Piano Maintenance: 48 hours of pain and anguish!

What was seemingly a straightforward search and destroy mission surrounding a clicking note, mushroomed suddenly into a PSTD level catastrophe. Pianists, so viscerally tied to their beloved musical partners, can be catapulted over the edge when something unexpected occurs. In fact two post-clicking note repair events had transpired that threatened my mental health. 1) After…

The mystery of NOTE CLICKING B is solved!

Here's a snatch of the bug that invaded Steinway M (1917) as long desired, drought-relieving rains encapsulated the piano for days. (Were weather changes the cause of an uninvited guest seeking sanctuary between hammers, in finite action spaces?) http://youtu.be/CbJkWOrgO5s Israel Stein, RPT/EMT, in "high tech" detective mode, responded pronto, and tenaciously scoped out the uninvited…

A Conversation about machine and ear tuning (and more) with Israel Stein, Registered Piano Technician

I couldn't resist an opportunity to immerse myself in an engaging dialog with Israel Stein, RPT, as he was tuning my piano. Regaled far and wide by a community of pianists and teachers as he amasses awards bestowed by his peers at the National Piano Technician's Guild, Stein remains thoroughly dedicated to what seems like…

Piano Maintenance– About hammers: all or partial replacement? (Video)

When my Baldwin Hamilton 1929 grand underwent exploratory surgery in the capable hands of Mark Schecter, RPT, I had some pointed questions. Given that the piano had a glassy-sounding upper treble due to worn down hammers, would installing a partial set of new ones be a reasonable route to take? Mark didn't think so, and…

Piano Maintenance Teaser: Graying ivories and a squeaky note

This is a video preview of what will follow later today when several uploads related to my Baldwin piano's weekend "regulation" are lined up on You Tube. As a start, one of the problems plaguing my recently acquired Hamilton grand 1929, a.k.a "blind date piano," was a grayish discoloration on every ivory key. In my…

Piano Tuner, York on Mice, Rats, Moths and Cats (Video, part 2)

In this part two follow-up to York's World War II Memoir, the seasoned piano tuner relaxes into his emblematic animated conversation, telling the world how to eradicate mice, rats, and moths from pianos. Oldsters watching better have a fresh pair of Depends, because York lets loose with some mighty over the top, funny lines. Throw…