Showing posts with label Piano tuning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Piano tuning. Show all posts

Thursday 12 October 2017

The Tuning Snob

If a piano is not in tune, surely it is out of tune! Simply put, it is one or the other!

Imagine if we piano tuners would turn up to work, flick some kind of switch, tinker about for an hour or so, play the 'Tuner's Waltz', have a cup of tea, get paid, smile and... on to the next job!

But alas, a tuner's life is not so black and white, not so easy. Whatever the piano may be: Steinway, Schimmel, Schiedmayer - just a few of those beginning with S - but Bluthner, Bechstein etc. and all the rest. All these good pianos, need regular tuning and maintenance to keep them sounding good.

Videos posted online, recordings heard on the radio, programs on the TV, all demonstrate the vast spectrum of ideas about in-tune-ness. The concept of 'in tune' can range from the boringly bland to the ridiculous clang of a poorly tuned street piano. Some people seem able to tolerate the most terrible twangs and jarring noises, oblivious to the blatant affront to musicality, while being quite serious in their playing.  

Perhaps being a piano tuner, one is unable to appreciate the honest effort of sincere musicians wanting to express their musical abilities. I find it surprising however that there is not a more widespread appreciation of the concept of being 'in tune'. 

Unhappily, 
we tuners are not among the most accommodating of people, often disagreeing about ways of doing things. For some, their own ideas and practices are the right ones - anything different, is simply wrong!

There is no point in being snooty about other ways of getting the job done - it is good that the profession is still alive and well! The truth is we can all improve. I'd be embarrassed to be met with some of my earliest tuning efforts. Thankfully, after so many years, nobody is going to complain now. We can only deal with the pianos we tune today with our very best efforts. Building experience one piano at a time. 

Tuner's Journal
©


Monday 22 February 2016

Fine Tuning

Tuning is not as easy as we'd like it to be. If the piano is to be brought up to pitch, then we can expect the piano to fight back. Pianos do not seem to like change! The construction of the piano, especially the soundboard and the strings, presents the tuner with a challenge. Raising the pitch creates pressures and counter pressures within the piano so there is little hope it will stand in tune for very long until the new stresses have had time to stabilise. 

If only piano strings stayed at the pitch we leave them! In theory, keeping a piano in perfect tune is a never ending job. Practically speaking we are left to do the best we can with any given piano. A tuner's work involves making compromises which are unique for every piano we tune. The more we know a specific piano, the more straightforward the task but we still have to make judgements on what the piano can give us. Some pianos, without serious rebuilding work will never sound good, but thankfully, most pianos allow a significant improvement in the tuning.

Because piano strings stretch, there is no point fussing too much when we first get to work raising the pitch of a piano. The middle section of the piano seems to fight the pitch raising more than the high treble and low bass, so it is worth, first time through, just tuning this section. Whatever method you use to fix the pitch, be sure to tune it well sharp at this stage.

Second time through, tune the middle section again taking more care with accuracy and maybe tuning a further octave up and down. Third time through is where we can fuss all we like to achieve our goal of the finely tuned piano! 


When I was learning to tune, the old tuners used to talk about 'setting the pin'. Never quite got a clear explanation of what this actually meant but it sounded rather mysterious and seemed to be understood only by the enlightened few. 


Of course, there is no mystery. Experience teaches keen learners how to manage a stubborn and unyielding piano. Pianos with very tight tuning pins are not easy to tune.
 Our aim is to get both the pin and the string to embrace the changes we make and to be happy about it! 

Happy pianos make happy pianists!

Tuner's Journal

©


Pianology

Sunday 26 October 2014

Pitches

With modern tuning aids so readily available, the names of the old pitches used by tuners up to the 1970s are now rarely mentioned and are almost forgotten. There is no theoretical limit to the number of possible pitches. Wind instruments particularly demand some kind of accepted standard so that instruments can be played together.

In 1920, in the UK, 4 pitches were used: The French Normal pitch; The New Philharmonic Society Pitch; The Medium Pitch; The Old Philharmonic Pitch.

For C (note 52 on the piano keyboard) the respective frequencies are: 517; 522; 530; 540. (Through the years these pitches themselves changed to accommodate the thinking of the time.)

Since the 1640s, fixing a standard pitch has been a story of constant change. It seems that organ builders simply decided for themselves. 

For Piano Makers, an increase of pitch instantly requires a stronger construction to deal with the increase in tension across the strings. 

In 1800, Broadwood used a pitch of C 505.7 but by 1849 they were using A 445.9 - which is a higher pitch than the current 'concert pitch'!

Cramer of London, was using A 448.4 for his pianos in 1860.  

In 1877, Collard was using A 449.9; Chappell A 455.9; Broadwood A 448.8.

1879, Erard A 455.3; Steinway A 454.

1880, Brinsmead, and Broadwood A 455.3.

What is known as Concert Pitch is defined from the A (note 49 on the piano keyboard) which has the frequency of 440. This pitch was accepted as standard in 1939 and is almost universally used. Occasionally a higher pitch is asked for: A 442 or even A 444. 
© Steve Burden  

Friday 24 October 2014

Table of Frequencies

This is the standard table of frequencies for the piano tuned to what is known as the Equal Temperament. 


Note
No:
Hz
No:
Hz
No:
Hz
No:
Hz
A
1
27.5
25
110
49
440
73
1760
A#
2
29.1
26
116.5
50
466.2
74
1865
B
3
30.8
27
123.4
51
493.8
75
1975
C
4
32.7
28
130.8
52
523.2
76
2093
C#
5
34.6
29
138.6
53
554.2
77
2217
D
6
36.7
30
146.8
54
587.2
78
2348
D#
7
38.9
31
155.6
55
622.2
79
2489
E
8
41.2
32
164.8
56
659.2
80
2636
F
9
43.6
33
174.6
57
698.4
81
2749
F#
10
46.2
34
185.0
58
739.8
82
2960
G
11
49.0
35
196.0
59
783.8
83
3136
G#
12
51.9
36
207.6
60
830.6
84
3322
A
13
55
37
220
61
880
85
3520
A#
14
58.3
38
233.1
62
923.3
86
3730
B
15
61.7
39
246.9
63
987.7
87
3950
C
16
65.4
40
261.6
64
1046.4
88
4186
C#
17
69.3
41
277.1
65
1108


D
18
73.4
42
293.6
66
1174


D#
19
77.8
43
311.1
67
1244.4


E
20
82.4
44
329.6
68
1318


F
21
87.3
45
349.2
69
1397


F#
22
92.5
46
369.9
70
2093


G
23
98.0
47
391.9
71
2217


G#
24
103.8
48
415.3
72