Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum I finally got a new upright piano.

Today I have played alot and getting to know it more, I would say the action is a bit lighter than medium over all and getting about medium in the bass range, it is very responsive and exact. I keep the relative humidity at 45% since I believe that is a good level.
I have ordered some acoustic foam panels shaped with small pyramids to try since I think it will be good to reduce the sound level and also my neighbours might appreciate that.

45% is a great relative humidity level based on everything I've read. I'm stuck with 55% +/- 5% for the time being. Anecdotally, I believe there is something to what your tuner/tech said, per your earlier post in this thread, about letting the hammers "settle in." As aforementioned, my Seiler was built in 2011, but it's not pre-owned. The more I play it, the deeper and mellower the sound gets. It's as if the shoulders are expanding and becoming more shock absorbent the more the hammers are played, maybe? Also, the action doesn't feel nearly as stiff as when it arrived two months ago; however, at least some of that is surely a result of my technique having adjusted to it after many hours of practice.

Looking forward to 2 area rugs with size-matched, 1/4" thick felt padding to go under them that should be here within a few days. A smaller one for under the piano and a much larger one for the rest of the room. Will let the forum know what effect these have, if any, on the sound.

It will affect the sound for sure. I use a humidifier right now and control humidity with a professional instrument I got yesterday to make sure it is correct, my old one was way off according to my piano tuner and it is now in the bin.

Good to know, thank you. Looks like this is my next project.

You're right! The rugs haven't arrived yet, but the felt pads to go under them just did (figured felt would be good, since it's used to dampen sound in pianos), so I threw those down and whoa what a difference. Way more than expected. I can play with the top up and without the una corda now. So happy.

Great news that the rug pad worked out so well for you! Cheers 😊

As far as I know pianos get brighter the longer they're played(of course, this assumes no voicing), and the part of the hammer where the string strikes compacts more and more(the opposite of expanding). This doesn't mean you can't like sound more than earlier. It may be possible that something in the piano's environment is making the piano mellower despite the hammers compacting, but I don't know what that could be. Maybe another poster will expand on this.

Just guessing here.

One possibility: the original factory hammers were A. made from felt that's on the softer side of the curve, and B. never had a tech properly sand away the shoulders surrounding the strike point. (Many new hammers have excess felt in the strike point plane that *really really* needs to be removed before the owner begins playing, but frequently never is.)

In cases like that what could happen is that as the piano gets used and the strike point(s) proper compacts into the hammer, the excess felt on the shoulders in the strike point plane "fold inwards", especially on harder blows. In situations like that, the inner sides of the (shoulda been sanded off) strike point plane shoulders (barely) contact the strings a millisecond before AND after the proper strike points hit the strings, muting and softening (to differing degrees).

Visualize throwing a rubber ball at a wall and how it bounces back. Then visualize what happens if the ball has just barely to brush by some fabric to the sides just before and just after hitting the wall. Energy gets absorbed by the fabric and changes the balls behavior.

The above cannot happen when the excess strike plane shoulder felt is removed, and very unlikely to occur on harder felts, even with excess felt in the strike point plane.

What you have may have *nothing* to do with this, but to be sure, a tech good at voicing could just look at them closely to see whether that may be a contributing cause, and fix it if it is. The time frame, 10 years, is about right, assuming frequent playing.

If you want it fixed that is.

De gustibus non est disputandum.

(The exact same issue occurs pretty frequently with ANCIENT poor quality very soft hammers that are near the end of life, and have never ever been shaped. Softest mushy tone possible. BUT, when properly shaped, LO, the hard compacted felt on the strike point (now hitting the strings properly) is nice and hard, the tone changes hugely, and voila, like a different piano. But that's not your situation. I'm probably wrong this has anything to do with it anyway.)

Thanks, dogperson. My Indo-Seiler sounds so good now. The Rameau piece I've been working on is almost there, so within about a week I'll record it on a Zoom H6 so anybody who wants to can hear it. The ornaments in the piece come off so deeply and richly I keep playing them over and over again to hear (and feel) the resonance the Membrator soundboard generates through the air. Will post it another recent thread, where the OP was trying to decide between an ED-168 and other brands/models, when it's ready.

That's my understanding, too; however, I've heard or read (don't recall where, after seeing so much material on voicing and what-not over the last two months it's all lost in a haze) that if the hammer shoulders were deep-needled at the factory during prep, the hammers will expand somewhat once a piano that hasn't been played much out of the factory is finally played a lot by the initial owner, thus becoming a little less dense at first. Whether that's true, I don't know.

I got the panels a few hours ago and after some fitting it is in place. A massive difference, now it sound more mellow and I can hit the keys without getting those horrible reflexes from the wall. I can recommend this if your piano is close to a concrete/hard wall. The panels are 2 inches/ 5 cm thick with 5 cm side pyramids.

Another picture:

Hooray!
Got a good dehumidifier yesterday. Now mine's at a solid 45% like yours.

I am glad it worked out for Starre.Some do not have these problems if they move the piano about 5or 6 inches away from the wall /and or have a carpet and enough upholstery in the room.However this was a quick easy solution.Enjoy your new piano.

I am glad you have a humidifier.The best humidity level is the one you can sustain in a close range.That could be 45, 55 even 60.If however you keep it at 45 and then next weak it is 65 because have to go way often that would not be good.If its 45 in the day and the humidifier is turned off at night, and it is 58 the next morning then that is not good either.The smallest range of humidity is what is important.

Nice MrSh4nkly, do not go lower than 45, between 45 and 50 is probably best.
I know Steinway recommends 42 but that can be hard to reach when it gets humid.
Tre corda said "glad you have a humidifier" but probably meant dehumidifier, but I am in a climate where you need both, in the winter it gets very dry and I am running my humidifier hard now to get it to 45%.

@ tre corda and Starre, good to know, thanks. Luckily, the outside relative humidity doesn't change much throughout the year where I am, so keeping a steady 45% shouldn't be difficult. If it is, I'll try bumping it to 50%. (My machine only allows increments of 5%.)

Thanks Starre yes I meant dehumidifier.😃

Today I played 2.5 hours and lost all concept of time, it was really fun and I love the action .

^Symptom of a shift from the left side of the brain (where most of us must operate during the day in order to be able to make a living) to the right side. Same thing can happen with drawing, painting or any other creative activity. It's such a wonderful feeling...almost transcendental. Could've been minutes. Could've been hours.

Yes something like that happened, I am glad I took the step to get a new acoustic piano.