Tuesday, December 31, 2019

How long does piano tuning take?

My average time to tune a piano is 1 1/2 hours. I allow 2 hours for an appointment. The extra 1/2 hour is used to deal with additional issues such as an initial pitch raise, sticky notes, squeaking pedals, and other problems that have never been attended to. These are usually things that prompted a customer to call in the first place because the piano was not working properly.

Remember one thing. When you go to a concert at a theatre, notice how instruments are tuned before the concert begins AND slightly adjusted during intermission.

If instruments can go slightly out of tune during this time period, imagine how far out of tune will they be in 6 months.

http://www.paulbrown.org  Email: paulbrn@telus.net 
Tel: 604-324-7013 (no texting)

Sunday, October 8, 2017

Moving pianos short distances does not make them go out of tune.

Moving pianos short distances does not make them go out of tune. HUMIDITY is the problem. A colleague of mine tuned a piano for an outside concert. The humidity was quite high and he had to lower the pitch to A440. He was given accommodation for the night and was asked to tune the piano again the next day. When he started to tune, he noticed that the piano was severely out of tune again (the pitch went above A440) because of the HUMIDITY. He had to do the same pitch lowering procedure he did the day before.

For the last 100 years or so, the only thing piano owners seem to be concerned about is "not moving the piano" instead of tuning it. It is not unusual for a customer to mention that they just moved the piano so they called me to tune it. If asked when the piano was last tuned, the typical answer would be "many years ago". All pianos need to be tuned at least 1 to 2 times per year. That is the recommendation of every manufacturer I can think of.

Remember, it's not just about tuning. Pianos require regular maintenance as well, just like a car.

http://www.paulbrown.org  Email: paulbrn@telus.net 
Tel: 604-324-7013 (no texting)

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Is my piano out of tune?





Is my piano at pitch?

http://www.paulbrown.org  Email: paulbrn@telus.net 
Tel: 604-324-7013 (no texting)

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Let the piano settle.


The answer is simple. When was the piano last tuned?




http://www.paulbrown.org  Email: paulbrn@telus.net 
Tel: 604-324-7013 (no texting)

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Do pianos get better over time?

Can you think of ANY manufactured item that gets better over time? When you buy a car, you are advised by the car manufacturer to set up a maintenance schedule because your car will require yearly servicing. That's because over time, parts will start to deteriorate. Using the car analogy again, if you drive your car constantly, the tires will eventually go bald and lose the tread to grip the road surface. In a piano hammer, the surface must be very smooth to produce a high quality sound. Over time, from constant use, the hammer becomes heavily grooved and the sound produced becomes very strident, loud and difficult to listen to. Only by re-shaping the hammer, can the surface be brought back to a smooth oval shape to produce the best sound possible. So far, I've only talked about the piano hammer. What about the thousands of other parts of the piano action that require yearly maintenance? Sadly, most piano owners almost never keep their pianos maintained. They usually call to have their pianos tuned (not realizing that they are actually calling the tuner to fix something!).

http://www.paulbrown.org  Email: paulbrn@telus.net 
Tel: 604-324-7013 (no texting)

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Piano Tuning Fixes Everything - No it doesn't!






http://www.paulbrown.org  Email: paulbrn@telus.net 
Tel: 604-324-7013 (no texting)

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

How Often Must Pianos Be Tuned?

Almost all manufacturers say that pianos should be tuned 2 times per year.

What about piano maintenance? A piano requires regular maintenance to perform optimally. Sadly, almost nobody follows up on a regular maintenance procedure.

When you buy a car, do you follow a maintenance procedure or do you just put gas in it? Believe it or not, that's all most people do until the car experiences horrendous mechanical problems.

The same is true of the piano. I get numerous calls from people who have had their pianos tuned once per year but complain about sticking notes, buzzing sounds, notes that have no sound, hammer voicing problems, "sharp sounding notes" (caused by worn out hammers), squeaking pedals, broken pedals, coins stuck between keys, pencils falling into the piano action, hammer alignment (hammers not centered on the strings), dampers not working, etc., etc.

Customers assume that "TUNING" is a cure-all for everything. Unfortunately, that's not the case. They assume that when the piano is tuned, the pedal will stop squeaking and the buzzing sounds will disappear. Please be aware that piano tuning is NOT A REGULATED FIELD of work. Anyone can purchase a tuning device, a tuning hammer with mutes and go out into the public and start work.

Customers are always concerned about "Moving the Piano". They will use that wording above all else when looking at piano maintenance. One customer might say: "I tuned the piano 20 years ago but then moved, then we moved again three more times so I didn't want to get it tuned until it stabilized.

What about the 20 years of no servicing?

Most customers are amazed when they see proper servicing of a piano, even though they have had the piano tuned many times in the past.

The response I get all the time: "Wow - was that ever educational! When can we set up the next appointment?"

http://www.paulbrown.org  Email: paulbrn@telus.net 
Tel: 604-324-7013 (no texting)