Piano Tuning - How to Tune A Piano Part 5 - Tuning the Midrange I HOWARD PIANO INDUSTRIES

[@MrEthanhines]

I've got a piano that hasn't been tuned since 1988. I assume it will need a pitch raise first but I am worried that yanking on the pins on a piano that hasn't seen any care for over 30 years may result in strings breaking. In your opinion is it better to tune flat then raise then just yanking the pitch up on every pin?

[@howardpianoind]

Whenever I tune a piano that has not been serviced in many years and needs a large pitch adjustment, I inform the customer that there is always the possibility of a string or two breaking. While it usually does not happen ( my guess is that it happens less than one out of 20 times), It seems it is most likely to happen when I don't inform my customer of the possibility. One tip often espoused to lower the chances of breaking a string, is to drop the pitch of the string before raising it. This dropping of the pitch is suppose to allow the string to break free from any high friction areas it may be stuck in place due to corrosion. Many tuners attest to the effectiveness of this technique.

[@MrEthanhines]

@@howardpianoind Thank you for your quick and thorough reply.

[@bluberrymonster]

For old strings, do you recommend cleaning them or treating them with anything to improve the tone?

[@howardpianoind]

Thanks for your question! We don't recommend cleaning or treating strings to improve tone. We have heard from others who have tried it and say it did not make much of a difference. You also have to take all of the strings off the piano to do this. If the quality of the strings has gotten bad enough that you are considering taking them off to clean or treat them, it's probably more worth it to go ahead and get new strings.

[@EPSTomcat11]

This is one of the best instructional series on how to tune a piano for novices - well done! Question: what's the rationale behind starting at A4, then going down, and then going back to cover the upper range of the section?

[@howardpianoind]

Thanks for watching. Typically it’s best to tune the midrange first. I don’t know that there is any specific reason for the order I do this in except that I learned it is best to start at A4. If you’re tuning by ear you should start with one of the middle octave like A3 - A4.

[@Piano_sessionfree]

Como puedo poner diferentes hz en el A4 en ese programa?

[@delta61]

Because A4 is always your reference note. It is the note which has a universally (semi) defined pitch, which is 440Hz most of the time. Experienced tuners without digital tools would just have a 440 tuning fork and tune the rest by ear, using formants and intervalls which create strange and unpleasant soundwaves/tonal vibrations if not in tune.

[@zimway57]

Is there a pattern that you can see that makes it easier to make sure you are on the correct pin? It's hard to tell

[@joaozitchu1222]

I'm sure you're very proud of this job

[@julieannecole580]

Hi hope you can help broke a middle b string and took half my finger off with the coil effect but onwards and upwards as I am British. After all the cuffufle not your fault I might add I am left with all the hammers stuck and wonder if you can help with what I can do to get the action otherwise it’s going quite well. I am hoping I haven’t made it worse is there a solution please?

[@howardpianoind]

Howard Piano Industries offers free technical support by veteran piano technicians. Feel free to call or email us with your questions.

[@julieannecole580]

@@howardpianoind thank you for your response. I am amazed to say that I watched all your videos and managed to strip down and reassemble the piano I have tuned it and it plays. I am sure not anything near as good as you because you are experts but it is to your expertise that I managed to fix my mess and I offer you my sincere thanks. You tube is a brilliant place but it is also very scary for grown women like myself who just think yeah I’ll try that. Cheers

[@couchphotography8861]

@@julieannecole580 I'm in the same boat, ha ha

[@howardpianoind]

You'll want to bring the pitch back down once you've pulled it up above pitch to get the pin stabilized.

[@joshuavanderveen6739]

With the trichord strings, does it matter that you are tuning the middle string first? On my piano there is a string and half for each three strings per note (A4 left and middle string pegs are one string, and the string on the right peg for A4 wraps around to the left string of Bb4. Then the middle and right pegs of Bb4 are one string) Will tuning the tension of just the middle string be altered later when tuning the other strings in the trichord?

[@pru3206]

Do you have any recommendations for old, stubborn tuning pins? Mine are about a hundred and twelve years old and they really don't like to move precisely.

