Archive for September, 2011
Piano Sounds Louder Since it was Tuned
Posted by Richard in General, So That's Why! on September 30, 2011
Today’s post has to do with sound waves, and can look complicated at first, but I promise, it’s pretty simple to understand. I love explaining this one to the customers who ask. I keep it short and simple for them, so I’ll keep it short and simple here, fair enough?
“My piano sounds louder since you’ve tuned it…what did you do?”
I’ve heard this one so many times, and there is a simple answer. I tuned it! “Ok, I know that already….so really, what’s going on here,” you ask?
The simple answer is that before tuning, the 3 strings of each note (or two strings per note in the tenor section) don’t match each other. The sound waves bump into each other, and when they do, they cancel each other out from making any sound…this creates a “whah – whah” or dead sounds when the strings are out of tune with each other. However, after tuning, the 3 strings (or two in the tenor) do match, and the waves are now working together to produce more sound, not against each other.
That’s basically it.
Now, for those of you that just wanted the simple answer….you’re done…you can go back to your Sudoku puzzle now! However, if you want a little better explanation, read on.
Sound waves : Working together…or not? That is the question!
I think we all remember back to science class when we learned about sound waves, right? A single string that is played will produce a certain soundwave having a particular frequency (wavelength) and amplitude. Furthermore, any sound wave will have peaks (high points) and troughs (valley low points) like you see below.
Parts of a wave
Cycles: While understanding cycles is not really important to understanding what I’m trying to explain today, I’ll throw it in just as a refresher to how waves work. Each wave starts at the line, goes up above the horizontal line, then down below the line, then back to the line. That is one cycle. (The picture to the left shows about 2 wave cycles. This happens many times a second for any given note.
Your piano is tuned at A=440, that means the A above middle C has a wave that cycles (or reoccurs) 440 times each second.
Single note wave
Now, back to the explanation…what you see in this picture is a single wave. This is what a single string of any note would make. (Side-note: a single string almost always sounds good and pure because it doesn’t have another string’s wave to potentially “fight” with).
2 waves at different speeds – waves cancel sometimes
OK, now imagine you take another note’s wave and lay it right over this one. If they are exactly the same frequency, the peaks and troughs would line up, an exact match. However, if the second note created a pitch with a frequency a little faster or slower than the the first note, (the peaks and troughs would happen sooner or later and will not line up) this note would be either sharp or flat from the first note. Every so often the the faster wave would overtake, or “lap” the other, just like a runner that runs so much faster than another, that he eventually “laps” the slower guy (this always happened to me- I was the slow guy on the track in High School).
Every time this happens you will hear a beat, which sounds like a “whah” sound. When the waves of each note played wind up at the peak at the same time, they get together and you hear sound. When they are at the trough at the same time, you hear sound. When the waves wind up on opposite sides of the center line, they cancel out. (Much like + and – cancel in math).
Notice in this picture, the greyed areas the sound is cancelled. The first, 3rd, and 4th areas you see in the picture are clear, meaning that the waves are together and are producing sound.
So, let’s put it together and see what it means for the piano.
3 strings per note
On a piano there are usually 3 strings per note. So, for one note on the piano to be in tune with itself, the waves of all three strings need to be traveling exactly the same speed. When they do, guess what….the peaks and troughs now match up creating more….you guessed it…sound!
All 3 notes (waves) traveling together AMPLIFY sound!
The bold yellow line represents all 3 waves (the 3 strings of a single note on the piano) traveling exactly together…in tune with each other. No fighting, no bickering for who’s first to the finish line, none of that. They work together to help each other out, thus creating a more unified tone with greater volume.
Here’s another diagram that shows what’s happening. On the left, wave x and y are the same and in phase, and when combined create an amplified wave z. This is called Constructive Interference. On the right, wave x and y are the same, but out of phase, and the result is a canceled wave z. This is called destructive interference. No sound is created. So, when a piano is perfectly in tune, you have lots of constructive inteference and amplified sound. When the piano goes out of tune, you don’t have 100% destructive inteference, or the piano would be totally silent…but what you have is enough destructive inteference that you hear lots of whah, whah, whah beats, and reduced overall volume of the piano, indicating that many of the waves are cancelling out in very random ways.
Here’s a real life example that may help.
Imagine a soloist singing in an auditorium. Suppose he/she is singing at a medium to loud volume. At the back of the auditorium, they sound good, clear, but maybe not too loud. (that would be like a single string sounding in a piano).
Now, imagine a trio (three singers) in the same auditorium. They are singing in unison, the same melody of a song. They are also each singing the same volume that the soloist did. The difference will be that they will have more volume as a group, even if each is only singing a normal volume. (this would be like the three strings in tune with each other).
