a yamaha C3, a very widely used piano all over the world.. in particular this one had a wonderful timbre and was not metallic or nasal as I thought.. anyway the question I want to ask you is the following... they gave us some wheel isolators as a gift worth 50 euros in total. First of all, I would like to know if they have other functions besides protecting the floor, and additionally if the wheels go inside these isolators.. if I had to slightly move the piano to a half-cock position, how should I do it?
a Yamaha C3, a very heavily used piano all over the world.. in particular this one had a wonderful timbre and was not metallic or nasal as I thought.. anyway the question I want to ask you is the following... they gave us wheel isolators as a gift worth 50 euros in total. First of all, I would like to know if they have other functions besides protecting the floor, and additionally if the wheels are placed inside these isolators.. if I had to slightly move the piano to half-lid position, how should I do it?
Hi,
Isolators have multiple functions. First of all, the name itself suggests that they dampen vibrations and consequently isolate the piano from the floor, which is excellent if you live in an apartment building. Also, since the wheels are placed inside these isolators (obviously if they are of good quality), they will also protect the wheels from moisture rising from the floor, so it is harder for the wheels to get damaged/jammed. If you want to move the piano, obviously it is much more inconvenient; you must first lower it from the isolators, otherwise you risk making a big bang and could cause quite serious damage if not to the floor itself but to the isolators.
Putting the wheels into the isolators is a bit tiring, as you still have to lift the piano. If there are two of you doing the operation it's better; the stronger one lifts the piano. To lift it, just grab it by placing your hands one on the right and the other on the left of the leg, but facing away from it, so your arms are behind your back, in order to use most of the strength of your shoulders. Another thing, the 3 sides of the piano have a different weight for each. Looking at the keyboard from the front, the right side will be heavier than the left and the left side heavier than the rear, so proceed by putting the heaviest one into the isolator first (in any case, research more about which sides are heavier because I don't remember very well)."}
Everything Lowseling said is correct. But the weights are reversed. The rear Tail part is the lightest. Looking at the keyboard, the left side is the heavier one because it contains the longer wood part, soundboard, and frame; by exclusion, the right is lighter than the left. It is also true that they isolate the piano from the floor but in reality, they do not acoustically isolate the piano in an apartment building. In fact, the sound waves transmitted through the air are not what "bothers the neighbor," it is the vibrations transmitted structurally. There are some special isolators that promise a slight reduction in dB at the structural transmission level, but they cost a lot and anyway do not solve the problem. The only way to isolate a room is to build a "floating room inside the room" with a pendulum system and cover it hermetically with lead and pyramidal panels. The solution is highly expensive and anyway does not 100% shield sound pressure and vibrations transmitted structurally. These are measures to take if neighbors threaten lawsuits in such a way that you stay within the dB limits set by regulations. Certainly, it is not a solution that allows you to play the acoustic piano at night.
I believe that for studying it is always better to opt for a digital piano, without depriving oneself of the luxury of playing on a good acoustic one during hours when it does not bother others... Normally, the following hours are observed: 9:30 - 12:30 / 16:30 - 19:30. By law, it is not possible to play more than 4 hours a day.
Here we would then have to go into the various digital/acoustic discussions. You study on digital, and you study well!! Do not listen to those who say otherwise. Thanks to digital, I managed to prepare for my diploma exam in 2 and a half months; if I hadn't had it, I would have had to postpone by a year! Certainly, when I could, I went to the acoustic one...
Everything Lowseling said is correct. But the weights are reversed. The rear Tail part is the lightest. Looking at the keyboard, the left side is the heavier one because it contains the longer wood parts, soundboard, and frame; by exclusion, the right is lighter than the left. It is also true that they isolate the piano from the floor, but in reality, they do not acoustically isolate the piano in an apartment building. In fact, the sound waves transmitted through the air are not what "bothers the neighbor"; it is the vibrations transmitted structurally. There are some special isolators that promise a slight reduction in dB at the structural transmission level, but they cost a lot and still do not solve the problem. The only way to isolate a room is to build a "floating room inside the room" with a pendulum system and cover it hermetically with lead and pyramidal panels. This solution is highly expensive and still does not 100% shield against sound pressure and vibrations transmitted structurally. These are measures to take if neighbors threaten lawsuits in such a way that you stay within the dB limits set by regulations. Certainly, it is not a solution that allows you to play the acoustic piano at night.
I believe that for studying, it is always better to opt for a digital piano, without depriving yourself of the luxury of playing on a good acoustic one during hours when you are not bothering others... Normally, the following hours are observed: 9:30 - 12:30 / 16:30 - 19:30. By law, it is not possible to play more than 4 hours a day.
Here we would then have to delve into the various digital/acoustic discussions. You study on a digital, and you study well!! Do not listen to those who say otherwise. Thanks to the digital, I managed to prepare for my diploma exam in 2 and a half months; if I hadn't had it, I would have had to postpone by a year! Certainly, when I could, I went to the acoustic...
Thank you TheSimon, I actually didn't remember the weights correctly. As far as playing on digital goes, I agree, although I have never had these problems because fortunately I live in a building where it doesn't bother them if I play, even though out of politeness I try to avoid certain hours and limit study hours so as not to cause a disturbance, even though they don't mind.
