Reverberation on a recently purchased Kawai

Reverberation or reverberation? That is, you hear a very bloated and confused sound in some pop areas. A sound tail remains. In this latter case, it could be one or more dampers, probably the low ones, that have shifted or are poorly adjusted (perhaps it wasn't noticeable at the point of sale). So, bring it to the attention of the tuner during the first tuning session. The metallic sound, after tuning, can be softened by voicing the hammers. To evaluate the price, one must observe the wear of the hammer rail and other mechanical parts. The age of the instrument also has an effect. Check that the soundboard does not have cracks. Check the condition of the strings.

Watch out for humidity. It can damage it. Possibly install a dehumidifier in the room or contact Pianoaccordatore (James Lazzeroni), who can recommend a special dehumidifier inside the instrument. In this case, I mandatory recommend it

pianoexpert wrote:

Reverberation or reverberation? That is, you hear a very bloated and confused sound in some pop areas. A sound tail remains. In this latter case, it could be one or more dampers, probably the bass ones, that have shifted or are poorly adjusted (perhaps it wasn't noticeable at the point of sale). So, bring it to the attention of the tuner during the first tuning session. The metallic sound, after tuning, can be softened by voicing the hammers. To evaluate the price, one must observe the wear of the hammer rail and other mechanical parts. The age of the instrument also has an effect. Check that the soundboard does not have cracks. Check the condition of the strings.

Watch out for humidity. It can damage it. If possible, install a dehumidifier in the room or contact Pianoaccordatore (James Lazzeroni), who can recommend a special dehumidifier inside the instrument. In this case, I mandatory recommend it.

Thank you very much Paolo, very kind anyway, the second one, but rather than a sound tail it is more like a vibration, which is felt not only when the keys are pressed, but for example even if I give a little tap on the soundboard: it produces a dull sound that greatly disturbs the performance; it seems to me that it comes from inside the instrument regardless. As far as tuning is concerned, it was only done before transport and another one will not be done because the dealer told me that the instrument would not go out of tune during transport, although that seems strange to me... Also, the overall condition of the instrument seems good to me; the soundboard and strings are fine, the only things I noticed are that the hammer heads have grooves left by the strings (not too evident) and that some of the bass hammers are not perfectly aligned. Regarding humidity, I was advised to place a polystyrene panel between the piano and the wall, but I don't know if that is okay...

Thank you dear Paolo.

Hi Riccardo, it is not easy to understand what the nature of the reverberation might be.

Could you record something and post it?

This way we could help you better. . .

I am not familiar with the polystyrene solution. . .

Tuning in Tuscany

www.pianoaccordatore.it

. . .I have done a little research regarding this.

In the event that the only possible arrangement for the piano is along an external or damp wall of the house, it is possible to improve the thermal insulation.

It is sufficient to install a sheet of insulating material between the instrument and the wall.

Naturally, this type of remedy should be considered a sort of "last resort."

The installation of a humidity protection system inside the piano is the best and preferred solution.

I agree because even by isolating the main source of humidity. It must be noted that perhaps the relative humidity percentage in the air is high. In that case, a dehumidification device inside the instrument still protects it from absorbing excess humidity which is, as mentioned, in the air anyway

Pianoaccordatore wrote:

Thank you, dear Paolo.

Hi Riccardo, it is not easy to understand what the nature of the reverberation might be.

Could you record something and post it?

This way we could help you better. . .

I am not familiar with the polystyrene solution. . .

Piano tuning in Tuscany

www.pianoaccordatore.it

Thank you for the answers James, unfortunately I wouldn't know how to post a recording...

Pianoaccordatore wrote:

. . .I did a little research on the matter.

In the event that the only possible placement of the piano is along an external or damp wall of the house, it is possible to improve thermal insulation.

It is sufficient to install a sheet of insulating material between the instrument and the wall.

Naturally, this type of remedy should be considered a sort of "last resort".

The installation of a humidity protection system inside the piano is the best and preferred solution.

pianoexpert wrote:

I agree because even by isolating the source of greatest humidity. One must note that perhaps the relative humidity percentage in the air is high. In that case, a dehumidification device inside the instrument protects it from absorbing excess humidity which is, as mentioned, in the air anyway.

Thank you very much for the advice; do you think the solution of insulating material plus an external dehumidifier could work? Anyway, I spoke with the dealer and he said he will send a tuner to check the instrument... let's hope for the best

Good morning,

As I was saying in the other post, the insulating material solution is not ideal, but it's better than nothing.

I advise you to buy a hygrometer to measure the humidity level.

It must be between 40 and 50%; manufacturers recommend 48%.

I've been trying to research the topic of "pianos and humidity" for a few days now, and while browsing I found this discussion.

First of all, it is by no means certain that putting polystyrene between the piano and the wall will solve the problem; in fact, it could even make it worse.

Humidity, or rather condensation, forms when the temperature on the surface of a material is lower than the dew point of the air.

So, it is possible that condensation will no longer form on the polystyrene side bordering the piano, but it might form more than before between the polystyrene and the wall, with the consequence of worsening the situation.

Therefore, it is necessary to verify this before implementing such a solution, which does not seem like the best one to me.

It is better to leave a gap between the piano and the wall to allow air to circulate.

As for the various systems that control the temperature inside pianos, in principle, they would be a real godsend.

It seems they manage to maintain humidity inside the piano between 43-48%, and keep in mind that during summer, in case of a thunderstorm, or in winter, by turning radiators on and off, humidity variations can occur within a few hours from 25% to 90%.

I have studied some of them and remain skeptical about certain points:

1) I don't like the idea of "topping up the water" in the piano, and in general, the idea of having a water container in the soundboard. Even if there is water in the soundboard, unfortunately, there is—if the hygrometer shows something >0—but it isn't liquid!

2) Humidification occurs by spraying water vapor which naturally diffuses inside the piano cabinet, but which will presumably end up landing much more likely near the sprayer, consequently penalizing the parts closest to it.

3) Similarly for the dehumidifier, essentially heating bars that, while it is true that by heating the air they force humidity to evaporate toward the various air vents of the piano, on the other hand create significant temperature differences, and thus thermal stresses between the parts close to and far from them, which I do not think is good for the soundboard and especially for the strings.

While waiting to decide what to do, I have placed some sensors in my SK-3 and have been monitoring the situation for a month, in a room where, among other things, I also have an air conditioner.

However, I would like to receive some opinions regarding this topic, on which I believe there is more sensitivity abroad compared to Italy, where people are traditionally inclined not to profane the instrument with electrical gadgets.