Hello Everyone,
Today I was tuning a rather unique piano, and it just brought to mind the different points of energy and tonal transmission. I decided to email some thoughts simply because knowing where energy is lost or gained, and where it transmits from can help an ear tuner tune quicker, or an electronic tuning device pick up quicker and more accurately.
My customers seem to have pre-conceived notions which apparently are the norm among customers. Things like "that plate is solid brass" ... or " you guys fix accordians right?" But the truth about pianos is that most of them were built as borrowed knowledge from pianos prior, rather than a precise understanding from every builder. We tuners are trained on many pre-conceived notions too. I wanted to break into some grey areas and offer some clarity. Here are a few simple points.
Vibrations in the piano strings are energy which is transfered to the soundboard. Therefore, vibrations absorbed can be translated as lost energy or tonal power. Sustain eventually ends because all vibrations are absorbed eventually. The Capo on a piano's plate is at least 3/8" thick because a thin capo can absorb the strings energy and kill the volume and sustain. This is also why a piano plate has to be rigid. Energy can be increased by giving an instrument more ways of speaking, or additional things to reflect resonant members. The duplex scale is one way of giving a piano an "extra" way to speak! ***** For a piano tuner, this is critical! use a thick soft felt and your center pin case as a weight to mute this area when you are tuning..... you will be QUITE surprised at how clean and clear tuning octaves and unisons gets after doing this simple step! Another extra speaking area is often between the capo and the edge of the piano plate at the pinblock side of the plate. Stuff a thick piece of felt over that area too! By doing this you may trim 5-10 minutes off your tuning and get a much cleaner tuning to boot!
One more quick thing and then I'll quit writing.....
Energy is directly transfered to the string by it's very first catalyst.... the hammer! If the hammer excites the string at the correct point, the most energy possible can be transfered from that hammer. Moving the hammer a little closer toward the center of the speaking length away from the optimal point of strike, can give the instrument a warm tone.... but at the cost of lost energy. The hammers best chance to emit proper energy is for the travel to be maximized according to the limits of existing geometry, combined with proper shape and good general regulation.
Well , enough of my blabing for now.
God Bless,
Mark Perry
www.carvedpianoparts.com
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