Broken strings

Broken Strings

Let's suppose you have stepped into a time machine which has transported you back to the year 1875. You are walking down the main street of a frontier town in the American Old West, when you hear a loud bang coming from the saloon bar, after which the tinkling of the piano falls silent. Should you:

(a) Pelt down to the local sheriff's office as fast as your legs will carry you to warn everyone that the Coyote Kid and his band of outlaws are back in town or;
(b) Send for a piano tuner?

The answer is - b (well, possibly).

I recently read an article on the internet, on the subject of myths about the "Wild West". It mentioned that guns were not nearly as ubiquitous as you might suppose if you learnt about the period from John Wayne films; many towns and cities had rules prohibiting the carriage of firearms. So if you heard a sound like a gunshot coming from the saloon it might not be a six-shooter going off but... the sound of a string breaking on the piano.

In the mid-19th Century it was not uncommon for piano strings to break when the instrument was being played, although more usually when subject to a virtuoso attack. Franz Liszt (1811-1887) was famous not only for breaking strings in prodigious quantities in concerts (apperently people would fight over them as souvenirs), but sometimes even for cracking the case of the instrument! Fortunately modern pianos are much more robust than in Liszt's time, with cast iron frames and piano wire much improved from that used in the past; however even today, it is not unheard of for a string to break while being played (though it is fairly rare).

Piano strings, under high tension, can also occasionally break in the course of a tuning and they do go off with rather a spectacular bang. For this reason, if you're very nervous (should I say highly-strung?) don't try and tune a piano. However, as I've had a few jobs recently that have involved replacing strings, I thought I would explain a bit about why they break and how they can be replaced.

Why do strings break?

Piano strings are made of high-grade steel wire, which is normally just polished (sometimes plated). The thicker bass strings have copper windings around a steel core.

The most common cause in my experience is pianos that have not been tuned for a long while and/ or have rust on the strings through being stored in a high-humidity environment. This can mean that oxidation can build up between the string itself and the bearing points (e.g. pressure bar, agraffe or the coil itself on the tuning pin) so that instead of the string sliding smoothly, it "catches" on the rusty surface and then breaks. This can sometimes (not always) be overcome by taking the string down in pitch before raising it. Of course the rust can also just weaken the wire to the point where it snaps anyway.

It is also possible, but less common, for pianos with no visible rust or oxidation problem to break, which may be due to defective manufacture of the wire; sometimes the wire seems to get "fatigued" on certain pianos for no especially obvious reason. Occasionally you can get several breakages on the same part of the same piano, which is likely due to the batch of string that was originally used.

How are strings replaced?

A competent piano technician should be able to replace a broken string for you. I normally make a special visit since there are around 20 gauges of steel wire commonly used in pianos and it's not practicable to carry them around on the offchance they'll be needed - however I do keep commonly-used gauges in stock at home. I will measure a broken string with a micrometer to find the correct diameter, then bring wire of the correct gauge with me.

 Piano string comes in half-kilo reels

Bass strings (with copper windings) are a special case since they cannot be replaced with generic wire - the string must be specially made to order by a string maker which is much more expensive (commonly around £25 each).

Breakages are most common on the treble strings, where the wire is at a tension closer to its theoretical breaking strain than in the tenor and bass; but strings can break in any part of the piano.

Replacing the strings involves carefully winding out the tuning pins and coiling a new piece of wire onto the them. Replacing a treble string, or fitting a new copper-wound bass string, is usually reasonably straightforward, but if the note is in the tenor area of the piano, where the steel strings normally extend underneath the bass strings (overstringing), it can be a longer and more fiddly job.

If a string on your piano breaks whilst you are playing, save the old string since the piano technician will need to measure it to find the correct replacement. If it has been lost, then its dimensions can usually be estimated by measuring the strings next door to it.

Do piano tuners normally charge for replacing broken strings?

Must tuners (myself included) will normally charge for replacing a string because it's part of the normal ongoing maintenance of your piano, and not something that can be avoided completely however skilled the tuner is. In instances where there is a high risk of breakages (such as pitch raises on pianos that have not been tuned for many years, or where there are rusty strings), I will normally mention this risk at the beginning. The charge for bass string replacement is greater because of the cost of ordering the strings.

