![]() ![]() This will significantly impact how your tuning is holding up! If your home's construction is old and you have drafty walls, uneven insulation, keep it away from outside walls. This is a huge problem for any instrument as any pin block would react to it and cause a loosening of the pins.Īvoid placing your instrument near drafty/open windows or doors. The outside humidity may read 50%, but the dry air inside is sucking up the hydrogen particles and the indoor humidity reading may only be 25%. Winter: You would usually run a heater on the A/C. The problem is that you do not have an instrument to remove humidity in your home. If it is very humid outside, that humidity will be mirrored inside. Summer: Fresh air is pulled in from the outside and the inside of your home is subject to roughly the same humidity reading as the outside. In Texas we have, inside a home, three separate climate zones, summer and winter and the shoulder seasons. This is critical for the tuning stability of a piano. More specifically: the interaction between the two. Wooden instruments (violins and pianos in particular) are VERY sensitive to hydro-static changes - that is the inter-relationship between temperature and humidity. Hydro-Static Control of a Piano's Environment It does not necessarily cost a lot, but it is "pain" to deal with. If the problem is persistent or severe, the action may have to be removed and taken to the shop for repair. Also, lack of playing a certain key invites it into a dormant stage, thus making it sluggish. Poor humidity control can also be a culprit since wood swells in high humidity environments, preventing the hammer stem's rotating pin to smoothly operate. Sometimes, it may be caused by broken parts. Very often, the problem can be resolved right on the spot, without incurring any extra charges. ![]() Where humans have arthritis, pianos have sticking keys. If you don't tune it regularly (every 6 months), you should at least consider having it done annually.Ī sticking key can be one of the most annoying deficiencies of a piano. Arthur Rubinstein had to have his piano tuned every 30 minutes of playing! He just could not stand a single note being out of pitch. When the Meyerson Symphony Hall in Dallas is in concert, their piano is tuned every 45 minutes. The frequency of a tuning ultimately is decided by how much you can take by it being out of tune. The more frequently you take care of your instrument, the better it will be and the more stable the tunings are. Here are some "factoids" you might want to know. At the very least, the more "piano knowledge" you have, the greater the understanding and enjoyment you will get from your piano. You may need one or more of these complimentary services from time to time. Many factors go into a great sounding piano - they can enhance a well tuned instrument. The human body senses, consciously or not, when things are in tune and when they are not. The beginner will usually abandon quickly because of the wretched sound. The music enthusiast has his/her progress slowed (like a cook complaining not having the right cooking equipment).ģ. The professional is concerned that a poor tuning will cheapen his performance and image.Ģ. (c) a beginner ("I play because my mom told me I had to learn to play the piano").Īn out-of-tune instrument stands to disgust either of the three (not to mention their audiences) in different ways, which are as follows:ġ. This can be a process over several months depending on the condition of your piano.Ī piano usually falls into the hands of either, If your piano's pitch deviates too much from the standard ("perfect pitch"), a pitch correction may be needed. Special attention should be given if you use the instrument in ensemble playing, where a 440Hz is expected. More moderate use would require a tuning every six months. If you use your instrument several times a week you should have it tuned 4 times a year. Plano Piano Tuner, aka The Piano Doctor, can tune, service, repair, maintain and restore your piano. The best protection you can give your piano is to regularly maintain it. There is a difference for the piano between you rehearsing Skryabin preludes and you playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. ![]() Add to that the pressure exerted through playing and you have a very flexible pitch environment. Unfortunately, that is no easy task in Texas where we can easily have hydro static readings with a variance of over 80% within a week. Keeping constant temperature and humidity levels is the best environment you can provide an instrument, any instrument. (In that respect it is similar to a car.) However, an upright piano has over 8,000 moving parts inside and wear and tear will often require part replacement, adjustment or calibration. A very well built and relatively new piano would normally require little attention other than tuning. A piano is a tricky instrument to deal with. ![]()
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