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Greetings:

My family received its lovely Estonia 190 about three weeks ago. We are having so much fun with it, that I feel that I've been neglecting these forums, and just about everything (and everyone( else.

The piano is slightly out of tune, as would be expected. However, we are in one of New York City's "monsoon" seasons. Temps in the 90s, high humidity. Not pleasant.

Should I schedule a tuning and voicing given the current weather conditions? There is no break in the heat forecast.

Anyone else living in elsewhere the semitropics wrestled with this one? Advice?

Thanks in advance,

I always like to avoid periods of very high humidity and periods of very low humidity when tuning my piano. High humidity - as it is now, will take the piano artificially sharp in the middle range. This happens because moisture causes the soundboard to swell, which raises the tension on the strings, bringing them sharp. The piano will recover it's tune a bit when the humidity drops a bit. If you tune it now, It will be very flat when the dryness of winter hits. It won't hurt to wait a bit.

What Bob said.

You may also want to look into some type of climate control system either for the piano (dampp-chaser) or the whole room/home.

But know that a new piano will have trouble keeping it's tune even in perfect climate conditions until fully settled.

Enjoy!

A real beginner's question: Is there any risk to a new piano if one elects not to have it tuned/voiced for several months until the weather settles down?

Later this week, I am taking a $900 plunge on a new air conditioner for the room that the piano is in. Not until midnight tonight, were we able to keep the room at less than an uncomfortable, humid 77 F. Currently, it is a tolerable 75 degrees, with a humidity reading of 50 %. We have had technicians in to look at the old air conditioner, and no one has been able to guarantee that they would be able to get it up to speed. I have some worries about the new one (i.e., will it work much better than the one we already have), not to mention the cost, but I am very concerned about the piano. Also, I would like to be more comfortable in my apartment, and I am very sensitive to heat.

Thoughts?

Hi Lucy,
I'm not far from you. As long as it's hot and humid, our AC cycles on enough to dry out the house. Today the humidity in my living room was around 45% even though it was very humid outside. But a couple weeks ago, it was in the upper 70's outside, but also very humid. The humidity in the house was in the 60-65% range. I'm actually in the process of buying a dehumidifier. My piano's too important to take the risk. Sounds like yours is too.

lucy,

i would wait to tune, but not months. first, get your new air conditioner in. see how it affects humidity. 50 percent is just fine, especially in nyc in the summer.

once the air conditioner has been running for a couple of weeks and the humidity in the apartment has stabilized, i would bring in a tech. you're going to have to tune four times in the first year anyway, and the climate conditions will always be changing, and it may take a year before the piano stabilizes its tuning anyway. regular service is the way to go.

june is the traditional time to tune, because the piano by then has adapted to the change to summer temperatures. october, january, then march. after that, you can tune twice a year--june and january.

inevitably you will have to suffer through some periods of it being out of tune as the weather changes. unless you want to keep your tuner on weekly retainer, that's just the way it goes. if you control the climate in your apartment so the humidity is in the 40-50 percent range, and the temperature is 65-75, the piano will get better and better at holding a tune over time. try not to let the humidity get below 40 or above 60 and the piano will adapt.

i would have the tech do any regulation needed during the first tuning, and with subsequent tunings. but wait a year before voicing. the piano is brand new, needs time to settle in, and will change a lot on its own as you play it. good voicing is expensive, better to work with the piano after it has evolved some with regular playing.

have you found a good tech yet?

Just my non-professional 2 cents. When my new piano was getting more apparently out of tune despite a recent tuning, I was told that it was better to have it tuned than let it get to far gone or stay out too long, despite the time of year. I'm glad I paid for the extra tuning that I had kinda hoped to avoid. I enjoyed the instrument more, and the tech told me that its far better to adjust a little than try to adjust a lot.

I agree with Beth - with an investment like this, an extra tuning or two is worth it. It also tremendously increases you enjoyment. I am waiting for the tech to visit my new M&H, and some of the notes are enough out of tune that I avoid playing in the key of C. Probably good for me to practice in A flat more often, but it would be more fun to pick any key I want.

Extra tunings won't hurt (or there'd be a glut of worn out Steinway Ds on the market that have been tuned to death)

I'm also planning on a Dampp-chaser - the M&H is in an unairconditioned house (never thought we'd need it in Wisconsin) and the humidity is all over the place.

By the way Lucy, we have noticed your post count falling off a bit - welcome back, and please visit from time to time.
Steve