Feeling the stretch

Another issue when replacing the strings is that new ones will invariably stretch appreciably after being first fitted, so it may take some time for the tuning to stabilize on the affected note(s). This can be alleviated (but not eliminated) by using a string stretcher, which is a tool with a small wheel that can be run up and down the string. This "pushes" the wire and causes the stretching process to take place more quickly. Unfortunately this method can't be used on the copper-wound bass strings.

A string stretcher (right) with a coil lifter and stringing hook, two other tools used in restringing

Anyway, the video below really has nothing whatever to do with broken strings but I thought that as Franz Liszt got a mention it would be an appropriate segue into my favourite four-hands rendition of the Second Hungarian Rhapsody, performed by Victor Borge and Sahan Arzruni:

Honky-tonk piano tuning

I recently got asked about honky-tonk piano tuning. Honky-tonk was a style that was extremely popular, on both sides of the Atlantic, from the early 1950s until the 1970s. Jim Hession gives a great explanation of it in this video from You Tube.

Popular exponents of this style in Britain included Winifred Atwell and Mrs Mills. The music was frequently played on pianos that had been specially tuned or treated in some way to give the impression of an old, out-of-tune upright.

The heyday of honky-tonk piano has long since passed so the question doesn't arise very much, but it is possible to achieve this effect using the following methods:

• What NOT to do: Sticking drawing pins in the hammers was a favourite old trick to give a tinny, metallic sound. This isn't a good idea for the future life expectancy of your piano - when the drawing pins are removed the holes soften the felt which will give a "cotton wool" effect to the tone of the hammers (rather like a very bad voicing), and if they're left in they can eventually end up splitting the felt so the hammer head falls apart.
• A few pianos were built with a "mandolin attachment" which consists of a piece of flexible material (normally felt) with metal tabs attached to the end of each one, which is inserted between the hammers and the strings (it would also be possible to install one of these manually if not already fitted). Although not as bad as drawing pins, this might still deform or damage the nose of the hammers in prolonged use, so at best should be employed sparingly.
• It's possible to treat the hammers with a hardening solution; this will give a brighter, harsher sound which is reminiscent of what happens when normal hammers become grooved through many years of use. This method won't cause any harm to the piano, but is irreversible unless you want to spend several hundred pounds having all the hammers replaced.
• Finally, the safest method is to ask a tuner to de-tune the unisons for you. Firstly a conventional tuning is carried out, then for all the bichords and trichords, one of the two or three strings is moved slightly out of tune (perhaps about one or two beats). "Subtle" is generally the better option here. This won't do any harm at all to your piano and is completely reversible at a later date (although you'll have to call the tuner again if you get fed up with it).

Personally I enjoy this type of music, although given the choice I prefer to hear it on a conventionally-tuned piano, or at least one where the honky-tonk effect is not too over the top.

To round off, here's a video of the wonderful Mrs Mills appearing with Eric & Ernie in 1971:

Pianos and humidity

From time to time I get jobs that involve fixing loose tuning pins on pianos. The pins (which maintain and control tension on the strings) are generally between 50 and 65mm long and are driven into a thick piece of wood called the wrest plank.

The reason I mention this is to raise the topic of how humidity can affect your piano. Although temperature changes can make a difference, a piano is likely to be fairly happy as long as the variation isn't too extreme. More problematic are changes in humidity - specifically relative humidity (the amount of water vapour in the air as a proportion of the saturation point at any temperature). Relative humidity can easily be measured using a hygrometer - these can be purchased very inexpensively from shops or on the internet (left-hand picture shows an analogue type, the right-hand one a digital; these are both combined thermometer/ hygrometers). Hygrometers generally need to "settle" in a room for a certain length of time before giving a true reading.

