bring it back

A strong basis of my training has always been as a technician as I trained for 10 years in repair and restoration; from fully rebuilding grand pianos to sticking broken keys and squeaky pedals. The most beautiful thing about a piano is that they are still made the old way from wood, metal and felt and so you can always work with them and repair them. Sometimes there may not be anything broken, it may just need regulating which means ‘setting back up’.

When a piano is played for years the felts compress resulting in free play, this is where the key is moving but not the hammer causing bobbling hammers or the note to sound twice. In this situation the action just needs adjusting back to where it was originally when the piano was new, once done the difference in how the keyboard feels and plays can be dramatic. This is a common problem as is the voicing and toning of a piano. Tuning is just one part of the overall sound that you hear, you can change the tone to be warmer or brighter depending on your taste and make the sound louder or softer to match your style. So if your piano isn’t meeting your requirements, maybe with a little bit of work you could feel like you’re playing in the Albert Hall rather than on Uncle Albert’s old piano!!