Lastly, imagine what it would sound like if each of the three each sang a different song, different melody, different words, different rhythm, etc. but at the same volume as they were before. What might you hear? Discord for sure, but you would catch bits and pieces of each and none would be as well heard as if they were singing the same thing, together.
It’s much easier to hear the group singing the same thing at the same time, right?
One last example: Here’s another way I like to think about how waves behave when they are in tune or not. It’s kind of like riding a horse. If you’re not careful, you’ll wind up saddle sore if when the horse goes up, you go down, and vice-versa. Every time you bump the saddle, would be like a beat (or “whah) like I was talking about. Not exactly, as all analogies don’t work perfectly, but that’s the idea. You get saddle sore when horse and rider are working against each other. The better way is to be in “tune” with the horse….riding “with” the horse. When he goes up, you go up. When he goes down, you go down. Much better to work together, than against each other. That’s really all there is to it! When we tune, we are trying to get all the waves of a certain note to work together, and when they do, they produce not only a better tone, but more sound! Pretty neat, huh!
Kind of like life, isn’t it. We work together, we get more done!
Well that’s all for today. Until next time…make a joyful noise!
Tuning, Repairs, and Regulation. The Difference?
Posted by Richard in General, Regulation, Repairs, Tuning on September 29, 2011
Today’s topic will attempt to answer what may seem to most like a silly question, as the answer seems so obvious. However, I get asked this question from time to time, so let’s try to sort it out. Keep in mind that we could write books about each of the three processes, so today we’re going to keep to the basics.
A few months ago, just after I had finished tuning for a client, I was loading my things in my truck when their neighbor greeted me and kindly inquired about what exactly “regulation” meant. He had seen these three words on the side of my truck, Tuning, Repairs, and Regulation, but wasn’t sure what the real differences were.
It was a very good question which gave me “cause for pause”. Not because I didn’t understand what the differences were, of course, but because of the fact that here I was advertising something that people may have to guess what the services were that I was advertising. I could have just as easily printed “adjustments” or something of that nature on the side of my truck. (Well, maybe not! I think I’ll stick with “regulation”).
Anyway, I’ve run across this on several occasions where especially Tuning and Regulation were confused. Really, not too surprising when I think of the times the A/C guy has come to repair my furnace…all I really cared about is that he knew what he was doing, and that it was working properly when he left. So, it makes sense that my piano customers pretty much feel the same way. We come in, greet them, do our thing, and wallah…it sounds good again.
So, the gentleman’s question led me to believe that “Tuning” in many people’s minds is associated with everything involved in the service call, rather than realizing that Tuning refers to one type of process, and that Regulation refers to an altogether different type of process. Let me explain.
Tuning refers to the adjusting of the strings to proper musical pitch, Repairs refer to either fixing what’s broken or replacing parts, and Regulation (or regulating) is moving, bending, turning, shimming, etc. all the parts in the piano to make them work together properly.
Tuning:
Tuning (according to me !) is the act of turning the metal tuning pins in order to either tighten or loosen tension on the strings in order to place them at a correct musical pitch. There are over 200 tuning pins, each attached to a string, on a typical piano, so this is why your technician can take nearly 1.5 – 2 hrs. tuning your piano.
So when you schedule a “tuning”, that is all you are purchasing…so to speak. Granted, I always try to do little things here and there for no extra charge (tighten bench, adjust (regulate) pedals, fix a sticky key…those seemingly small things are things that I, and most tuners, like to do as part of their general tuning service call. A 3-5 min. repair or adjustment doesn’t take a lot of time, they add a great benefit, and it is great for customer relations. However, that is not what the tuning fee is generally for. Specifically, a tuning is primarily for just bringing the piano to pitch (given that it’s close to pitch already….and doesn’t need a significant pitch adjustment…sometimes called a pitch raise or lowering). We’ll save that topic for another time.
Just for fun, consider the fact that if you removed all the keys, action (including hammers, dampers, etc.), pedals, and leave nothing but the strings strung across the plate, that the “harp” could still be tuned…although you couldn’t do descent sounding or stable tuning by just plucking the strings. But TECHNICALLY it could be “tuned” with the action out of the piano, just as you see in the photo below (however, no one ever would…I hope!)
So, you can see that tuning is really just the adjustment of the string’s tension by turning the tuning pins only. Yes we use the keys to make the hammers strike the strings during tuning, but the adjustment has nothing to do with the keys or internal parts other than the tuning pins.
Tuning is a very different process than regulation which is the adjusting of all the other parts of the piano that make up what we call the action and pedal works. Let’s first talk about repairs and then we’ll get to regulation in a bit.
Piano Without its Action
Repairs:
Repairs are generally fixing or replacing what’s broken or damaged. A repair, (according to someone who’s just broke something!) usually means several things…1) it’s going to usually cost something, usually unexpected, 2) it usually is necessary to fix in order for the instrument to function without further damage, 3) it always begs the question…”what caused the damage?” There are lots of reasons parts need repair…neglect, misuse, accident, or just normal wear with age, and 4) smiles from happy customers when the repair is done correctly.
