Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Creative ways to tame the sound of a piano

You can add midi, mute rail, and sound engine to an existing piano:

https://www.pianofarm.com/store/p73/Silent__Piano_Kit_to_convert_an_upright_piano_into_a_digital_%28CALL_IN_ORDERS_ONLY_IT_IS_IN_STOCK%29.html

https://www.total-piano-care.com/QRS-PNOscan-Studio.html

My upright from 1914 has a mute rail on the middle pedal. It does not lock in place-- I have to hold the pedal down. I find it wotks well for repetitive practice of a short phrase so as not to make listeners crazy when I play the same phrase 25-50 times in succession. It does not work well for playing an entire piece as it defeats the sound feedback used to adjust touch. With a digital sound engine and headphones you get the feedback from that. It will not be identical so it will be as different as switching between a digital piano and acoustic piano

I keep my upright partly covered in winter with a heavy textured quilt.It seems to maintain the humidity and stability of the tuning.On a few occasions I have played it still covered just because it was convenient.I was amazed at how much softer the piano was. We live in a house so I do not really need to play softly.Still if you try this using a quilt or a blanket, make sure the whole soundboard is covered.

The main point is that it is much easier to make the sound softer on an upright than a grand.(unless you constantly make use of the uni corda pedal?)There are quite a few different and affective methods.

If you have to make the piano too soft to not annoy your neighbors, I can't imagine it will be enjoyable or instructive to play it. If that's the case playing a good digital with headphones will be far more rewarding. Another solution is to make the piano only somewhat softer and work things out with your neighbor as far as practice times and number of hours/day. That's what I did.