The Piano Belly Flashcards
(18 cards)
What are the six parts the piano belly?
Soundboard and ribs
Bridges
Strings
Plate
Pinblock
Rim
What is the purpose of the bridge
To transfer the energy of the vibrating strings to the sound board
What wood is used for sound boards?
Spruce
What shape is the soundboard and what is it called?
Convex(bowl)
Crown
What wood is used to make the bridge?
Maple or beech because they are dense and durable
What is the benefit of a bridge cap?
It can be removed, copied and reinstalled (unlike Baldwins which would need an entire new bridge)
What are three common string issues?
Broken string
Buzzing Bass string
Dead sounding Bass string
Construction material and purpose of the plate
Cast iron, painted in gold leaf
Provides stability and support from 20 tons of tension
Contributes to tone and resonance
Three Common Plate issues
Cracked plate(death of the piano)
Broken Hitch pin
Broken agraffe
Purpose and location of agraffe
Located at the staying point of the speaking length of wire
Wires run through the holes to stay in place
What is the pinblock made of
Layers of hardwood, usually maple, laminated together . Layers laid with grain perpendicular to each other
2 pin block issues
Cracked pin block
Loose tuning pins
What s the rim made of
Hardwood veneer. Usually a combination of maple beech or mahogany.
What is the crown? Purpose
Convex shape of the soundboard. Maintains compression, keeps soundboard from collapsing.
What are the ribs?
Usually made of sugar pine. Diagonal pieces designed to give strength to sound board. They have a slight curve which causes the convex shape.
Order of moving parts upright action
Key pushed down…capstan followed by wippen, jack and hammer butt are pushed up. Hammer strikes string.
Upward motion also causes damper spoon to lift the damper off the string.
Let off button moves jack out of the way, as key is fully depressed past let off point, hemmer hits string. hammer returns and is caught by back check. Wippen returns to rest position.
Grand action
Key presses. Capstan screw pushes wippen up. Jack contacts hammer knuckle which lifts key toward string. At same time back end of key raises damper from string.
Jack pops out of the knuckle when jack toe engages the let off button.
As hammer falls away from string it depresses the repetition lever and is caught by back check.
