Pianos Inside Out


Book Description

Pianos Inside Out takes an in-depth look at the history, design, and maintenance of the piano, and provides practical guidance to anyone who wants to learn how to improve action performance, or tune, repair, regulate, voice, or rebuild pianos. Covering a wide range of topics, from introductory to advanced, the book puts between two covers all the advancements and understanding gained by the piano industry over the last 30 years, to provide a unified and coherent view of that much-needed information, from coincident partial tuning and interval inharmonicity, to touchweight analysis, string leveling, and the different types of modern lubricants. Although written for hobbyists, students, and piano technicians, Pianos Inside Out will also help pianists and owners of pianos to better understand their instruments and to communicate more effectively with their technicians. The book is full of clear, concise, step-by-step instructions, and more than 700 illustrations and diagrams.







Player Piano


Book Description

A treatise on how player pianos function, and how to get them back into top playing condition if they don't work. For beginners and experienced technicians alike.




Rebuilding the Player Piano


Book Description

Instructions On How To Rebuild The Player Piano And Related Instruments.




Player Piano


Book Description

"'Player-Piano' tells for the first time the fascinating story of the mechanical piano from earliest times up to the heyday of the instrument in the 1930s. Never before has this story been related, although the end of the player-piano is certainly still within the living memory of most of us and many hundreds of these devices are still to be found in our homes. In addition to telling the story of the development of these pianos which strove to produce perfect music without the need for skills on the part of the 'performer', this book sets out in copious detail exactly how these complex mechanisms work. For the owner of an instrument, step by step instructions for the restoration and preservation of both the early barrel-playing pianos and the most sophisticated player and reproducing instruments are given. To fully illustrate their development, design and mechanical processes, no less than 112 plates and 110 long drawings are included."--Jacket.




Piano Servicing, Tuning, and Rebuilding


Book Description

For over forty years, Arthur A. Reblitz’s Piano Servicing, Tuning, and Rebuilding has been the gold-standard manual for piano technicians and hands-on hobbyists who want to rebuild or maintain pianos. Reblitz demystifies the daunting prospect of working on a piano as he guides readers through every detail of upright and grand piano mechanics and describes servicing and repairs with understandable, easy-to-follow instructions. The third edition of this invaluable handbook includes over 60 new and 300 remastered images of piano anatomy, tools, and techniques; consideration of ivory alternatives and the newest adhesives and lubricants; new material covering the art of tuning by ear and today’s sophisticated electronic tuning devices; new repair and rebuilding techniques; and a brand new glossary of terms. Piano Servicing, Tuning, and Rebuilding provides piano technician and servicing programs, pianists, and amateur players and hobbyists around the world with an essential twenty-first-century guide to achieving peak performance and maximum longevity for their instruments.




The Piano Book


Book Description

Essential advice for buying and caring for a new or used piano. A '97-'98 supplement is available.




Theory and Practice of Piano Tuning


Book Description

The new edition of the leading textbook and most comprehensive source available for both practicing piano tuners and academic researchers, on the theory and practice of piano tuning. By the former Royal National College lecturer in Piano Technology and Tuning Theory. 680 pages, with over 300 illustrations and tables. The book covers in-depth theory and practice from elementary to advanced level. It answers common questions raised by students of piano tuning about the actual soundscapes and behaviour of piano tone that are encountered in tuning practice. It is suitable for both students and professionals of piano tuning, general readers, and academics with interdisciplinary interests in the subject. Includes: Why we need skilled piano tuners Intonation and tone The distance between theory and the art Theory of sound Temperament theory Elementary "traditional" tuning and beat rate theory What contemporary acoustics reveals What attenuation is, and why it is so important Beyond the 19th century model - How "beating" and "beat rates" really work Beyond the 19th century model - How tempered intervals really behave in fine tuning False beat phenomenon and its influence The effects of bridge coupling How real tone- envelopes behave in fine tuning Inharmonicity and small piano syndrome What octave stretching is, why, and how it works Setting the pin - the theory behind it and how to practice it Scale plasticity, logic, and tuning technique Psychoacoustics and how to listen Contents: Acknowledgments Piano tuning and this book Part 1 - Background Theory The invisible art and science The essential ideas Sound Temperament Theory "Traditional" piano tuning theory and elementary practice The soundscape, spectrum and tone Partial decay patterns Part 2 - Fine Tuning Practice Unison Tuning Tuning the Scale Octave tuning Setting the Pin Setting the pitch Small piano syndrome Hearing The Kirk Experiment Part 3 - Advanced Theory The single piano string in one plane The Weinreich Model Two strings, two planes The Trichord Further comments on false partials Inharmonicity Glossary of key concepts Select bibliography