Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
94
SCIENTIFICJECHNICflL AND PRACTICAL
INSTRUCTIONS
RELATING TO
TONING, REGULATING AND TONING.
COPYRIGHT,
EDWARD LYMAN BILL.
A LIST OF MINOR ACTION DEFECTS.
^WN the upright a variety of lesser action de-
^
fects than those enumerated may be en-
countered. In the key-board section noises may
be caused by a Splinter becoming detached from
a key and rubbing on the one next to it. A
piece of bushing cloth or a paper puncheon
touching another key would also be likely to
produce apparent noises. Remedies will be self-
suggestive.
In very old uprights the leather on the ham-
mer may require renewing. Look out for twist-
ing of the back catches, and disarrangement of
the bridle wire and ribbons. Mice frequently
get into uprights and cause considerable dam-
age by cutting the bridles. They also nest
under the keys, and destroy the cloth under the
latter ; also the front puncheons, etc. The jack
springs often work loose or rattle. Dampers
stick owing to the twisting and slipping of the
head on the wire, also from defects in the spoons
and rockers. Dampers rattle when they strike
each other, or touch the brackets, rail wire or
back. When atmospheric conditions render the
damper-heads loose, look to the conjunction
dampers near the under and overstrung sections.
Examine the hammer springs, see that they are
not displaced. Also look to the damper lever
springs. In removing the action practice cau-
tion, otherwise avoidable injuries may be caused.
Some actions are attached to the ends of the
rockers through the lifter. Many of them re-
quire to be handled very carefully. When
the sticker or lifter is screwed, first free be-
fore attempting to lift out the section. Look
to the pedal action and see that the friction parts
are liberated, and the pins not disposed to slip
out; also examine the bushing.
The upright case contains so many attached
parts such as panels, frames, fret-work and mu-
sic-desk, that rattling or jarring follow shrink-
age of buttons or wood work. Silk or metallic
panels, each, also produce a separate form of dis-
turbance when things work loose. All uprights,
when kept in heated apartments, require to be
overlooked during every tuning. That is to
say, the tuner should knock on the back of the
frames to detect looseness. Every part should
be screwed up as tight as possible. Consider-
able trouble is caused through the use of imper-
fectly seasoned wood for pins and buttons in
uprights. Fly finishers should be made to take
more care in attending to such details, or paid
to take more interest in them.
Sometimes the sounding-board sinks, and
thus touches the case work behind when in vi-
bration. Ribs and buttons also frequently be-
come loose. Jarring is the consequence. A
screw or some hard substance between the plate
and the bottom of the sounding-board will give
rise to the same unpleasantness. Small chips
or shavings will get between the strings and
bridge close to the extreme point of vibration.
When the upper part of the bridge is very close
to the bracing-post or bar of the plate, it is fre-
quently apt to touch in time. Chips getting be-
tween the pressure bar and block often touch the
vibrating string, causing a slight rattle or buz-
zing.
The point of the string on which the hammer
strikes is a most important issue in drawing or
copying scales. It is to the elder Broadwood, of
London, piano makers owe the first study of the
relations a hammer bears to the point of con-
tact of a vibrating string. Broadwood it was
who, assisted by Grey and Corallo, two scien-
tists, adopted a law in that connection. The
hammers of the middle strings should strike
either at the seventh or ninth of their length.
'' The acceptance of the above rule is not due to
theory," Helmholtz remarks: " It results from
attempts to meet the requirements of artistic-
ally trained ears and from the technical exper-
ience of two centuries." Referring to piano
making, Dr. Stone also says in his work, '' The
Scientific Basis of Music," "Soft and heavy
hammers have by a similar process been select-
ed for the lower notes, lighter and harder for the
upper octaves." That eminent authority fur-
thermore devotes some space to the striking
point of piano strings. In uprights, the ham-
mers of the upper octaves are apt to spring or
vary a little in time from their original position,
thus affecting the tone somewhat. The most
minute shade will make a difference. Some in-
struments are so ill-conceived in their acouStics,
owing to the ignorance of the scale draughts-
man or cdpyist, that their tones are in some sec-
tions smothered in disagreeable over-tones and
harmonics. Of course, tuners cannot be expect-
ed to remedy such radical defects. A knowledge
of the scientific principles underlying that de-
partment of piano making, however, ought to
be interesting to all.
Regarding minor string defects, the tuner
will ofttimes be at a loss to account for some
rattles which he may encounter. Sometimes
the soft metal of the agraffe is cut by the steel
wire of the string, and a jingle follows. Again,
in uprights which contain a '' pinned '' wrest
bridge, there is apt to be somewhat similar
troubles at times. When strings sink into the
unpinned wrest-plank bridge also, the pressure-
bar loses an equal bearing, and some strings
consequently jingle.