Generally speaking, pianos are happy with relative humidity in the central range (40 to 60%); allowing humidity to get lower or higher than this for long periods may cause problems. In practice, high humidity conditions can occur when pianos are stored in locations such as unheated outbuildings or the piano is in a damp or cold place (possibly close to a poorly-insulated outside wall). Low humidity however is a more common problem in modern centrally-heated houses because during the winter cold air from outside is heated without adding any moisture, so the relative humidity drops very rapidly (warm air can hold much more water vapour than cold air). For example, if air at 4ºC is taken in from outside at 80% relative humidity and heated to 22ºC inside the house, the humidity level drops to just 25%.

Common symptoms of low humidity conditions (35% relative humidity or less) are:

• Loose tuning pins due to drying out of the wood in the wrest plank. These can sometimes be fixed, but tuners will charge for doing this and in some cases may have to install a new string since the pin may need to be removed to fix the problem
• Soundboard (and sometimes other wooden parts) may start to crack or split

An important point to note is that older pianos (because of the materials used) are generally much less tolerant of very dry conditions that newer ones. If you can't keep your piano in a cooler place and a fairly long way from radiators during the winter, then consider getting a more modern instrument.

Problems that may be associated with damp (over 65% relative humidity) conditions are:

• Film of rust may appear on steel strings and tuning pins, and verdigris on copper
• Mildew on wooden parts
• Veneer peeling on case
• Keys and action parts sticking or sluggish
• Problems can result when the piano dries out (e.g. things coming unglued).

Alleviating the problem of very low humidity

• If a hygrometer shows there is a problem, consider putting the piano into a room other than the main living room (dining rooms are a popular choice) where the heating can be kept on a slightly lower setting during the winter
• Otherwise see if you can turn the heating down a little generally
• Keep the piano some distance away from any radiators or other direct heat sources
• Keep it out of direct sunlight if possible
• It is possible to purchase humidity control systems, though these are only likely to be a sensible investment for more expensive pianos.

Leaving a jar of water laying around in the room will not be enough to make any significant difference to the humidity, though putting it inside the base of an upright with the top closed might just be enough to help a little - however if you do, remember that it's there when you move the piano and don't spill it or it could cause damage.

Oddly enough, allowing the temperature to fluctuate a little more in the room (cooler in winter and warmer in summer) may help to moderate the humidity variations that are so bad for your piano. 

"Standard" or "concert" pitch - what is it and is my piano tuned to it?

What is generally referred to as either standard or concert pitch is an absolute frequency to which a reference note is tuned on pianos or other instruments. The note which is always used as a reference is A above middle C (A49 on a piano), and the standard pitch for this note is 440Hz.

440Hz was agreed as a standard at an international conference in May 1939, and was adopted in 1955 by the International Standards Organization (ISO 16). It's used in most parts of the world, including Britain and North America; however some European countries (informally) use higher-pitch tunings such as A=444Hz.

Very often when out tuning I come across pianos that are a long way below this - sometimes a semitone or even a tone lower. Generally, these are older pianos where the pitch has drifted down over a period of many years of sometimes irregular tuning. To bring these pianos up to pitch requires the tuner to undertake two operations - firstly a fast rough tuning to get it close to the required level, then a fine tune to get the notes at exactly the right pitch. Because this is a more complex and time-consuming job than a standard fine tuning (just doing the piano once), most tuners will quite reasonably charge more money for the service.

If you have a piano that is well below standard pitch and you're having it tuned, the first question to ask is whether you would like it brought up to pitch. Any piano can be tuned perfectly well to itself, and leaving a piano below pitch does not damage it in any way, although the tone may arguably not be quite as good. What are the considerations for doing this?

There are some (generally older) pianos where a pitch raise may be inadvisable, due to the condition of the instrument (e.g. if the strings are rusty, there is a risk of breakages). A tuner should be able to advise on whether it is a sensible idea to attempt this, although it should be possible with most instruments in a reasonable condition.

Assuming the piano is OK to have its pitch raised, the following are important reasons for getting an instrument to pitch:
(i)    Playing with other instruments (which will be tuned to A440)
(ii)    Singing with the piano to a high standard
(iii)    Playing along with recordings.

If the piano is used solely for individual practice (or singalong-type singing), there is no imperative need for it to be on pitch, though many pianists prefer it to be nonetheless.

