No-Skill-Required DIY Piano Tuning Tutorial - AEyers Weekly #35
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 พ.ค. 2024
- This week I show you how and why you can tune your own piano, string by string. I have tips for buying the tools you'll need: a tuning hammer, mutes, and an app. I'll explain a little of the theory behind it before teaching you how to do it yourself.
Æyers (or AEyers) Weekly #35
Type Æ by holidng ALT and typing 146 to find my channel later. - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
I’ve been tuning pianos for 20 years and can’t overemphasize the need for hearing protection. An open piano can be quite loud and will quickly induce ear fatigue without protection. There are many excellent concert ear plugs on the market. I personally use Vibes. You’ll find that you can concentrate on the overtones much easier if you don’t have to deal with the initial loud attack. Good luck and be safe.
Excellent point! I always try to protect my hearing. It’s actually too much for me to be close to the piano while being tuned without ear plugs.
@@normanpecore2969 I had a problem studying at an upright all my life . Due to loudness of sound . Even witha damper . My first digital was a blessing . Practicing with '' real volume '' for hours is unbearable for me . But practicing at a volume like the piano is in another room ....great . So , I am happy to ssee I am not the only one who feel that a piano IS loud :)). As a subnote , I tuned my digital after Gould's recording of inventions . Sounds great for any music.
I’m a professional piano tuner and I can tell you that it took me a solid year of practise at college before I could even get a half decent tuning, and all done by ear only - long before the advent of digital tuning apps. After that it was another few years of getting better until now almost 40 years down the road I can tune a piano to sound excellent in a little over an hour. It was a long road and hundreds of pianos to get good so please don’t underestimate the difficulties that will face you - setting the pin on every note is also an art unto itself that requires skilled feel and practice. Good luck!
Hey man - pro piano tech here. Clearly, you’ve put a lot of thought into this and have a decent understanding of what the process is. Congrats! However, I think you are overestimating the general knowledge level of your viewers.
I predict a lot of broken strings as people attempt an overpull pass on pianos that are 200 cents (or more) flat. And of course, the two-step-flat piano owners are the ones mostly likely looking for a cheap DIY approach.
While I appreciate the idea that an owner could save me time by doing their own rough pass - the truth is that I can do a pitch-raise in about 15 minutes - and that tuning pass often gives me a lot of valuable information about the overall health of the piano. It’s Better to just let me do it.
Many folks don’t understand that most keys have three strings - and that each string in that set should sound identical. I’ve had clients ask if each set should be tuned as a chord or at different octaves. Sounds crazy if you know - but if you’re just starting out??… makes as much sense as anything.
Also; muting… without showing it, this is a big mystery to many people - especially with the strip mute. Once you figure it out, it’s obvious and easy - but without a visual reference, you’re talking way over the level of most beginners.
This is a noble cause, and I admire your approach. Just remember that most folks - even piano players - have no idea how the instrument works.
Cheers!
Thanks for the comment Jay!
My hope for this video was that it would give people confidence that they could tune their piano by giving a concise overview of the process and what's required. If they're going to actually do it, I would be surprised if they didn't watch other videos about muting or unisons or other concepts they didn't understand fully. Of course this is a hard balance to hit and I may have aimed too high with my knowledge level.
What would you recommend for people who have pianos that are 200 cents (or more) flat to prevent broken strings? I'd love to edit the video to include better and safer advice! Maybe pitch raising a maximum of 100(?) cents at a time would help prevent broken strings?
I have nothing but respect for piano professionals and I have no doubt that you could do a pitch raise faster and better than a player. I'm only suggesting it's cheaper. The math on that doesn't work out if they break a string though, so it's important to do this as safely as possible.
- Alex
@@yersweekly4028 Regarding Broken Strings: My teacher used to say that "Only God and the Piano know when a string is going to break - but it's most likely to go during a tuning". For this reason, I didn't fully tune a piano until I knew how to fix a broken string (and had the tools and supplies to do it. God help you if it's a bass string). On an older instrument with corroded strings, even a 30-cent adjustment can be sketchy. Ya just never know.
BTW: If you're attempting to tune a piano and a string breaks, DON'T THROW IT OUT. The technician will need it later for measurements. (Strings come in many different sizes).
But the main question here is "What is the best way for someone with little knowledge and no experience to easily tune a piano so that it's at least 'okay'?"
Honestly, I don't think it can be done. This doesn't come from ego or trying to protect my business - just experience. You wanna mess with your piano? Go for it! You'll probably learn a lot in the process.
