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My listening room is going to be invaded by a 6 foot +500lb...

oneinchside

oneinchside

Openly Baffled
piano.

One of my kids has been taking piano lessons. Great!
He's doing well! Great!
We don't have a piano. Not Great.

His piano teacher is giving us a piano! Great!
A Grand Piano. Gulp.

So other than supporting the floor by completely filling the basement with concrete... is there anything that is an issue with having a piano in the room? I'm used to having guitars around, and yes sometimes I have to dampen the strings so the don't resonate, but heck, how do you do that on a PIANO?

thanks
 
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The only thing I can think of is that it's going to resonate. All of those strings are going to pick up matching frequencies from your music and vibrate in tune. Even with the top closed.

You could pick up a few cans of the spray crack-filling insulating foam, lift the lid and fill that sucker full to the top - but that may make pianoing a bit difficult. Though on the flip side, might make the practicing a bit more tolerable.:smoke:
 
Free pyano! heck, they are hard to sell around here - not much demand anymore.
WaPO had an article a while back on how the Piano shops are struggling!
But the skill to play them is still golden! Encourage your child ...
 
reydelaplaya said:
The only thing I can think of is that it's going to resonate. All of those strings are going to pick up matching frequencies from your music and vibrate in tune. Even with the top closed.

You could pick up a few cans of the spray crack-filling insulating foam, lift the lid and fill that sucker full to the top - but that may make pianoing a bit difficult. Though on the flip side, might make the practicing a bit more tolerable.:smoke:
Click to expand...

See there? That is a stroke of pure genius. :banana:
 
You can even test the amount of resonating you're going to have.

Once the piano is in its spot, put on some music, turn up a bit, let it play for a sec, then pause... You'll hear noise coming from the piano.

Is the basement an option for the piano?
 
oneinchside said:
Good idea- under the lid and just lay it on the strings. Even a kleenex under guitar strings is enough, here's hoping.
Click to expand...

Be careful how much weight gets put on the strings, they're only meant to be struck with felt hammers. A constant weight on them may make it difficult to keep it in tune.
 
reydelaplaya said:
You can even test the amount of resonating you're going to have.

Once the piano is in its spot, put on some music, turn up a bit, let it play for a sec, then pause... You'll hear noise coming from the piano.

Is the basement an option for the piano?
Click to expand...

If they're not careful moving it in the basement may be an immediate and permanent option... but as far as using it? No, it's an old New England basement. Damp (sometimes wet) and cold. It'd kill the piano.

And it looks like something out of a Lon Chaney film.

Like you said, I figured I could just play bursts of a frequency sweep and hear it resonate- then again, we don't listen to recordings all that loud so it may not be an issue. Most of the guitars hanging on the wall aren't 90% of the time.
 
Don't pianos have a mute pedal? Maybe you could put some kind of weight on the mute pedal to engage it... (if it exists, that is :) )
 
unless the sustain pedal is pushed, there are felt dampers on each string. this will limit the sound to a big extent but there is still a lot of string still out there past the dampers. At least these do not have hard fixed points holding them without the dampers on them.

Gotta give it a try and see. Then just open it up and toss a blanket in there while you listen.
 
roger2 said:
Don't pianos have a mute pedal? Maybe you could put some kind of weight on the mute pedal to engage it... (if it exists, that is :) )
Click to expand...

I was wondering about that, but y'know, my entire pianotistic (sure, that's a word) education came from Victor Borgeman.... I don't know much. I was wondering if leaving the mute pedal on would dent or damage the hammers over time. But I wouldn't be surprised to find that we have a few concert pianists in our midst.
 
Blue Shadow said:
unless the sustain pedal is pushed, there are felt dampers on each string. this will limit the sound to a big extent but there is still a lot of string still out there past the dampers. At least these do not have hard fixed points holding them without the dampers on them.

Gotta give it a try and see. Then just open it up and toss a blanket in there while you listen.
Click to expand...

awesome. this gonna be cool.
 
Maybe cut a few long strips from pink or blue foam insulation board (less than $15 from Lowes or HD for a 4x8 sheet) and lay two or three strips across the strings when listening. Easy to move around/store and lightweight so no risk of damage to piano.
 
oneinchside said:
That's what I was afraid of, and it's a small house.
Click to expand...

Will it fit? Seriously.

Pianos are big and heavy. I moved a spinet once,and that was enough. whoever designed those carrying handles on the back must have died laughing.

A grand is a whole, 'nuther can of worms. Sometimes windows need to be removed and a lot of corners can't be turned.

I'd have somebody check out the move before you commit.

How to move a Grand Piano
 
hjames said:
Free pyano! heck, they are hard to sell around here - not much demand anymore.
WaPO had an article a while back on how the Piano shops are struggling!
But the skill to play them is still golden! Encourage your child ...
Click to expand...

It's hard to sell a piano here too- but the free ones usually need work. Which isn't bad or surprising, heck I've (almost) never bought a guitar that didn't need some setup, but there's only 2 piano tuners in the area and they are trying to be retired.

This one sounds good. I'm kinda flabergasted and (clearly) a bit scarred.

I grew up outside of D.C.- one trip to the Kennedy Center on the right night and you can't help but want to hear a piano for the rest of your life.
 
My main listening room is shared with a Yamaha C-7 (7 foot) grand piano. There are several local AK members that can tell you the room sounds very good and that the piano isn't doing any sonic harm. People tend to overthink things in this hobby, sometimes to an extreme. The strings are damped when it's not being played and the piano is no different than anything else in a room with speakers - everything will vibrate and resonate with the music. Does it matter ? I can tell you I don't lose any sleep over it.

The bottom line is that it takes up a lot of floor space. The real challenge is figuring out where to place it so you can still sit and listen to your stereo without the piano being between you and the speakers.

PM me if you have any more questions about it. Just make sure your "free" piano is really worth something. You may be better off getting a digital piano and piping it through your system (thereby using your hi-fi hobby to further the sonic quality of piano reproduction :-). Truth be told some of my digital keyboards sound *awesome* through my system with some reverb and delay effects. It sounds like I'm playing the piano in a giant hall and not my living room. Food for thought....

jblnut
 
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