Doubts About the Piano Sound

You should try sending us a video or an audio recording. In any case, assuming that the piano was delivered to you tuned to 440 by the manufacturer, which seems beyond doubt to me, lowering the piano by a whole tone seems to me to be a much larger job than restoring the correct harmonic ratios starting from A 440, also because 3 tunings in a year guarantee tuning efficiency. The creaks COULD, and Paolo will confirm this for us, depend on the wood of the soundboard and other components that settle in relation to the "climate" and therefore, in addition to temperature, also the humidity of your house.

As for the strange humming sounds you hear, they would need to be listened to. Since the piano is practically new, it seems difficult to me that they depend on any potential separations of the bridge...

hi

I didn't understand if your piano is a Bechstein or if it is of another brand, which one?

From how you described them, they sound like settling noises; wood, the fundamental component of the instrument, is living matter and as such is very affected by humidity and even more so by a dry environment, the continuous temperature fluctuations

especially in winter are deleterious to all its components.

The piano must be placed as far as possible from radiators and windows.

Is the heating autonomous, so turned on or off at different and non-constant times?

Sorry if these seem like trivial questions but they are fundamental to understanding the environment in which it is located.....

Also, the fact that the piano is new is not necessarily synonymous with perfection, especially for pianos of Chinese or Korean production etc..........

It could be that the legs are not holding the tension (slowly), in short, the causes could be multiple..........

scaloppa wrote:

..

Then the fact that the piano is new is not necessarily synonymous with perfection, especially for pianos of Chinese or Korean production etc..........

It could be that the legs are not holding the tension (loose), in short, there could be multiple causes..........

Yes, but on a Bechstein it seems a little bit strange to me...

hi Simone

what are you doing, not sleeping?

Anyway he said "similar", which could mean everything and nothing

If it were a Bechstein, as you say, it would be very strange.

Goodnight

Eheheh I am sleepless !! Yes anyway she has a Bechstein Concert 8, Cristina wrote it in another post, that is the reason for my perplexity...

Regards

Yes, I have a Bechstein Concert 8 given to me by my husband, with many sacrifices just to make me happy, because I love studying the piano very much. I had the piano tuned last November and, anyway, the creaks decreased over time, so the explanation might be what Simone hypothesized; however, the buzzing remains, which wasn't there until December, then it appeared, at first only when playing certain keys, then, especially with the arrival of the cold in these last few days, when playing all of them; however, this morning, even though the temperature hasn't changed, I didn't hear any buzzing, not even one, unlike yesterday, which is why I wanted to write this topic to ask you, whom I trust, if this is normal. I love the piano very much, but unfortunately I don't know it, so as soon as I hear a strange noise (which might perhaps be normal), I worry. The room where my piano is is 4 meters by 4 meters, the piano is against the wall opposite the radiator, and it is far from the window. I like the sound of my piano for the high notes, which are very crystalline, but the notes from the middle octave going downwards do not have a "warm" sound like, for example, the piano in the video I posted above, but they have a somewhat dark, muffled sound. Perhaps the sound can also depend on something that needs to settle? Or perhaps it is I who must ask the technician to give the piano a warmer voice? But is such an operation possible, or does every piano have only one voice? Forgive me for my inability to express myself more clearly; I realize indeed the difficulty you will find in trying to understand me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and am honored to be part of this site, which I like more and more every day.

P.S. I have another question for you: playing the piano on average 3/4 hours a day, how often should it be tuned?

Buzzing can depend on many things. I would like to know if they happen by chance on the notes corresponding to the crossing of the strings. Second question: do they concern notes corresponding to copper-wound strings?

A piano, one like this, must be stabilized. So even if it is played a lot, the tuning must move uniformly. It needs to be reviewed once a year. For more demanding ears, even sooner.

These defects you are telling me about must be eliminated. It could be a damper part that makes contact with the string when it vibrates, whipping, when played fortissimo. Test it by playing piano, forte, and fortissimo. These are just hypotheses, though.

