Patrick Mackey wrote: > Chuck and Julia and List, > This brings up an issue I have been wondering about. Is there any > reason to think that leaving a piano a half-step flat is actually > harmful? It seems that any time I run across a piano that's been left > flat, it is likely to have separated bass bridge/apron, ribs loose, long > bridge cap unglued, etc. I am thinking mostly of uprights if that > makes any difference. > Also, I would like to be included in your photo list. > Also this is my first posting, I've been enjoying the list form the > sidelines for a while and so want to express my appreciation to everyone > who contributes. > Patrick Mackey The piano is a semitone (I dislike "half-step", because it's essentially meaningless) or more flat because of either neglect over a long time, or structural failure. Often, they haven't been played in many years, and were stored in less than ideal climates. If a bridge falls off a piano that nobody ever plays, will it make a sound? Pianos in use and being maintained either had these minor annoyances fixed as they became a problem, or the piano was junked (donated to a church) and replaced. So it's not being a semitone flat that caused the damage. Being a semitone flat means the piano hadn't been visited by anyone that would notice the already existing damage in a long enough time for it to have gone a semitone flat. Or pitch sucking bridge splitting smoke emitting demons have been through recently who, like the participants in the annual Ninja Parade, passed undetected. Ron N
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