Author: Andrew Larzelere

Player Systems A player system is a mechanism that is installed in a piano which allows the piano to play itself. Modern player systems can also offer other features such as recording and musical accompaniment. A Brief History The Pianola Edwin Scott Votey created the first musical piano playing device in his workshop in Detroit in 1895. Though other piano playing devices existed at the time, Votey was the first to combine several different technologies into a practical device which produced musical results. He soon joined the Aeolian Company, which started selling his device, called the Pianola, in 1898. Unlike the player systems of today, the Pianola sat in front of the piano and played the keys with felt-covered mechanical fingers operated by a pedal! Since it operated outside of the piano, the technical term for the Pianola was actually "piano player". However, the Pianola was so successful that Pianola became a generic term for any player system, and the Aeolian Company even took competitors...

Temperature, Humidity, And Your Piano As the weather cools and heaters rumble to life, it's worth taking some time to discuss how changes in temperature and humidity affect your piano. Pianos are sensitive to any changes in climate, including seasonal changes. Not taking this into account in the placement and care of your instrument could take years off its life. Humidity Humidity is perhaps the most important environmental factor to consider in regard to the care and maintenance of your piano. Pianos are mostly constructed of wood, and wood swells and contracts in response to the amount of water vapor in the air, otherwise known as humidity. Relative Humidity There are three categories of humidity, but the one that is most relevant to piano care and maintenance is called relative humidity, or RH. RH is the ratio of the amount of water vapor present in the air to the amount of water vapor the air can hold at a given temperature before it is saturated....

Voicing Voicing a piano means making adjustments which change its tone. It is a different process than tuning, and this difference is important to understanding what people mean when they refer to tone. Tuning changes the pitch of the string, while voicing changes the quality of the sound it produces, or the tone. Tone Piano tone refers to how the piano sounds overall. It is a complex topic, but one commonly discussed aspect of tone is brightness vs. mellowness. The following audio clips are of the same song, Satin Doll by Duke Ellington, played the same way, but with different tonal qualities. One has a brighter tonal quality, while the other has a mellower tonal quality. Listen to them back to back to get a sense of the difference. Bright   Mellow   A bright piano produces more harmonics on the higher end of the spectrum, while a mellow piano produces more harmonics on the low end. For a breakdown of harmonics we have a separate post on...

Free Pianos Free pianos abound on the internet, at yard sales, or as hand-me-downs. It is tempting to pick one up, since it will potentially save you time, energy, and lots of money. Or will it? In my experience as a piano technician, free pianos that are actually worth tuning and maintaining are few and far between, though they do exist. "Free" is also a deceptive term in the context of the piano market, since there will still be costs associated with moving the instrument and preparing it for use. Free Is A Relative Term Yes, you found a piano that someone is giving away. But you still have to move it and make it usable. Moving Costs Even the smallest acoustic pianos are heavy and large compared to other objects people normally move around. In addition to the size and weight, it's best not to handle it too roughly while you're moving it, or you could render your new find useless. This means you'll want...

What Is Regulation? Overview Regulation is equally as important as tuning, but piano owners are generally less aware of its necessity. In broad terms, regulation involves a technician going over the moving parts of the piano to make sure they are functioning properly. Pianos should be regulated periodically in order to: compensate for environmental changes (such as increases or decreases in humidity) compensate for wear and tear improve feel and tone Regulation does not need to be done as often as tuning, but neglecting it results in poor performance and tone. If a piano is never regulated, parts may stop working altogether. I recommend that clients get their pianos regulated at least once every 5 years, or any time things start feeling noticeably worse. During the course of a regulation, a technician will go over two main systems: the action and the trapwork (pedals). The Action The bulk of a regulation takes place in the action. A piano's action is all of the parts that connect...