If I come across an instrument well below pitch, I will always ascertain the needs of the customer and check before carrying out a pitch raise. I am perfectly happy to tune a piano at a lower pitch (normally cheaper) if this is a better option for the owner. Additionally, if the piano is subsequently regularly tuned, there is an option to raise the pitch in small steps.

One point to note is that if a piano is already at standard pitch and kept regularly tuned (generally at least once a year), the tuner should "nudge" the tuning of the piano very slightly up as needed to keep it there; under these circumstances there's no excuse for the tuner to allow it to go flat.

Aural vs electronic tuning - which is better?

One of the questions I sometimes get asked on my rounds is about electronic tuning devices (ETDs) for piano tuning - do I use one and are they any good?

The picture above is of a Korg OT-120 chromatic tuner, which I'm "testing" with a tuning fork. In my opinion it's one of the best chromatic tuners out there. I use it to set the first string when tuning a piano, to check the piano is on pitch (although I can tune to a fork, it takes a little longer). This is the only piece of electronic equipment I have.

After this, the electronic tuner has done its job and gets put away - it can't be used to tune a whole piano - and I complete the entire remainder of the tuning by ear. This isn't because of any fault with the tuner itself - rather it's because of the way piano strings behave.

When a string vibrates between two fixed points, it vibrates separately through portions of its length (whole, half, one third, one quarter, one fifth and so on), which create additional tones (called overtones or partials) in addition to the fundamental frequency. Thus, A below middle C, which should have a frequency of 220Hz at standard pitch, will also produce overtones at 440Hz, 660Hz, 880Hz and so on.

However, because a piano string is slightly stiff and not perfectly flexible, the overtones actually end up being slightly higher in pitch than they theoretically should be. When a piano tuner is putting the instrument into tune, (s)he is actually matching the overtones of lower notes to the fundamental pitch of higher notes. This leads to the phenomenon of "stretch" - the octaves on a well-tuned piano are actually wider than they theoretically should be. The reason for doing things this way is simply that the piano sounds better. When tuning aurally, the ear listens for these consonances and stretches the tuning automatically (after proper training).

This brings us back to the question of the tuning devices. The Korg is a chromatic tuner which gives us theoretically correct frequencies, so if we used it to tune a whole piano, the "stretch" would be missing. Most people agree that a piano tuned this way sounds pretty awful!

However, there are some modern software applications that are able to sample the sound of the piano and calculate a suitable stretch. Most of these applications cost from a couple of hundred pounds upwards. This is the point where the controversy starts.

Which is the better method?

Some people claim that the aural method gives a better tuning because the electronics can never replicate the human ear. Others actually claim that "electronic/ computer accuracy" is better than aural tuning; which is correct?

The first thing to understand is that the ETD is a tool for tuners, not a tool that makes someone a tuner. There are other important parts of tuning technique, for example tuning unisons (most notes have three strings) and almost everyone agrees that the only way to get really good unisons is by ear. This is a tough enough job in itself.

Although I don't use one myself, I believe that ETDs have sometimes acquired a much worse reputation than they deserve, due to the misconception that they will allow someone with no skill and experience to tune a piano. In the hands of capable technicians, some of whom do use these devices, excellent tunings can be produced. However, in these cases, the technician is using experience and skill, listening to the tuning in conjunction with the ETD, to get a good result. Some tuners find they are able to achieve good results more quickly in some circumstances with this method.

Simply trying to tune by looking at a needle without listening to notes and intervals does NOT give good results. Any skilled tuner should be able to listen to and appraise the work they have done, to check what the electronic device is telling them is correct. Tuning a piano is about making it sound good, not about pegging it to a set of mathematically "correct" frequencies.

My reason for not using an ETD is a personal one - when I'm tuning, I just find it a distraction. This is a comment on me, not on the quality of the equipment.

Conclusion: some skilled tuners use purely aural methods and some use electronic tuning devices. Either method is fine, but the tuner must have the skill and experience to be able to listen to the work they have done and check whether it's a good tuning or not.

