In a message dated 10/22/01 12:39:14 AM, stephen_airy@yahoo.com writes: << Two extremes here. One, you keep an average to good (maybe Steinway, but basically any piano rated 5 or higher on page 131 of the Piano Book 3rd edition(Larry Fine)) well-built full-size (52 to 60 inch) upright or medium size (6 to 7 foot) grand in a very controlled room, with humidity, temperature, etc. control. How fast/slow do you think the piano would go out of tune varying degrees if it's not played much (i.e. less than 4 hours a week)? like 10 cents / 20 cents / 50 cents / 100 cents? Two. Keep the same piano (although probably the upright for space reasons) in the bathroom next to the shower. (provided the piano could even SURVIVE such awful treatment). Would it be reasonable to say that, if someone takes a 15-minute (or long enough to totally fog up the mirrors) shower every day and runs heat lamps for a while (long enough to dry everything out) after the shower, once every day, do you think said piano in that room could go a half-step flat or a full step flat in the course of a few days? or how fast do you think it would go out? (I do know that no piano I know of would survive such treatment, but if one would without totally disintegrating, what do you think would happen? (allow for cracking soundboard, maybe cracking pinblock, splitting bridges, but try in your mind to keep the action and plate in good condition and not get the strings too rusty, although in reality it would be bad for the piano.) >> OK, I have a question, too. It may also be stupid, but what the hey, if we're gonna talk about extremes, let's talk about extremes! If you had three pianos, one was on the darkside of the moon, one was on the lightside of the moon, and the third one was in my living room, which one would go out of tune faster? The pianos on the moon should be Young Changs, but not the one in my living room! (Never!) The temperature on the darkside of the moon is absolute zero, but is constant, as is the humidity (zero). The temperature on the lightside of the moon is over 200 degrees Fahrenheit, but is also constant, as is the humidity (zero). The temperature in my living varies from 65 degrees Fahrenheit to 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and I don't monitor the humidity but it is not as constant as the moon's. My question is: which piano goes out of tune the quickest? My theory is that the piano in my living room will go out of tune faster than either piano on the moon. (Allow for the fact that there is no air on the moon, therefore no sound, so they must be tuned prior to being left on the moon. And as far as measuring how out of tune they go once they are there, hey, who can tell---THERE'S NO AIR! Therefore the living room piano, being the only one capable of making sound, goes out of tune first!) Sorry, Stephen, sometimes the devil makes me go there. Frankly, I do enjoy your questions. I read all your posts. You're always thinking and I enjoy that. (Hope you didn't take offense.) Tom Sivak
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