From what you are telling me, the piano lacks intonation. You are requesting "small corrections" to the intonation. It is better to go gradually. Hoping that the technician is truly competent in this difficult intervention. One must not dampen the sound too much!!!! It is an intervention with a nearly irreversible result if done "thoroughly." Therefore, it is advisable to make small and superficial corrections.

pianoexpert wrote:

Buzzing can depend on many things. I would like to know if, by chance, it occurs on the notes corresponding to the crossing of the strings. Second question: does it concern notes corresponding to copper-wound strings?

A piano like this one must be stabilized. So even if it is played a lot, the tuning must move uniformly. It needs to be reviewed once a year. For more demanding ears, even sooner.

These defects you are telling me about must be eliminated. It could be a damper wire making contact with the string when it vibrates, whipping, when played fortissimo. Test it by playing piano, forte, and fortissimo. These are just hypotheses, though.

The piano, from what you tell me, lacks intonation. You are requesting "small corrections" to the tuning. It is better to proceed in stages. Hoping that the technician is truly competent regarding this difficult intervention. One must not dampen the sound too much!!!! It is an intervention with a nearly irreversible result if done "thoroughly." Therefore, it is advisable to make small and superficial corrections.

Thank you Paolo for your input. Unfortunately, I don't know how to answer your first question, but I can say that regarding the first buzz, after the tuning last November, I started hearing it by pressing the penultimate "F," in the upper part of the keyboard, and after a while, the same defect appeared when pressing the second "B" starting from the first note on the keyboard to my left. And so it went on for several weeks, even though there were days when these buzzes were not present. Yesterday, however, no matter which key I played on the entire keyboard, there was this background buzzing, light but annoying, which is when, worried, I decided to turn to you all on the forum by opening this discussion. Today, instead, there was no buzzing at all, neither this morning when I played for about 3 hours, nor this evening when I played for about an hour. Furthermore, Paolo, while the high notes have a good, crystalline sound in my opinion, the notes from the middle octave going downwards have a strange, muffled sound, not as bright as the high notes, and some notes, "F, G, A" of the middle octave have a different sound from the others, a sort of "slap" effect (in the sense of a noise that resembles it somewhat), and indeed every time I play those notes, an unpleasant difference in sound is very clearly distinguishable from the other notes. Paolo, it is now almost the end of February, since the piano needs some fine-tuning anyway (even I, who have only played the piano for a short time, realized this), and given also the certainly not inexpensive price of this piano, in April (not next November as the technician who came to my house told me) I would like to call back the secretary of the company that sold me the piano, demanding that they send me a good technician now, one who does his job scrupulously. Taking advantage of inexperienced pianist customers, believing them incapable of recognizing a beautiful, clean sound from an "approximate" one, does that not give me the right to demand my rights? I feel bad for that "approximate" technician who might be reprimanded by his employer, but would I be right to behave this way? Paolo, please give me some advice.

I believe there is nothing wrong with demanding a good technician. When I was a boy, my mother bought me a Petrof upright piano that I tried from the glorious Ciampi company. They were the first Petrofs establishing themselves in Italy and I found them beautiful. They sent the tuner, but I felt the piano was out of tune. I went to Comm. Ciampi, a person I remember with great affection and esteem. A competent and delightful person. I said: "Commendatore, excuse me, but that magnificent Petrof... I cannot hear it well tuned... what could it depend on?" The commendatore smiled and in his elegant beige suit said to me... "I understand... now Orsini will come." Orsini came to my house and when he left I thought I possessed a different instrument. I had a long relationship of acquaintance and friendship with him; he revealed many aspects of "tuning" to me. He was the tuner who saved A. Rubinstein's complete recording of Chopin's Mazurkas in the then establishment on via Tiburtina in Rome. From that moment on, the Maestro always wanted him backstage. Orsini was simply a wonderful tuner; for him everything was natural and intuitive. What was perhaps unreachable for some others was easy and obvious for him.