[@howardpianoind]

It takes practice to get used to moving the pins in small increments needed for tuning.

[@jamesivan24]

I'm a little confused: Once we come up above the pitch, do we bring it back down, or do we leave it to come back down by itself?

[@bobbobert4884]

i think you are supposed to bring it down yourself. Going above it first, is just so that you really move the pin in the piano, and not just twist the pinhead.

[@LatchezarDimitrov]

Hello, I have a question. Why do you tune this piano with non equal temperament? No one relation between your half tones are the same...

[@howardpianoind]

In this video series we are showing the basics of how to tune a piano. This series doesn't get into different types of temperaments yet. This tuning actually is supposed to be in equal temperament as that is the standard for the tuning software I'm using. We do discuss what a temperament is in another video which is outside this series.

[@dennisdougherty7538]

Actually, when one uses tuning meters (like he is here) without listening to relationships of the intervals, it becomes kind of faulty equal temperament. But then nobody should be using ET anyway: It is a simple quick system for technicians that do not understand tuning and music theory. Check out videos on ProArte and Renold tuning. These are NOT temperaments. They are not slightly out-of-tune like temperaments such as the false sounding ET which only produces minor thirds, tri-tones and octaves that sound genuine.

[@RenatoPernett]

@@dennisdougherty7538 what about entropy tuning?

[@Ocean8881]

@@dennisdougherty7538 I think his tuning was a combination of aural and visual because he did imply using the ear also and not to fully trust the machine. Also he did mention checking with 4ths and 5ths; that sounds like using the ear to me.

[@joemurphy7919]

Hi , after raising pitch with tune lab, do I need to measure All C note octaves with the tune lab measuring feature ?

[@howardpianoind]

Hi Joe, Yes, once you've completed the pitchraise you would measure all of the C's to come up with a custom tuning for the piano. I don't typically do the measurement before doing the pitchraise.

[@RaindropServicesNYC]

Very informative. Thank you. But I am surprised that you go above the titch and then drop down to it. On guitars you always tune up to the pitch. What is the reason to tune down on the piano? Thanks.

[@howardpianoind]

The reason is because there will be some twisting of the pin.

[@Ocean8881]

I tried to keep my ear in shape with some decent aural tuning practice.. I ve had experience with the battery of my accu tuner dying on me during a tuning. unfortunately my particular model only works with the battery charged up; you can t just plug in the power supply to an electrical outlet>>>

[@howardpianoind]

Yes, it's good to be able to tune by ear as well. I've had occasions where I forgot my ipad when I went to tune and had to tune by ear for the day. It's good to know that you can tune without the device if you need to because anything can happen.

[@harveywithers1021]

What’s the best affordable tuning software you could recommend that would be precise enough to tune with?

[@howardpianoind]

TuneLab is the least expensive software that does a decent job for piano tuning. It is $300 which may seem like a lot but most of the others are close to or over $1000.

[@kveling]

Try PianoMeter in the app stores. Works great. Much more affordable.

[@jijst5]

Hi Howard! Fantastic video. Question: how hard should you hit the note whilst tuning?

[@howardpianoind]

It's good to hit the note fairly hard to equalize the string tension as you tune.

[@tam_ryan1036]

My old concert tuning teacher used to say. 'think of how hard Alfred Brendel might hit it ..... you want to hit it harder than that!' ;-)

[@johnb4966]

I currently am using tune lab myself and I come across a piano every so often that those first few bass notes at the break sound very sour when using the program(when playing octaves). I understand what you mean when using your ear and disregarding the program.....my question is is won't that throw off everything in the bass thereafter? So do you then ditch the program completely when finishing the bass section?

[@howardpianoind]

Not usually. You can usually use TuneLab for the rest of the bass section, but it’s always good to check the octaves and other intervals by ear to make sure.

[@johnb4966]

@@howardpianoind wow thanks for the quick reply. Once you measure your C's do you ever mess with the octave ratios? I've not ever messed with those before

[@howardpianoind]

I don’t usually.

[@johnb4966]

@@howardpianoind appreciate your info. Thanks

[@benjamincamenzuli7626]

Hi! So while you’re tuning the midrange, are you also tuning with equal temperament while you’re moving through?

