Acoustic And Digital Piano Maintenance
Posted in: Instrument Maintenance on: 26 February, 2020
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Acoustic and Digital/Electronic pianos
Starting with Acoustic Piano.
This could either be an Upright piano or a Grand Piano as the case may be.
The major difference between the Two is in design and Mechanism. first, We really need to understand how our instrument work and how it is designed to know how to properly take care of it
Acoustic Pianos Are made of well seasoned wood Wood seasoning is a process of *removing the moisture content of a wood and protecting it from Insect invasion
As a result of this you could be sure of that you pianos during manufacturing process have been protected from Insect invasion to a reasonable percentage.
The first thing that could go wrong with our piano is from the wood. even though it has been seasoned.. and also Varnished. Continuous exposure to moisture can destroy your pianos Carcass and sound Board
The following parts of the piano requires special Care
*The Carcass. main Body
*Sound Board
*The Action
*The Key Frame and Keys
*The Stings /Tuning Pins
I've Talked about Keeping the Piano away from moisture. this protects the Carcas/ Sound Boards/ Pedal Frames all which are wooden The keys could sink in or respond slowly to touch.
This is caused by wear and tear of the key felts
These are small piece of cushion around the key pin. also when the felts get moist the tend to swell . This makes the key pins tight hence you may have sinking keys or unresponsive keys... That is if your action is in good shape.
some pianos have heaters in them turning on this device can help solve that problem. the heater helps drain any sort of moisture and regulating the operating temperature of your piano.And hence enhancing the pitch
The main part of the piano which is the action should be protected from dust as much as possible..
The Action has movable parts consisting of the Hammer.. Jack's Let off Flanges etc These parts should move freely.. Continuous and prolonged accumulation. of dusts on these parts will Hinder good response from your piano.. Hence you see pianos that have so many keys sinking the hammers refuse to return after hitting the strings
Keep your Piano Covered when not in use
This protects it from dusts.
The need for regular tuning and regulation by an expert cannot be over emphasised if you know the value of good music*
Examine your piano strings once in a while to look out for rusts Change rusting strings immediately. rust can be prevented by protecting it from moisture.. *I will not recommend applying any anti rust fluid on your strings coz it may affect the Timbre*
Digital and Electronic Keyboards
These are electronics and has a lot of circuitry inside them.
They have 4 Major parts. The Power Section the Program section and the Audio section. And the key panels.
Make sure to always protect them from Power surges. Use Ups and circuit protectors while in use
this saves a whole lot of harm any damage to your Board could cost you a lot of money. Some Boards are as cheap as 200k. to 500k.
Your key panels have a device called Key rubber Contact. This device makes the sound a fault on this device makes you have dead keys on your pianos. most cases is caused by dust and debris underneath the key rubber. some cases is as a result of wear an tear.
protect your keyboards and digital pianos from dust
Minimize moving it fron one place to another. and if it is necessary *do so with a lot of caution
*You can preserve the life of your pianos*
when not in use always turn them off.
Most of the component in them have life span and break down voltages some of them even heat up while in use. e.g. Sound Ics that is why some of them are mounted on *heat sinks
Turn off an idle piano. some Casio pianos have the auto off function when not in use for about 3 mins.
A little Care for your Pianos can make them last longer.
Popoola A. Samuel
26th Feb. 2020