Broken Key
We all know all-to-well that things just don’t last forever, parts break and need repaired or replaced. The good news is that most pianos are built to last a good long time if treated properly. So, again, referring to yesterday’s post, regular visits by your piano tuner can catch things that may need repair before the problem gets worse. A broken hammer, like you see above, may not only fail to work properly, but if not repaired, it’s flopping around in the piano can damage other parts as well.
Examples of common repairs in a piano might be a broken hammer shank that either needs to be mended or replaced, loose glue joints are common on older pianos (or those who have been exposed to extremely low humidity over time), squeaky pedals that need felt replaced or lubricated, broken keys, and the list could go on. We’ll save some of that discussion for another post on repairs someday.
Piano Regulating
Regulation:
Regulation is one of those words that can mean a number of different things. In law, a regulation is a rule or something to abide by. A regulation sized basketball means the “official” size…the size that an “official” game must use according to the rulebooks. So it is in pianos, well sort of. Regulation basically refers to all the many, many adjustments that can be made throughout the piano to make all the parts function and interact properly. If parts are “in regulation”, or “well regulated” we mean that they are adjusted to function well. If the parts are “out of regulation” or “poorly regulated” we mean that the parts are out of adjustment and may not function at all, or marginal at best. Technicians can change the regulation of your piano to affect how your piano plays and feels to you (heavy touch vs. light touch, loud vs. softer, clickety-clackety sounding parts (bad) vs. quiet and smoothly functioning parts (good)). Many things can be regulated in your piano, and over time, they will need to be.
Note: Broken parts cannot be adjusted or regulated to other parts because they must first be repaired. That being said, many adjustments cannot be made, at least not well, until the piano is at least in good repair.
So, why do we use the word Regulation when referring to the adjustments in the piano. I think it’s because it sounds more sophisticated! Well, maybe not. I believe it is really referring to the fact that a piano is designed to function a certain way, and for that to happen, all the parts must be at certain distances from each other, so that when they are moved, they will engage the other part at the correct spot. When a piano is built at the factory, it is built to a designed plan with certain specifications. Specifications are numbers, distances, tolerances, or whatever you want to call them, that they have decided work best for a particular piano. They are saying that for this piano to work properly, all these adjustments need to be made “just so…” (the rules, for that piano and how it works best). Now, over time, felt wears, hammers get filed down to shape them better, wood swells and shrinks, thus moving the screw adjustments that were once tight in the wood. NOW, the adjustments are not according to regulation (the rules for that piano regarding where those parts need to be to function correctly). So, it is the technician’s job to “Regulate” the piano, or in other words, systematically place all those parts back in regulation (or proper adjustment). There are some regulation process that can be done in a couple hours that will help to improve your piano’s playability, but to properly regulate a piano, it can take between 10-15 hours. It can very tedious work, but the musical payoff is well worth it.
Just for the record, since my fellow technicians are biting their tongue right now wanting to say this,…the factory specifications are just a guideline for the technician, and what actually works best for a particular piano may be slightly different from the “rule”, so to speak. Your technician is trained to make it function properly.
Here’s a little example that might help with understanding the need for repairs and regulation, and in that order. Suppose you played baseball. Picture yourself selecting a bat, stepping up to bat, you stand slightly outside of the batters box, you hold the bat incorrectly (grain going the wrong way), you hold your hands the wrong way on the bat, here comes the pitch. As you swing, you have to reach in to connect with the ball, your momentum is interrupted because of your awkward stance, and the ball doesn’t hit the sweet spot of the bat, and since the grain was the wrong direction, the bat breaks.
Now, let’s look at the situation. We know the bat will HAVE to be replaced (repair won’t do in this case) before going on, but why did it break in the first place? You weren’t standing according to “regulation”, what we know works. So, by “adjusting” your stance, and adjusting the hold on the bat so the ball would hit the sweet spot, all of that could have been avoided. With a new bat and the proper stance, you are ready to hit that home run.
At some point all analogies fall apart, but I think you get the picture, that repairs must be done before regulation will do any good, and at the same time, proper regulation of your piano can prevent many unnecessary problems in the piano that can lead to costly repairs.
So, in summary: Tuning is the adjusting of the strings to proper musical pitch, Repairs are fixing what’s broken or replacing parts, and Regulation (or regulating) is moving, bending, turning, shimming, etc. all the parts in the piano to make them work together properly.
If you enjoy what’s here or want my take on a particular topic, please let me know. You can subscribe to my blog at the top right of your screen.
Until next time…make a joyful noise!
-
You are currently browsing the archives for September, 2011