This story can encourage you to ask for a Technician who satisfies your needs.

pianoexpert wrote:

I believe there is nothing wrong with demanding a good technician. When I was a boy, my mother bought me a Petrof upright which I tried from the glorious Ciampi company. They were the first Petrofs establishing themselves in Italy and I found them beautiful. They sent the tuner, but I felt the piano was out of tune. I went to Comm. Ciampi, a person I remember with great affection and esteem. A competent and delightful person. I said: "Commendatore, excuse me, but that magnificent Petrof... I cannot hear it well tuned... what could it depend on?" The commendatore smiled and in his elegant beige suit said to me... "I understand... now Orsini will come."
Orsini came to my house and when he left I felt as if I owned a different instrument. I had a long relationship of acquaintance and friendship with him; he revealed many aspects of "tuning" to me. He was the tuner who saved A. Rubinstein's complete recording of Chopin's Mazurkas at the then establishment on via Tiburtina in Rome. From that moment, the Maestro always wanted him backstage. Orsini was simply a wonderful tuner; for him everything was natural and intuitive. What was perhaps unreachable for some others was easy and obvious for him.

This story may encourage you to ask for a Technician who satisfies your needs.

Thank you Paolo, I knew, or rather sensed, that one of your answers would encourage me in the right direction, encouraged and uplifted; indeed, I treasure your words. As soon as I can, but not before April, I will call the company that sold me the piano, addressing the secretary with the same words you said to Comm. Ciampi, without being aggressive (in reality, I am a calm person, however, I get angry easily when I have the impression that I am being made fun of; my husband, on the other hand, is always calm, perhaps too much in my opinion). Thank you again Paolo, and thanks also to Simone for having given life to this very useful site. I wish with all my heart that the number of our members can continue to increase.

P.S. This morning I heard the buzzing again, but I think that when the next Technician comes, my piano will finally start sounding good.

Hey!!! Even if the topic is a little bit dated... Cristina, congratulations on your Concert 8!!! I've gone quite crazy ( 😵😟 ) here on the site talking about the grand piano that I had the honor of playing... (the discussion is here: http://www.pianoconcerto.it/forum/index.php?/topic/117-gran-coda-bechstein-del-1903/page__pid__3247__st__20#entry3247 )

you are truly lucky to own a piano like that... maybe it wasn't understood but I LOVE BECHSTEIN 😛😃

FrancescoDiParigi wrote:

Hey!!! Even if the topic is a bit dated... Cristina, congratulations on your Concert 8!!! Here on the site I went a bit crazy ( 😵😟 ) talking about the great coda on which I had the honor of playing... (the discussion is here: http://www.pianoconc...t__20#entry3247 )

you are truly lucky to own a piano like that... perhaps it wasn't understood but I LOVE BECHSTEIN 😛😃

Yes Francesco, I am lucky to own a Bechstein; considering that I play only as a hobby, I must thank my husband who wanted to give me this generous gift, who, although not rich (he works as a laborer), still wanted to give me a Bechstein by paying for it in installments. I wasn't the one who asked him for the Bechstein, I would have been satisfied with a Yamaha, but I confess that when he gave it to me, I was very happy. You, Francesco, love Bechsteins, so we understand each other.

From the posts I have read from Francesco, it seems to me that he respects the commandment "thou shalt have no other Bechstein besides me"!

This discussion is interesting because it helps to understand "dark" realities of the world of tuners that I was unaware of; in fact, you should know that I don't know the piano world at all because I have only been playing this adorable instrument for a very short time, anyway, it seems to me that my tuner tuned my piano well (though I hope my impression is not mistaken). In this discussion, I saw that you speak very highly of the "Bechstein" piano. I don't know it. A curiosity: how much does a Bechstein upright cost?