Voicing is the adjustment of a piano’s tone or quality of sound. Tone can be changed without affecting the pitch. The tonal personality can be mellow to bright or robust to delicate. The degree of change possible depends up the piano’s design and condition.

Here are some examples of the procedures of voicing.

• Sand the hammers to reshape the felt.

• Seat and level strings.

• Mate hammers to strings to improve clarity.

• Soften certain areas of he hammer felts with needles or steam to reduce brightness.

• Harden the hammer felt to increase volume.

• Iron the felt to bring out the focus of sound.

Regulation is the adjustment of the mechanical aspects of the piano to compensate for the effects of wear. There are 3 systems involved in regulation – the action, trapwork and the damper system.

• The action is the mechanical part the of piano that transfers the motion of the fingers on the keys to the hammers that strike the strings.

• The trapwork connects that pedals to the action, affecting sustain and dynamics.

• The damper system is the mechanical parts of the piano that stops the vibration of the string when you release the key.

Restringing is the removal and replacement of the bass, tenor and treble strings. 

• Bass strings are custom ordered to fit exactly. With too much age bass strings can rattle & buzz, and ultimately produce an unfavorable tone. These strings are the large “wound” strings on the left side of the piano.

• The tenor and treble strings are the shiny, silver strings. Over time they can oxidize and become covered with rust. At this point they loose their brilliant tone. Rust etches the string which becomes weak and will at some point give way.

Repairs can cover a large scope. Sticking keys, pedals not working correctly, a broken string and keys that don’t play are just a few of the regular maintenance issues with the piano. So if you have things to repair let us know.