But my first actual tuning took more than five hours, and the results sucked (and this was on a good piano with decent tools). It was a serious reality check. Have you - or anyone you know - successfully done this? Maybe I'm slow, but it took a lot of practice for me to get even an "okay" tuning.
I would suggest to anyone who wants to give it try to at least read the tuning section of Arthur Reblitz's book " Piano Servicing, Tuning, and Rebuilding: For the Professional, the Student, and the Hobbyist" You might even want to put a link in your video and make some affiliate money.
Also: Folks can always contact the local Piano Technician's Guild (PTG). Even if you have no intention of becoming a technician, You can learn a lot by attending a meeting or two as a guest. It might give someone the courage to start or the sense to back off.
If you do re-edit the video, I'd like to suggest showing a closeup of how to locate the correct pin, how the unisons work, and exactly how to use the mute(s).
BTW: How AWESOME that you also play guitar. I could never figure it out. Keep it up!
All the Best!
Jay
I don't know if he's going to mention this but don't take your hammer off of the pins. After each string is done and you're ready to move to the next pin, your hammer will serve as a placemark so you know where the "next" string even is. If you remove your hammer, you're lost and have to find your way to the next string. It was a great habit of mine to take the hammer off and then spend time looking for that pin again and it's an open invitation to make mistakes and perhaps be working on the wrong string. Boing!
It doesn't sound like he's going to mention the wobble, called beating when the strings are almost at the same pitch. You'll hear it. You can't miss it. As you close in on the right frequency, the wobbling gets slower and finally stops. You'll overshoot it a couple of times and then you'll be an expert. You can get them to behave very easily.
Also, temperament is just a cheat to allow you to play a song in any key. You do it by opening or tightening intervals using the A440 as the reference note and listening for beats indicating stretched or compressed intervals. It's how pianos are tuned. Don't ask...yet.
"You don't want to waster his time and your money tuning the piano roughly when you can do that yourself" - THAT.....is brilliant! 🙂 As a professional tuner, I would actually appreciate that. But learn how to replce a broken string because you probably will break strings.
I tune my own piano, you are correct on your approach. Tip, always use your ear over the app, I broke a string once cause the app was telling me to go sharp cause it took one misreading, I was playing the octave and it didn’t sound right and I kept going sharp and it broke, I should have trusted my ear!
Great job on the video!! Clear, precise & to the point. Can't ask for much more than that!!
Dont do this people. First of all, without proper training you will end up with a broken strings, and if that happen to be a bass string with a copper wiring, good luck finding replacement. Not to mention price of new string and price of instalment.
Secondly, the "not wasting time of profesional tuner" part is nonsense as well. Any piano technician/tuner worth their salt can do a pitch adjustment in a very short time, say 30-40 minutes. Then he will repeat the process again. Then he will drink his coffee and take a piss. Then do the proper tuning. All of this in a matter of maybe 3-4 hours.
Even if you dont break your string, you will be adjusting the pitch for MANY HOURS.
Thirdly, working the tuning pin too much will make it more loose and potentially prone to lose pitch in the long term.
Dont experiment with your piano. Unless its a situation where you are deciding to either trash the piano or experiment. In that case, go ahead, replace the strings with a fishing wires or whatever you feel like is a good idea.
In ideal situation, profesional will also check all other problems your piano may have and solve them before its too late. Then schedule second tuning in a week or two if really necesarry.
I always encourage people to try to tune their own piano. If they’re successful they’ve learned a skill which I love doing but most people will spend 8 hours trying to tune a piano then call me and appreciate what it is I do. Pretty much you’ll spend a couple of hundred dollars so expect that, do NOT expect it to be in tune until you tune it several times. Or you can pay a tech around $175 to service your instrument, I will do a better job, it will be faster and then I stand behind my work. Additionally tuning is only one of the service items that a piano needs. When I service I look for emergent problems, so I take care of the problem before it’s a problem. Best of luck!
I don’t know what is different between your audio equipment or piano, but compared to the piano tuning videos I’ve watched the past week the overtone when you tune at 13:30 is sooo much clearer.