Tony Martin

I'm very sad to report the death of my good friend Tony Martin earlier this week, after a battle with cancer which lasted for several months.

Tony lived in London for many years, and whilst there worked for the family business and in youth and community work, a field in which he excelled. He was a Liberal Party activist (in pre-merger days) and also studied in Sunderland for three years for a degree.

I first met Tony when he moved to York in the 90s. Immediately he applied his talents to a new situation, and turned his hand to running history tours for a while. He stood as a candidate for the Green Party in the local elections in 1999 (for Knavesmire Ward) and again in 2003 (for Micklegate Ward), the same year in which the Greens gained their first seats on the council in the neighbouring Fishergate Ward.

Tony became very interested in boating and waterways, and was the main driving force behind the establishment of the North Riding Branch of the Inland Waterways Association, in which he continued to play a pivotal role right up to the end. He also took a community boating certificate and was lead lock-keeper at Castle Mills Lock in York, which is operated by IWA volunteers under agreement from City of York Council (the owners). He attended a training session for new volunteers last September (picture above).

He also edited nine issues of "Ouse News" and subsequently fourteen issues of the "Northern Navigation News" (after the IWA newsletter was retitled), whilst continuing his networking and tireless advocacy to advance the cause of boating and the waterways in York and the surrounding area.

Tony's volunteering and community work in other areas continued to expand; he was actively involved as a member of the Guildhall Ward Planning Panel, with York's Unitarian Chapel in St Saviourgate, as a tenant inspector for the Council, for the York Older People's Forum and as a volunteer guide at Fairfax House in Castlegate.

I think what is most memorable about Tony is the immense energy that he brought to the many and varied things that he did throughout his life. He will be greatly missed.

Andy

How often does a piano need tuning?

A commonly-asked question is how often a piano should be tuned. The standard recommendation is every six months for a piano that is in a normal domestic environment, though some people choose to leave the piano for a longer period (a year or so). In a lot of cases, a piano left much longer than this will start to go quite noticeably out of tune.

New (or recently restrung) pianos will require very frequent tuning (every 3 months) for the first year or so - this is because the strings actually continue to stretch for a while after being installed on the piano and first brought up to pitch. After this, it should be fine to revert to a more normal tuning schedule.

What causes a piano to go out of tune?

The biggest single factor is changes in humidity, although temperature can also have an effect. The wooden parts of the piano will expand and contract very slightly as the relative humidity changes. In most centrally-heated homes, the humidity will decrease in the winter months because cold air is warmed up without adding any moisture to it, which makes the relative humidity drop, whilst in summer doors and windows are opened allowing in relatively moist air from outside.

Do all  pianos go out of tune at about the same rate?

Generally speaking, older pianos tend to go out of tune more quickly than newer ones because, over a period of time, the wrest plank (the piece of wood that holds the tuning pins) can dry out if the piano has been in a low-humidity environment and its grip on the pins will loosen. Additionally, newer pianos (post-1945) normally have wrest planks made of bonded cross-ply timber (rather like plywood) which is better able to resist the low-humidity conditions of modern central heating than the solid wood planks on older instruments.

Can a piano be "damaged" by not being tuned regularly?

The answer is no, simply not tuning a piano does not in and of itself cause harm to the piano or cause it deteriorate (though storing it in very damp, very dry or otherwise unsuitable conditions will). However, there are some significant disadvantages to leaving a piano untuned for a long period of time; gradually the pitch of the piano will drop and it is then a very much bigger job for a tuner to get it back into a good tuning condition (and on pitch) than if the piano has been kept regularly tuned (most tuners will quite reasonably charge more for this). Additionally, pianos can gain a stability from being tuned regularly which arises from the fact that the tuner doesn't have to move all the strings a long way every time, so if you habitually leave your piano for a very long while between each tuning, the stability may never be quite as good.

If a piano has been neglected for a very long while and fallen a very long way below pitch (such as a tone or a minor third), it might take several tunings to get it back to standard pitch if this is the desired option. With some older pianos, attempting to do this may be inadvisable. A piano technician will be able to advise on the best course of action depending on the age and condition of the instrument.