When you tighten the tension on a piano string does it make that...that...wobbly (that's the only word I can think of to describe it) kind of noise? My only experience is with tuning a violin.
Any piano tuners?
- Thread starter Azure Skye
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You mean the "creak" that the ebony violin tuning pin makes when it is turned in the "scroll" of the violin? (if not, please explain - I can't imagine any other noise you might be thinking of) No. Turning a piano pin makes very little noise (though the sound of a piano string breaking, which has happened to me when turning such a pin, can sound like a gunshot. Always remember, turn the pin to LOWER the pitch first...). I think that "creak" noise is unique to those instruments of the string family that use tapered, friction-fit ebony tuning pins.
Ben, Jack of Many Trades, who never knew how ridiculously easy it is to tune a guitar until he started fiddling around with other instruments.
Ben, Jack of Many Trades, who never knew how ridiculously easy it is to tune a guitar until he started fiddling around with other instruments.
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I WATCHED someone tune a piano once. It didn't make any wierd noise.
This old man woul tap on the tuning fork, and then hold it between his teeth while he tuned it!
Just thinking about that gives me the chills. Like fingernails on a chalkboard.
This old man woul tap on the tuning fork, and then hold it between his teeth while he tuned it!
Just thinking about that gives me the chills. Like fingernails on a chalkboard.
I just remember tuning my violin after changing strings or something and when I increased the tension on the string I could hear the change in pitch. I know I'm not imagining things because I do remember hearing that pitch change. I also remember the creak of the pin too.
Anyway, maybe I'll just use the sound of the pin creaking instead as it sounds more plausible and easier to explain. Or maybe I'll just think of something else as it's just a minor part of the scene.
Thanks guys.
If he played the note and turned the pin while the note is playing, that might be disconcerting - no one expects the pitch of a sounding piano string to ever change! Azure, you might mention that instead of any tuning pin noise.
Did he not hold it under his armpit first? Your piano might be slightly off pitch! I'm on a forum for piano tuners and technicians (ptg.org), and that's at least one guy's technique to get the fork warmed up so it's at the exact pitch.
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I've watched a number of people tune my piano over the years. More than one has struck the tuning fork, then the key (with the foot pedal held down) and then used a wrench to adjust the length of the string. Yes, there was an interesting yeowee sound to it.
Yeowee: Sing it slow, go down on the yeow and up on the wee. Best I can describe it.
Yeowee: Sing it slow, go down on the yeow and up on the wee. Best I can describe it.
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The length??? In all the pianos I've ever heard of, the pitch is tuned by adjusting the TENSION in the string each string is wrapped around a tuning pin, and when the pin is turned it makes the string either moer or less taut - the length of each string is fixed. But that's just a technical detail.
That sounds like what I described before, lowering the pitch of the string, and then raising it. There are several good technical reasons for doing this.
If you're easily bored by technical details, quit reading now.
1. a string is less likely to break if it's lowered first - it might be 'stuck' or welded to the capo (not even sure if that's the right word, the place where the string goes over/touches the frame or "plate") because of sitting on it for so many years (some people, ahem, don't get their pianos tuned regularly), and increasing the string's tension may break the string before the weld breaks - lowering the tension will be more likely to break the weld rather than the whole string. 2. The audible sound of the string dropping in pitch is validation that the hammer (what the tuning pin wrench is called) is turning the right pin. If you're increasing tension and don't hear the pitch rise, you may be tempted to further increase tension to "make sure you're on the right string" and break a string you're not even listening to. If you lower the tension "excessively" it's no big deal, you just end up with a way-flat string, but either way you eventually figure out you were turning the wrong tuning pin.
Why don't I write a book on pianos? Firstly I barely know enough to be dangerous. There's a lot to learn, and along with writing and who-knows-what-else I've thought of getting into piano tuning/servicing as my "other second career." Electronic/synthesized pianos are sounding more and more like the real thing (many pop songs, allegedly including some of Billy Joel's, use them), yet the sales and demand for old-fashioned "real" pianos is as strong as ever. Go figure. Anyway, many good piano books have been written, and prerhaps the best technical book is by by Arthur A. Reblitz"
Piano Servicing, Tuning, and Rebuilding, Second Edition: For the Professional, the Student, and the Hobbyist. If you ever think you're going to open up the innards of a piano and tinker around, I strongly suggest that book.
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