A piano technician must check action and pedal function after each tuning and make recommendations for regulation and repairs. Most pianos are not regulated as often as they should be. Voicing should only be entrusted to a seasoned professional, as it requires a thorough knowledge of the piano mechanism, a sensitive musical ear, and years of experience. Finally, the density of the hammer felt is regulated by needling the shoulders of the hammers so that they produce an even, homogenous tone quality throughout the scale. The hammers are also checked to ensure that they are striking all the strings of the unison squarely and simultaneously. To regulate tone quality, the voicer first makes certain that the action is in perfect regulation and that the hammers have a proper acoustical shape. Both our technicians are competent in this procedure and we are almost always able to bring out a fuller, more musical tone in a piano that has been neglected in this respect. Voicing, or tone regulating, piano hammers should only be attempted by an experienced specialist. Reshaping hammers by sanding is a possible, but imperfect, solution to hammer wear as it also reduces the weight of the hammers and changes the blow distance between the striking point of the hammer and the string. In time the hammer felt will become grooved and flattened by the steel strings, necessitating reshaping, voicing and eventual replacement of the hammers.
#PIANO TUNER COST PROFESSIONAL#
Pianos which are in constant use, such as those in university practice rooms and the studios of teachers and professional musicians, require much more frequent maintenance than instruments which are only used occasionally. Periodically, the action and pedals should be regulated. The more an instrument is used, the more frequently it will require both tuning and regulation. Tuning a piano is not enough to ensure complete maintenance. Concert instruments are tuned before every concert, even if there are two on the same day, as the slightest inaccuracy in tuning cannot be tolerated in a concert. Even after raising the pitch, a neglected piano will not stay in tune as well as an instrument which is regularly maintained. If piano tuning is neglected, the pitch of the piano will gradually go flat, often to the point where the tuner cannot raise it successfully in one tuning. For instruments in-home use, one or two tunings a year are usually adequate to keep a piano at concert pitch.Īn experienced piano tuner will thump the keys vigorously during tuning in order to encourage the strings to stretch and stabilize across their entire length. New instruments should be tuned three or four times a year during each of the first two years because the new strings will continue to stretch during that period. In any case, pianos should be tuned once or twice a year to keep the pitch level from dropping below A=440. The frequency of tuning depends in part on the severity of the climate, the age and condition of the piano, and the extent to which it is used. Information about Tuning, Regulating and Maintenance