Piano Tuning | Page 4

much valuable and interesting history has not come to
light. However, from the specimens which we have had the pleasure of
seeing, and some of which we have had the opportunity to work on, we
infer that about the same line of difficulties presented themselves to all
of these early experimenters, most of which were not efficiently
overcome until in the last century, and the most important of which it
fell to the lot of American inventors to overcome.
Some of these early instruments were not even provided with dampers
for stopping the tone when the key was released; consequently, when a
number of keys were struck in succession, the tone continued from all,
so long as the strings would vibrate. The strings and sound-board being
very light, the sustaining qualities were meager compared to those of
the modern piano; consequently the dampers were not so much missed
as they would be if removed from a modern upright or grand, which
would surely render them unfit for use.
In the first attempts at piano building, the difficulties to be overcome
may be enumerated as follows: The frames were not strong enough to
resist the tension of the strings; they were made almost entirely of
wood which yields to the pull of the strings and is subject to climatic
changes; the scale was very imperfect, that is, the length, tension and
weight of the strings were not properly proportioned, the result being a
different quality of tone from different portions of the keyboard; the
actions were either heavy and imperfect, or too light to produce
sufficient vibration; the proper point upon the strings for the hammers
to strike and for the dampers to bear had not yet been ascertained; the
preparation and seasoning of the wood for the different parts of the
instrument had not received sufficient attention.
One cannot conceive how difficult it is to produce something that has
never existed, until he tries. The requirements necessary to such results
as are obtainable from the modern piano are numerous and rigid and
the result of many costly experiments.
Probably the most important essential in piano building is the

production of a frame of such strength and stability that the enormous
tension of the strings is completely resisted in all parts of the scale. In
many of the cheaper pianos of this day, the lack of this essential
manifests itself in an annoying degree to the piano tuner. In tuning, the
workman "brings up" his temperament in the middle of the instrument;
in most cases the temperament stands all right. He next tunes the treble,
then the bass; after doing his work perfectly he will often find that the
treble fell somewhat while he was bringing up the bass; or, in a few
cases, he may find that the treble sharpened, thus showing that there
was yielding of the frame. Of course, this defect might be overcome by
using an extremely heavy metal plate and wooden frame; but the
commercial side of the question, in this day, calls for lightness in the
instrument as a check to the expense of production, and, consequently,
pianos that are "made to sell" are often much too light to fulfil this
requirement.
In the upright piano, the back frame of wood is first made; at the top of
this is the pin-block, sometimes called the wrest-plank. This is
composed of several layers of wood firmly glued together with the
grain running in different directions to prevent splitting and warping.
Into this plank the tuning pins are driven. The sound-board is fitted
firmly into this frame of wood below the pin-block.
Next, the strong metal plate is secured to the frame by large bolts and
screws. Openings are left in the plate for the bridges, which project
from the sound-board beyond the metal plate; also for the tuning pins,
action bracket bolts, etc.
At the lower end of the plate, and just below the bridges,[B] the
hitchpins are driven firmly into holes drilled to receive them. Their
purpose is to support the lower ends of the strings. The bass strings are
separate, and each has a loop with which to fasten it to the hitchpin. In
the treble, one piece of wire forms two strings; the two ends are secured
to the tuning pins above, and the string is simply brought around the
hitchpin. The bridges communicating with the sound-board are at the
lower end of the sound-board. Notice, there is a portion of the length of
each string between the bridge and the hitchpin.

[B] There are two sections of the lower bridge, one for the treble and
one for the overstrung bass.
[Illustration]
At the upper end of the strings, a "bearing-bar," situated between the
tuning pins and upper bridge, is attached to the pin-block by