When it is impossible to remove beats from a
kinky string by rubbing, take it out and replace
with a new one.
When desiring new bass strings, if it is not
convenient to forward the old ones as guides,
gauge each of the latter and measure from the
hitch pin to the tuning pin of the piano, also
from the belly to the wrest-plank bridge; or
measure the old strings, taking care to indicate
the correct length of the covered surface, also
the length from the hitching loop to the tuning
pin point of connection.
When a broken plate is discovered in a piano
nothing can be done, only to let it alone or ad-
vise the owner to have it sent to the factory. A
broken plate usually comes from a badly con-
structed case, or frequently from an imperfect
casting.
Nearly all the catalogues of manufacturers
contain hints upon the care of pianos, but these
appeal to the dealer and the general public more
than to the tuner, whose duty it is to repair
what the carelessness and ignorance of the latter
occasion. That is his business meanwhile.
polished ; when they are so yellow and discolor-
ed that they resist cleaning preparations the
same is necessary. Many experienced men
speak highly of the following modus operandi :
First remove the accidentals, and run a strip of
wood over the keys to hold them down evenly
in front, fastening the strip for that purpose.
Rub the keys in and out with a rubber made of
No. i)4 sandpaper, tacked on a piece of wood
about seven inches long, four or five inches in
width and one inch in thickness. When even-
ness is restored, or discoloration removed, polish-
ing will be necessary. Procure a piece of wood
of about the same dimensions, and cover it with
rubbing felt. Polish with whiting moistened
with alcohol. Wet the felt with water before
applying the whiting. Use a cloth dipped in
alcohol to clean off the keys when through, and
remove all traces of the operation from the aides
and inner surface of the key. To finish off the
key board touch up the accidentals with French
polish. Celluloid keys can be evened down by
scraping or with fine pumice stone and alcohol,
using the latter very sparingly. Polish with
alcohol and water, mixed in equal parts, and
apply with force.
" Checking," one of the most familiar ills in
piano case surfaces, is caused by dampness.
When an instrument is very seriously checked,
scraping and revarnishing will be necessary.
After scraping, a filler is essential before pro-
ceeding to " flow "—applying a coat of flowing
varnish—the case. When the latter is hard
and thoroughly set subsequent operations are
continued. All materials for this purpose can
be obtained from a dealer in varnish supplies.
The task of revarnishing a case is so important
meantime that it should not be attempted for the
sake of experiment, or by mere tyros. The
foregoing remarks, however, ought to prove of
some incidental value. Where a case is checked
only in a very small degree, it may be restored
by rubbing it down with fine pumice stone and
water, then polished.
CONCLUDING REMARKS ON TEMPERAMENT.
The proposition of equal temperament in tuning
is set forth clearly in this way : If the octaves
in a piano were tuned perfect, then the fifths
could not be perfect. The desire of the human
ear cannot rise above the sphere of mental
phenomenon, and accordingly Art is called in
to act as an arbitrator between the ear and Na-
ture. The whole musical system is, therefore,
based upon a non-scientific basis, notwithstand-
ing the conventional clap-trap and prating about
" Wagner's purely scientific harmonies, " and all
that. Experience has proved that the ear will
bear with an imperfect or tempered fifth, while
the slightest deviation in an octave will be very
offensive. And even were there no difference in
that respect, an octave imperfectly tuned in
favor of a perfect fifth would prove unbearable
in the octaves higher up or lower down. The ear
will also accept a tempered third with less pre-
judice than even a fifth. Thus it is that Nature
has given us a law of compensation and justified
the accepted system of equal temperament.
Many eminent advocates of'' unequal'' tuning
have also been known. Kimberger and Earl
Stanhope, both, introduced systems by which
those keys most commonly called into use would
be more perfectly tuned than the remote keys ;
INCIDENTAL HINTS ON REPAIRING.
but though put forth with a considerable display
When it is desired to restore felt hammers to of learned enthusiasm, these barbarous schemes
their original appearance, apply chalk or fuller's- were justly rejected by the ordinary common
earth. Among the various things recommended sense of the musical world.
Meantime there have been various attempts
for whitening keys—ivory—are the following :
Sapolio applied with water, using whiting and made to remedy the incommensurability of the
alcohol as a finish; alcohol and soap are also scale in the shape of key-boards with additional
keys in the octave. Owing to the limitations of
used in combination.
Worn keys require to be evened dewn and re- the piano action and case, in the present form of