Showing posts with label piano keys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label piano keys. Show all posts

Monday 30 December 2013

How a Piano Works

The piano perfectly pairs mechanical movement with an infinite range of dynamics of sound. This pairing is made possible by the precision engineering of the piano action and keys, and the wonderful rich tones of vibrating strings. At the heart of the piano, the sound-board projects sound generated by the vibrating strings after they have been struck by the hammers of the action.

The hunt for the wood used for the soundboard begins in the forest. Experts look for trees with specific acoustic properties and are harvested only when a tree is ‘ready’. Foresters are specially trained to know the 'signs' that indicate when a tree is ready! For uninitiated observers, one tree will look pretty much the same as any other, but these guys know the appropriate time to fell the tree.

Manufacturers like to keep their methods to themselves. Some believe their designs, specifications and particular construction features give their pianos a unique sound and tone, and so are keen to protect their ideas from being copied.  

Glued to the sound-board is a wooden ‘bridge’. This is the all-important link between  the strings and the soundboard. Every string passes over the bridge and is kept firmly in position by locating 'bridge-pins'. These define one end of the ‘speaking-length’ of the string. The metal frame is fitted - attached around the edges of the soundboard, leaving the soundboard to vibrate freely. 

The frame provides the strength needed to withstand the sheer tension across the 7 and a quarter octaves of strings! Each string travels from the tuning-pin, through an agraffe or over what defines the beginning of the speaking length of the string, across the central part of the soundboard, to the 'bridge' (the end of the speaking length) and finally to the hitch-pin anchored in the metal frame. 

The soundboard is slightly convex in shape. This and the tension of the strings when tuned, produces a sensitive and highly charged unit at the core of the piano. 

The action and the keyboard - dealt with in another post here, are the mechanical link between the pianist and the sounds created by the vibrating strings. 

'How a piano works' is too complicated an issue to cover in a few paragraphs. This post is a general overview and I hope will help give the beginning of a clear understanding of the workings of a piano.

The Piano World

© Steve Burden  
Pianology

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Broadwood Grand Pianos

Broadwood Pianos have been around since 1728. Not many examples of an 1860s Broadwood piano survive to this day, and even fewer of these are in good working order today. When new these pianos were stunning examples of high-quality, English craftsmanship. A hundred and fifty years takes quite a toll on a piano and ordinarily, I am not a fan of these relics of the 19th century but it is refreshing to be surprised by good examples when they are met with. I have come across 2 such pianos that deserve mention. 

1980s Broadwood Letterhead
One of the pianos must have been at least 7' 6" long - if you sat at the keyboard and squinted a little, you could just about make out the far end of the piano! I did not expect it to be up to pitch, but it was only a quarter-tone flat. The strings had been replaced at some point but the wrest pins were still the old, oblong ones that were fitted when new. One of the pins in the bi-chord section of the bass strings had snapped off, so instead of two strings on that note, there was only one.

The hammers had been recovered, but not terribly well - the high treble hammers jammed against the front edge of the wrest plank. Not too much of a problem for most players, but we fussy old tuners like all the notes to work! 

The rich colours of its rosewood case, made it a very fine-looking piece of furniture. The flat wooden pedals always look odd to modern eyes but at least they are the 'real thing' - if they had ever been replaced with modern pedals, it would no longer look the part.

The ivory keys were still white and still had a shine to them. Some were worn thin in the middle of the playing surface, but this is not surprising after more than a century of use. So often, the original ivories are yellowed with age, and more often than not a few of the originals have been replaced with ill-fitting substitutes.

So there it was, this remarkable old piano, in a charmingly renovated house that was even older than the piano, - a perfect setting for an instrument so well-preserved. The fascinating thing is that after 150 years, this piano is still regularly played, loved and appreciated. John Braodwood & Sons certainly knew how to build a piano that would last! 

The second piano is another grand - the serial number of this piano does not fit neatly into any of the categories listed in the Pierce's Atlas, but I reckon it must have been made about 1860. 

The case, for its age, is stunning - the rich Rosewood veneer still boasting the bold stripes of the grain. The polish has been preserved to the point that most would not think it in need of any particular attention.

