Pianos And The Weather

“What do I need to do to keep my piano in tune?”

“Why does my piano go out of tune so quickly?”

“Is there something I need to do to keep my piano in better shape?”

Piano ownership is more involved than many tend to think it is. Its upkeep is the subject of many books and journal articles that have filled my bookshelves, some of which I’ve even read! But there truly is a reason why the topic is as thoroughly discussed as it is among piano technicians, and that is that it’s complicated. Pianos are hunks of wood, metal, and sometimes a little plastic, all cut, joined, and aligned in just the right way to make a beautiful work of art. But fabricating the piano isn’t the end of it. Even after it leaves the factory, the dimensions of its parts continue to change in the most subtle of ways as one of the most nefarious evils of the piano industry begins to take hold:

The weather.

Not necessarily even extreme weather, either. A low pressure system after a week or two of higher humidity can be enough to knock a piano flat, and vice versa. Outside of structural damage or poor workmanship, which I see much less of, humidity is the number one reason for tuning instability. I have had an instance where I tuned a piano on a Friday, over the weekend a storm passed through, and on Monday, the instrument needed attention again. When I returned, the relative humidity and temperature in the room had dropped from 48% and 71F, respectively, down to 23% and 65F. Temperature also plays a role in tuning stability, although it is more short term.

To put it briefly, temperature affects the strings and the cast iron frame of the piano, while humidity affects the wooden parts. So for instance, if a tuned piano were to sit in a room with a stable humidity, but to suffer a decrease in temperature, it would also decrease in tuning pitch. Likewise, if the temperature were to increase, the pitch would increase. Furthermore, if the temperature were to return to its original state when the piano was originally tuned, it would be back in tune.

However, as previously alluded, humidity works more slowly. Even after being cut down and processed, wood will continue to take on and lose moisture content based on the humidity of its environment. If you were to bring a piece of wood furniture into a sauna, that wood would soak up the steam (and likely warp). If you were to bring that same furniture into the desert, it would dry up and eventually crack. Now imagine that this furniture is a wooden engine that has over 8000 moving pieces that all need to be at just the right position to work correctly. Understanding this brings us closer to realizing the importance of humidity stability.

So what are we to do? As far as climate control is concerned, there is only so much that we can do. Ideally, having a well-insulated home with a high-efficiency A/C or heating system combined with a whole house humidifier (such as an Aprilaire) would be the best bet. It’s better, and usually easier, to control the climate of the room rather than the climate of the piano. But with that said, there are instances in which what I’ve just described is not possible. Larger rooms or homes, for example, take a lot more energy to maintain the equilibrium that a piano asks for.

Enter the Dampp-Chaser system. Their Piano Life Saver is built specifically for pianos, and its entire job is to keep your piano in the exact ecosystem that your piano will live its best life in at all times. It consists of a humidifying tank and dehumidifying rods, which each turn on when needed (too dry = humidifying tank, too humid, = dehumidifying rods). The system is discreet, living inside of an upright piano and underneath of a grand piano. In my experience, this system is best paired with an undercover for grand pianos or a backcover for upright pianos. This is simply a black cloth that covers the bottom or the back of the piano (and therefore the soundboard and support beams), with the intent being to restrict air flow onto these wooden structures. This then further limits how much fluctuation in temperature and humidity the piano experiences. Combined, the system brings a great increase in tuning stability to your piano.

Ready to bring the system to your piano and start seeing the benefits? Schedule today and I’ll get a system ordered and installed for you!