moisture- all of the woods expand.  Many felt parts do as well.  The soundboard in particular becomes larger and broadens in scope.  With this,  pitch goes up as strings are stretched tighter across the bridges which  are connected.  The cabinet parts also expand, as do  keys and countless other parts.  Everything gets larger and pitch goes up.  Friction also increases as parts which are calibrated to work with minimal necessary friction now must fight additional resistance to movement and  increased weight.  Common conditions include sticking or slow keys, slower action response, higher pitch and less defined tone.

With dryness other negative conditions prevail, some with damaging effects to the piano.  When a soundboard gives off moisture it becomes smaller as if shrinking.  When the soundboard gives off so much moisture that it sinks below a reasonable normal level, it will crack.  This is a common condition in pianos.  Without a near perfectly controlled environment cracks are almost a certainty.  Clicks may develop in the action and tuning pin torque will be compromised.  Piano tuning will not be stable.  Some would say the tuning will not "hold".   Even the lacquer or varnished finishes of the piano may crack.

It is very interesting that tone quality and tone color also change with higher or lower readings in relative humidity.  Piano hammers absorb moisture form the air and produce less brilliant tone.  They are heavier and less focused because of  moisture and expansion within the hammer.  The extremely critical texture of wool fibers within the hammer are altered often resulting in compromised tone.

To keep a piano at it's best, regulate the environment in which it lives.  Indeed the piano responds  to changes around it.  Light, heat, cold, dryness, moisture and any change to any of these will be immediate at the piano.  Extreme conditions and fluctuations cause damage to the piano.

The best thing you can do to the great benefit of your piano is to monitor the conditions near your piano and try to create conditions which are most comfortable for you and a fine instrument.   Avoid having the piano bathed in direct sunlight or near heat sources.  Hot air from floor vents, close proximity to radiators and direct cold air from air conditioners are not good for the piano.  Pianos in schools, churches, clubs, halls, hotels and other places do poorly when the environment is changed by altering heat, A/C or by moving  pianos around frequently.

If you are interested in keeping your piano healthy and in making your tuner or technician also very happy to see you, control the environment at the piano as carefully as you can.    Your tech can continue this conversation at length and will be happy to.

Attention is often focused on piano components i.e. piano keys, the action , piano hammers,  strings, soundboards and more when thinking about how the piano works and what the piano is supposed to do.  In essence what interelated mechanisms of the piano eventually do is move air.

The modern piano is but a large mechanism made to move air in ways that only such a remarkable musical instrument can.  The incredibly colorful sounds and dynamic range that a fine piano can affect upon surrounding air are the results of interrelationships of aged woods, fine woolen fibers and felts, high quality lacquers and varnishes  tempered steel, copper windings and craftsmanship.  The end game  is in how those materials merge to move air in such a way as to relate to our eagar ears the passions of composers and the intentions of pianists. 

The way in which pianist and these materials are able to move sound waves, and the energy with which they do so have to do with everything from the condition of woods, metals and felts within the piano, the abilities of a particular pianist to control and balance the piano mechansims and how well regulated and voiced a particular instrument may be. 

The piano is something to play through.  It is the medium between the pianist and air- which is soon colored with new energy produced by vibrating  strings and  a soundboard to transduce those pulses.

Among things we as technicians endeavor to do is adjust the mechanisms within the piano action for efficiency and best response to our touch,  adjust the shape and densities of hammer felts for dynamics, and tune strings to harmonies that please us.

All together these efforts make what we call a beautiful sounding piano.

We often get calls to follow up on difficult to find noises.  Today I was called to service a piano with a particularly interesting left, shift or una-corda pedal squeak noise which happened as the pedal was depressed. 

The source for noises is often not at the most obvious location.  For instance, I find that many or maybe even most pedal squeaks are not at the pedal or lyre at all.  Often times I will trace to noise backward from the top of the system which is associated with the noise.  Pedals move things.  Pedals are connected to underlevers which shift or lift other parts.  Often it is where parts meet that noises can be found.  Unfortunately not all are easily identified or found so that homeowners or persons other than piano technicians may not have easy access to them.

A good lesson is to put down the WD40 spray can.  That belongs in the garage where there are many good uses for it.  There really are not any reasons to use it on a piano that are safe at least.  Some piano lubricants are  viscous pastes for use in high friction contact points.  These products that we regularly use for pedal to pedal rod, pedal rod to underlever, pitman dowel, shift arm, dag, return spring or keyframe glide bolts are particularly well suited for such high friction places.  There are many more sources for sounds to eminate from than the obvious.  Better to find the source before spraying anything that may not help at all.

Today's noise was not in the pedal system at all.  It was coming from the contact of a capstan screw (a round brass nut) which is designed to keep the action stable during transport which is secured to the hammer rail.  Not all pianos have this.  It is more commonly found on newer Asian pianos.  This otherwise useless capstan screw was turned up to contact the underside of the pinblock to help stabilize the action when being shipped.  As the shift or una-corda pedal was used the capstan was dragged against the underside of the maple pinblock as the action was shifted with each pedal movement along with the keyboard making the awful noise as it slid left to right and back with pedal travel  causing an odd and irritating brass-to-wood sqeaking, creeking sound. 

This was just another intersting noise to track down and eliminate.  There have been so many found over the years.  Sometimes buzzes, zings or rattles are not even at the piano.  If there is a snare drum or harp in the room they will react insympathy to frequencies the piano produces as will many other things. 

Leg ferrules, caster stems, hinge pins (at the case or continuous hinge), prop stick pin or any number of things might be the source of a zing, buzz, squeak or other noise.

Sometimes extra bad buzzes might require the help of a second person to play keys which set off the buzz while the other person hunts.  Debris on the soundboard, loose bass string windings, loose soundboard, separated rib....on and on it goes.  There are many possibilities.   It is always a good day though when the problem is put to rest and we can get back to enjoying sound that comes from the  piano instead of the distraction of obnoxious noises.

What do you charge for a piano appraisal?  We have a Steinway baby grand bought about 45 years ago.

bruceray@comcast.net

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