[@howardpianoind]

Yes, I typically tune to equal temperament in the midrange.

[@LizAshley]

Is there a tunelab iPad app that doesn't cost $300? haha I'm currently using Tuner T1 and I'm not sure how I like it yet

[@howardpianoind]

I have heard some good things about Entropy but I haven’t tried it yet.

[@LizAshley]

@@howardpianoind I’ll try it next time!

[@RoverT65536]

@@LizAshley, PianoMeter has a hobbyist version for $25.

[@GabrieleManco]

Hi, how are the partials divided by each octave?

[@ThePupil]

If a piano is, lets say 100 cents flat in general. Do you need a different approach in tuning?

[@howardpianoind]

You would have to do a pitch raise before tuning the piano, which we show in these videos: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3rbd2VqrtJpbK8feature=shared kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJKamHile7pnrtkfeature=shared

[@micahstone0913]

I heard you can break a string while tuning. Can the string hurt you if it breaks?

[@howardpianoind]

It’s not very likely that you could get injured from a string breaking.

[@baoleo7179]

The middle notes each has 3 strings. Why did you tune only 1 string? How about the remainers?

[@FBSnow]

My piano has a bar that lowers the muting strip and I have no idea how to move it out of the way.

[@howardpianoind]

In most cases for these, they are just held in with pins at each end. If you pull the pins out of the hole they are in and then there is usually a spring that needs to be detached as well hooked into an eye screw. Just unhook it from the screw and then the whole bar will come out.

[@micheloliveira6718]

What’s the name of this software? Did you use equal temperament for this middle section?

[@howardpianoind]

The software is called Tunelab. Yes, I used equal temperament.

[@bstorm66]

What is the rationale behind lifting the damper pedal while putting in the temperament strip?

[@howardpianoind]

The reason you should lift the damper pedal when inserting the mutes is so you don't squeeze the damper. Putting the mutes in puts pressure on the string which can squeeze the damper felt.

[@bstorm66]

Thanks! I love your smooth "narrator" voice. These vids have been my favorite online content the past 5 months.

[@howardpianoind]

Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the videos.

[@lisacooper9432]

You are a great instructor!

[@smashpotato4694]

May I ask, when is it okay to remove your foot from the damper pedal, is it okay to take your foot off once the strip is in place?

[@johnb5519]

I had a technician come and tune my old baby grand piano. After he was finished the tuning, he sat down and blew me away by playing fantasy impromptu. I said what the heck are you doing tuning pianos.

[@howardpianoind]

I think that most piano technicians can play the piano to some degree. Some better than others.

[@howardpianoind]

Also tuning pianos probably pays better than many piano performance gigs.

[@Ocean8881]

I play guitar and piano fairly decent but I took a course in piano Technology to learn how to tune and repair pianos. It s a serious struggle in the music world to get a regular gig.. Also tuning gig can be tough especially with the popularity of electronic keyboards.

[@Baronfenwick]

It’s beautiful to watch his hand manipulating the hammer

[@andrewcosta6018]

In this video... is the felt muting the left and right string and you are tuning only the middle? I couldn't really see. Thanks!

[@howardpianoind]

Yes, I use the temperament strip to mute the left and right string of each note, so I can start with tuning just the center string.

[@couchphotography8861]

@@howardpianoind I agree this was difficult to figure out because it looks as if the piece of felt is covering all those strings up. Have never tuned B4, so am watching all the videos and taking notes. Very entertaining and informative! Thankyou.

[@fjfor7]

what is the name of the software? and price?

[@howardpianoind]

The app I'm using is called Tunelab. The iPad version of this is $300.

[@miketanner2738]

TuneLab = $300 Their trial version only works with Windows, not MAC

[@bobbobert4884]

get it on your phone

[@sarahyoder5077]

Seems informative, but almost unusable because the volume is so low! I have it all the way up on my computer and can still hardly hear

[@howardpianoind]

I'm sorry about the volume. Do you also have the volume turned up on your KZbin player?

[@ellapaula]

I've also had the same problem with many of your videos. But I still appreciate them- it can just be hard to hear