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PRACTICAL PIANO TUNING
m
By ALEXANDER HART
Formerly with Steinway fir Sons Tuning Department, Instructor
Piano Tuning, Teachers College, Columbia University, N. Y.
Registered Member of the
National Association of Piano Tuners
CHAPTER 26 - Piano Tuning in Review
Items of Interest
No. 46
It is always good judgment, when in
conversation regarding the piano, to be
able to interest the customer to such a
degree that whether it be a tuning or
selling deal, or perhaps call for some
appraising, you are ready for the oppor-
tunity when it comes.
Now for (as I mentioned in No. 15 I
the framework and foundation, which
is one of the first beginnings after the
scale has been designed. Today, piano
makers have solved the problem of
building small spinet consoles and studio
instruments for class rooms—all con-
servatives that stand the test.
It is truly surprising how these small
instruments stand the heavy continuous
strain without loss of tone. The woods
fulfilling these requirements are chest-
nut, ash, spruce and pine. Then comes
the wrest-plank or pin block—glued on
the frame. The wrest-plank holds the
tuning pins, which in turn hold the
strings.
It stands to reason that the finest tim-
ber of several layers make up the plank,
glued together so thai the tuning pins
will hold fast and keep them from slip-
ping under climatic conditions.
No. 47
The sounding-board also comes in for
its share of selected woods. One of the
factors in sound-board making is the use
of the finest spruce, made up of narrow
boards glued together edge to edge, and
held together by ribs glued across the
back. The varieties of spruce selected
for one purpose is to obtain a quality of
tone distinctively individual in the man-
ufacturing of fine pianos. Volumes have
been written about these fine woods used
for piano building. From this procedure,
i.e., placing the bridge on the sound-
board, its great importance is to com-
municate the string vibrations to the
sound-board, hence we note that the
science of scale design begins on paper.
From there we move on to the iron
plate or metal frame covering the entire
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, FEBRUARY, 1951
area of the piano, placed over the wrest-
plank, and the sound-board; a support
for counteracting the strain in general.
driven into the plate and hold the
lower ends of the strings.
No. 48
Tuners should always be careful not
to spring tuning pins, always raise ipitch
a little, to be able to pass hitch-pins,
bridges and a«raffes.
So far we have spoken of the back,
sound-board, bridge and plate, we must
not forget that when all is said and done
I he whole question of piano construction
narrows down to planning, just like
the architect drafting and figuring out
all details of design for estimates and
measurements that must be represented
for the best musical results.
For instance, the bass strings are so
long that if they are parallel with the
others, an upright piano would need to
be six feet high at the bass end.
The strings alone produce the tone;
the sound-board only resonates. The
strings are made of steel, and some are
wound with copper. These copper strings
are found in the bass register. Although
strings possess great strength, they must
be elastic so as to vibrate freely and give
forth a pure tone.
It is a great art to manufacture steel
strings—and the "pull" of the strings
and strain exerted upon an instrument,
is up to the scale designer.
Remarks on No. 49
CHEEK
<( o i i l i i i i i i ' i l
I'riini
I'iiKt- '.'Si
any piano manufacturer or dealer but
we will supply the units and parts later
on to any piano manufacturer that cares
to assemble their own pla\er. No ma-
chinery required a\\\ longer for this
type of work.
Remarks on No. 48
Besides the wood used in sound-board
making, it takes skilled mechanics to
plane and glue these boards so that it
look like one large perfectly clear sur-
face with hardly a joint in view. The
same painstaking care is given to gluing
on the bridge, shaping and pinning, also
the riles, that are glued on to form an
arch or crown. The reason I mention
this is because thorough repairs may
include repairing the sound-board, also
removing the iron plate, and so—my
advice is to get thoroughly familiar with
these procedures before you undertake
such precision work.
No.
49
The tuning pins are screwed into holes
drilled into the wrest plank; the upper
ends of the strings are turned by the
tuning hammer. The hitch-pins are
TOI.KKKT F. CHKKK
"At the present time we are building
several good size organs. One just com-
pleted for the Second Presbyterian
Church, Birmingham, Ala.; a two man-
ual console and 26 stops, and two here
in Gloucester, Mass. I guess if it was not
for the good old days with the Kohler &
Campbell, Inc., the Aeolian Company
and the Skinner Organ Co., Boston,
Mass. 1 would not be doing all this work.
This is my 45th year in the piano and
organ work, and I like it more than ever.
"I train my own men for tuning and
rebuilding pianos, organs and players
and keep them busy. I cover the whole
of the North Shore and many customers
in Boston."
29