Temperament Strips

[John Formsma]

You can buy some action cloth from the suppliers to use as a muting
felt in the treble.  Actually, I use action cloth for all sections
(except in the bass).  It lasts longer than the pressed felt that is
commonly used in "temperament" strips.  For example, I've been using
the same strips for around five years.  It's about time to replace
them.

I assume you're talking about the dampers in a vertical piano.  Yes, I
always move the muting strips behind the dampers.  You can lift them
with the pedal and/or use your hand while you put them behind the
dampers.  Doing this will allow sympathetic ringing from the open
strings, but you learn to not let it bother you.

All felt strips I have tried allow bleedthrough.  You learn to listen
through it, above it...or however you want to describe it.

The best mute I have used is the felt mutes made from hammer felt. You
can get them from the suppliers for $2.50 - $3.75 depending on the
size.  Or you can make them from the felt scrap you order from
suppliers.   I prefer to order them already made.  But using only
these felts requires somewhat advanced tuning skills as you would be
tuning unisons as you go...even in the temperament.  It's very doable,
but requires higher levels of skill.  For a beginner, it's often
easier to use the felt strips.  That's how I learned.

For vertical treble tuning, as was mentioned, try the split mute or
other options from the suppliers.  All mutes let some sound through,
so it's a matter of deciding what works best for you.  I like to use
the strips because it's way faster than any other way.  I cut an inch
wide piece of action cloth in half, and use those two strips in the
treble of every piano.  If you mute every other string set, you can
pull out one strip, then tune by whole notes up and down in that
section.  This lets you stay on the same "row" of tuning pins.  Hard
to visualize, but easy once you see it.

On grands, strip muting at the agraffes seems to work better than
muting behind the dampers.

JF

On 8/21/07, Matthew Todd <toddpianoworks at yahoo.com> wrote:
> These two questions have been on my mind, and I would like to know your
> opinions.
>
> In regards to strip muting the treble section where the strings are
> shorter.  So the hammers strike the strings, is it okay to move the strip
> carefully down behind the dampers?  I am always concerned about ruining the
> felt.  If I make the loops in my strip as small as possible, would this
> practice be okay?  Then if I made the loops too small, the temperament strip
> would actually mute all three of the strings instead.  Any advice here would
> be greatly appreciated.
>
> The second question is this:
>
> How do you all deal with strings "bleeding" through the mutes?  It has
> become an annoyance of mine lately.  Some a lot more subtle than others, but
> still the same regardless.  I even get some "bleeding" between strings that
> are not that far off at all.
>
> Thanks in advance!
> Matthew
>
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