But from a tuner's point of view, the most remarkable thing is that it is only a little flat in pitch - (I believe when this piano was built, the standard pitch was a little lower than A 440.) Over the years, 2 bass strings have been replaced, and couple of treble strings - apart from these, the strings are those fitted when new! A few treble strings are absent. The original oblong tuning pins still holding firmly in the original wrest plank! 

The piano is regularly used to accompany singers, occasionally for concerts but is always appreciated by pianists and audiences alike. Live music is still a wonderful social phenomenon that dates back to long before this piano was made.

The action is one of the odd incarnations of Broadwood's own design but still playing acceptably and capable of expression and colour. The tone is the one big give-away, but even here, the sound is extremely good for its type.

These grand old pianos are from a time when serious craftsmen built everything to last, a time when gentleman tuners wore hats. If I had a hat, I would take it from my head as a mark of respect, a salute to the beauty of  esteemed craftsmanship. These pianos are works of the piano-maker's art.   

©

Sunday 6 May 2012

Piano Action and Keys

The piano action and keys are the great link between the pianist and the music heard by the listener. This sophisticated mechanism is capable of a vast range of dynamics and expression - it is a masterpiece of engineering. Every one of the eighty-eight notes has it’s own key, it’s own hammer, it’s own strings and it’s own set of levers. 
The movement created by depressing the key, is delivered to the hammer via a series of levers. The hammer strikes the string - thus generating the audible musical sound of the chosen note.

The design of the piano action has altered very little over the last 120 years or so, which means that the basic piano action design was perfected long before the computer was even thought of - let alone being brought in to help. Those who devoted themselves to the task of developing the piano action, used sheer inventiveness and dedication to get their ideas to work.


A grand piano action

A quote from a book about piano action design by Walter Pfeiffer: “...the action is that much closer to perfection the less the player is aware of it” 

The modern piano has the potential to achieve this lofty state of function. Pianists, not having to worry about the technical aspects of the mechanism, are free to give themselves to making music. 

Technicians strive to get the very best out of a given piano. With their detailed understanding of the workings of the action, the piano becomes far more than just a machine. The less the player is aware of the mechanism, the more able is the artist to explore that mysterious zone only a musician understands - and thus the piano is to closer to perfection. 

The Piano World

© Steve Burden 

Monday 26 March 2012

DO NOT WRITE ON MY PIANO

In days of old, tuners used to sign their name and write the tuning dates inside the piano, usually on the back of the keys where it was unseen by the owner. Occasionally, there might be the added comment, "Raised pitch." or "C = 522", or even, "C = 517"!

These notes, written in classic piano tuner's scribble, can take some deciphering but they are a reliable record of the piano's service history. Early in my career I used to tune a piano that had a complete list of tuning dates since the piano was new in about 1912, up until the 1930s. The tuning interval was generally every four months - with a few six-month gaps here and there. There was writing on nearly every key!

By way of contrast, a particular customer prepared for my arrival by taking the parts off the piano himself, and, just for my benefit, had written an A4 size sign which read: "NOTICE TO THE PIANO TUNER, DO NOT WRITE ON MY PIANO". A previous tuner had signed his name in it and was never asked to tune it again! The customer was a fascinating character - a very good pianist, full of amazing stories from the 1940s and 50s. He bought his piano in Bristol during the war, the day after an air raid!

Anyway, he was both proud and very fond of his piano, and wanted to keep it in as immaculate a condition as possible. There was no need for him to worry about my signing his piano - I have signed or initialled only about 5 pianos during my entire career - his, was not one of them!

While repairing a George Rogers piano a year or so ago, I found, on the underside of one of the keys, the hand-written words 'Glazebrook Pianos'. Now, I don't know if there is a family link, but there were Glazebrooks involved at Steinways! Whoever wrote on the underside of the key was very coy about what he was writing - only a tuner with reason to lift out that particular key would ever see it. Why bother?

The writing in some of these old pianos, does give them a social setting and a hint of the community history that goes with it. These scribbles on the inside of a piano, are authentic written records of the relationships built up between tuners, their clients and their pianos.

© Steve Burden