HOW A PIANO WORKS…

 

The mechanical genius Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the piano around 1700. The name piano is actually a shortened version of the Italian term pianoforte, meaning soft-loud, and referring to the fact that the pianoforte could produce sound volume covering a much larger range than its predecessors, the harpsichord and clavichord.

STRINGS Every note sounded on a piano is the result of a string, or set of two or three strings, vibrating at a specific frequency (rate of traveling back and forth) determined by the length, diameter, tension and density of the wire. A shorter, lighter string, under more tension, vibrates faster, and produces a higher-pitched sound. The strings on a modern piano are made of hard, tough steel wire that can nick the blade of regular wire cutters. Each note, from the treble (highest in pitch, at the right-hand end of the keyboard) down toward the bass (low, at left-hand end of the keyboard), is produced by three strings vibrating at exactly the same speed, sounding together when struck by their hammer. At some point in the bass and this is not standardized from one make of piano to another, the number of strings per note changes from three to two, then for the lowest notes, one string per note. Strings tuned to the same note are called unisons. If unison strings are not all at the proper tension, they will produce different pitches, and the piano will sound "out of tune"; tuning the piano involves adjusting string tensions so they match again. Strings lengths and diameters increase from treble to bass. Several notes are strung with the same thickness of wire, but cut to different lengths, and tuned to different tensions to produce the desired pitches. In the bass range of the piano, the strings are wound with other wire to make them thicker so they will vibrate more slowly. On modern pianos the winding wire is almost always copper. The copper winding wire and the steel core wire are both so heavy that the lowest string is about a quarter of an inch in diameter. HAMMERS When a piano key is pressed, a hammer flies up and strikes the strings tuned to produce the corresponding note, then falls away from the strings quickly so as not to stop their vibration. The mechanical action allowing the hammer to drop instantly away from the strings is called the escapement. If a hammer remained in contact with the strings, it would produce a "clunk" sound instead of a sustained musical tone. Modern piano hammers are made of wood covered with thick, tightly compacted felt. The size of the hammers increases steadily from treble to bass. If a piano is played so much that the felt becomes extremely tightly compacted from striking the strings, the piano may produce an unpleasant, harsh tone. The tuner can voice the hammers by loosening the felt fibres a bit with special needles so the tone becomes mellower. SOUNDBOARD The vibration of a piano’s strings alone would be too quiet to be heard; their sound must be amplified. Piano strings, like those of a violin or a guitar, press down on a bridge which conducts their vibration to the large, thin piece of wood called the soundboard. Wooden ribs glued across the board, underneath, help spread the strings’ vibration throughout its mass. DAMPERS The function of a damper is to stop the vibration of a string when the sound has continued long enough. As long as the player's finger depresses the key, the damper belonging to that key's strings remains lifted, and the strings are free to vibrate. When the key is released, the damper falls back against the strings, pressing soft felt against them to absorb the vibration. The highest strings on a piano usually do not need dampers, because the energy of their vibration is released so quickly, they stop sounding in a short time. PEDALS The pedal on the right is for the purpose of lifting all the dampers away from the strings at once, allowing the player to sustain a series of notes whose sound continues even after each key has been released. Furthermore, because strings can vibrate in sympathy with other strings whose vibrations are mathematically related to their own, lifting all the dampers allows strings to vibrate which have not been struck, but which are in harmonic relationship with those which have been. This gives a fuller, richer sound. The pedal on the left is for producing a softer tone. On a grand piano, it shifts all the keys and their hammers to the right, just far enough so two things happen; the hammers strike fewer strings and the part of the hammer's surface that has become firmly packed from repeated contact with the strings is moved over so a softer, less-used part of the surface strikes the strings. On a vertical piano, the soft pedal moves the hammers closer to the strings so they strike with less momentum. The middle pedal on a modern piano can be for lifting only the bass dampers, or on other pianos, for sustaining whatever note or notes were played at the moment the pedal was pressed. On vertical pianos, the middle pedal sometimes activates a muting effect, placing cloth between the hammers and the strings for an extra soft sound. This is a very old device that was used on pianos in Beethoven's time. FRAME The highest combined string tension on a large modern concert grand piano is around thirty tons, although most pianos have far less string tension than that. To withstand the tension of the strings, a piano must have a tremendously stable frame. A modern piano's strings are supported by an iron plate, cast in a single piece and bolted to a heavy wooden frame. Part of the tone of a modern piano is the resonance of this metal plate. Because metal is less subject to changes in humidity than wood is, a piano with an iron plate holding its strings stays in tune through changes in weather that would untune a wooden-framed instrument. This is some info about one of my favourite instruments without which my music would be incomplete. After all music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music…the way I see it!!