Zoomed-in Cookie Monster shirt is actually quite profound. // Such a great tutorial, and really a great introduction to the art of piano tuning. I am a note-to-color music theorist and and A-432 composer. Many people are tuning down to A-432 scientific pitch (from A-440) because of supposed healing and even vocal & singing benefits. The Acoustic Rabbit Hole encourages viewers to give this pitch-reference a try. (It's not quite 1/3 flatter than A-440 Hz). I also find that older, antique pianos favor a looser tuning because there is slightly less tension over the entire piano body. // Another note is that old antique pianos that have their original strings, those strings have higher chance of snapping. Modern strings are made to be slightly elastic to avoid this. (And this is another good reason to tune to A-432 Hz. It helps avoid strings snapping!) My advice to ensure your sting doesn't snap when tightening it: Use the tuning-lever to actually LOOSEN the string slightly first. This will let the wire flex and stretch like a uptight tendon before a Jane Fonda workout. (Ha). After loosening the string, simply proceed with tuning it with the tuning-lever. // Also, for those interested, my theoretical work on music and healing tones, and my Theory of Pitch Psychology, do visit me here on uToob at: The Acoustic Rabbit Hole. - God Bless!!! - The Acoustic Rabbit Hole
I've viewed a few of these piano tuning videos, and they're all good (I'm a tuner/tech). Just one thing I would just throw in to any of these talks is to mention the importance of piano placement in the home - i.e., when at all possible, never near a window or drafty area, as the constant temperature change will throw the tuning off fairly quickly.
I have trouble hearing and counting the beats. So I use Piano meter as a visual guide as a back up to what I’m hearing. It’s excellent. I’ve done courses and tuning for some 25 years. But pianos are notoriously bad at going flat or sharp after you’re done tuning. Be aware of this. A few passes are necessary, even if the pitch raise is 5 cents as mine was… also make sure you do the checks. You must get pleasing sounding 10ths and 17ths.. if you get a wolf then the interval is too wide or narrow.
Great video. Just pick up a free used piano and thought I'd try to tune it myself. Bc my ears are not the greatest, why not tune 1st and 3rd strings with Pianometer by monitoring the Hz to match the middle string?
You asking why not tune all 3 strings of a unison, one at a time, to the ETD. Answer: The unison will sound better if done by ear. Those 3 strings will not be absolutely identical e.g. they may be different lengths because of variation in the bridge, the agraffe in a grand may not be perfectly 90 degrees, the wire may have some thickness variation, etc, Doing the unisons by ear finds the best compromise to deal with these variations.
It's fine to tune the very top octave unisons string by string to the machine due to the short sustain and the difficulty in hearing the beats. But learn to tune all other unisons by ear. It isn't actually difficult. If someone can tune a guitar by ear, they can quickly learn to tune piano unisons.
Forget it.
A professional piano tuner exercises during four years for 30 minutes each day before even having the chance of obtaining the pro license. At least in Switzerland, where craftmanship in professions really means mastering the field of work, you learn for 4 years in order to get the license as a certified piano tuner. Not in order to hear the beats, because that even some amateurs can do if they listen carefully, but in order that the tone holds: It's in the handling of the hammer and the feel for the tension of the strings where the art lies. No amateur will ever get to that level with a DIY video.
Yes, as an amateur one actually can tune a piano to a certain level (leaving apart the correct spreading ("Spreizung" in German). But it will never hold as good as a professionally tuned one. After a few weeks, it's a mess. Even worse: Once you start working badly on a piano, it will get out of tune even faster, and then faster and even faster until it is a hopeless case.
So, if your piano means something for you:
Do not experiment on your valuable instrument.
Period.
Warning:::It will take hours and hours to get close to a satisfying tuning.
An important discrepancy in his presentation is that a professional tuner will actually tune a piano twice in one setting if he/she are tuning it for the 1st time and it is very badly out of tune. The first tuning is a rough tuning, called a pitch raise. The second tuning is a fine tuning. Wa-la! Ready to go, stable, accurate tuning. So, you've spent $65 on tuning hammer and mutes and felt strip. Plus $25 for app he suggests (not an app tuners recommend) = $90.....or $150-$200 for accurate, stable tuning. BUT if you have more time than money, it's a stop gap measure.
Nice video that explains the concept. Will the pins be extremely tight over time? I find the pins in my piano take a lot of effort to turn. It also looks like my piano was tuned to A432 instead of A440. Is that normal?
My piano is also tuned to 432 Hertz.
@@hendrikstachberg5818 could be two things.
Due to yearly climate changes a piano both raises and lowers the pitch, especially in the lower middle section so if this isn't corrected the piano will go flat over time. Hence why its recommended to tune your piano atleast once per year and that's even if it's not in use as getting it back to 440hz after it falls flat will tent to require more than one tuning.
When I'm at a customer I gauge what the use will be and then make my recommendation wether to tune it "where it is" or if a pitch raise is the best choice. If its just for Xmas songs on Xmas eve then it might be better to tune it "where it's at" as this will give a more stable tuning there and then but if the customers play together with apps or TH-cam for example, then a pitchraise is needed. One also have to consider if the piano can even handle a pitch raise.
Informative content, but I think it's a little misleading to say "no skill required" for piano tuning. Piano tuning does, INDEED, require a level of skill...and a lot of hands-on practice as well to do it correctly.
Very interesting and entertaining! I think you have a great ear though!
I'm curious, are you two related?! Sorry to intrude!!
“Better than a professional” though? Hmmm maybe wrong choice of words. But thx for posting
It takes 20 minutes for a professional tuner to raise the pitch of a piano. It is often part and parcel of tuning a piano. Why "prepare" a piano for the tuner to fine tune it when it can be "prepared" there and then by someone who understands all the pitfalls...all in one sitting? You have invented a problem that does not exist. You are unnecessarily setting non-tuners up for wrecking their piano. If the piano is garbage to start with then ok. Otherwise, leave well alone. I'd 'tuned' well over a thousand pianos before I could call myself a piano tuner. The same is true for most piano tuners.
It took me 10 years self taught till today just can say only 60% competence. Instead of listening to note which partial need to focus, how to minimize annoying beats. All these without expert hands on guidance is no no. I would say pianist could DIY making unison sounds beatless and that is. Humidity and temperature affects pitch significantly so using app to check individual note doesn’t make sense.
Hey, DIY cranial surgery---No-Skill-Required !
Starting to tune your own piano, not being a trained professional…….is a bit like doing your own amateur surgery. Yes….a knife can go in and slice into the body and get to where the problem may be……but knowing what you are doing and why is rather important, and may lead to some problems. I suggest employing a trained surgeon.
I'm not trying to be negative here but there is no chance that a newbie could follow these instructions and get anything close to a decent tuning on the piano. I notice that you did not PLAY the piano for us so as to evaluate your tuning. I consider this video to be misleading and possibly dangerous. I've tuning and rebuilding pianos for 47 years. 15 min of "instruction"...no chance. Sorry
Bold words from someone with a 15 minute "Tuning a Temperament" video uploaded to their channel lol
In all seriousness, I have the utmost respect for professional piano tuners and tried to make it clear in my video that a professional tuner can and will get better results. They won't be able to get professional-level tuning with this, but they'll be able to get it from "painful to hear" to "pretty good". I don't have any training, this is what I did and I think I achieved decent tuning. I have many videos on my channel playing the piano, so you and others may evaluate the results of this method.
Have a great day!
@@yersweekly4028 You'd do well to sit down & listen to his 15 minute instructional video
He plays the piano at the end, yeah..?
What app do you recommend
I recommend Piano Meter.
Android: pianometer.com/
Apple: apps.apple.com/us/app/pianometer-piano-tuner/id1515529208
If you are on android, tunlab is free and is of professional grade. But takes some getting used to to use. But it has a lot more information if you wish to eventually go further.
The best app is the one that runs on the software you carry between your ears.
@@davidjenson4512 That is the only true software that will be able to tell you if its truly in tune. The others are simply approximations. It does take some time to get used to the interface though ;)
Only if one has perfect pitch. My piano teacher in High School used to walk around carrying a tuning fork to practice.
But you can’t tuna fish!
Tune better then a professional? LMAO ! Good luck folks. Oh, and when you break that string then what? I guess you'll end up calling a real Piano Tuner. The piano is still out of tune at the end of the video by the way. You need to be able to tune a clean unison or a piano will never sound in tune!. If you do attempt to tune your own piano be carefull with broken strings, They can be dangerous.
A comment, simply because of all the piano tuners telling you a DIYer can't tune a piano. YES YOU CAN! But it does take practice and commitment. For someone who is 'mechanically' minded and tenacious (don't bother if you don't have both those qualities) you're not going to get a good result first go, but with each successive effort (supported by research to understand tuning hammer technique, which itself is a hotly debated issue) you will get there.
It is absolutely essential you invest in a quality professional level tuning app such as PianoMeter. With that, and good hammer technique, plus the ability to tune unisons by ear (if you can tune a guitar by ear you are 90% of the way there) and a couple quality tools you will eventually be able to do a high quality job.
Hello! Please practice on a free or junk piano. No matter how "handy" you are it takes years to begin to understand how to properly tune a piano. End of story!!!