Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum what is causing this piano buzz/clicking on a certain key?

I am trying to record a grand piano but one of the notes (the low B flat on this sample) has an annoying buzzy edge to it that sounds almost like a click on recordings (much more noticeable when listening on headphones). Any ideas on what is causing it and how to get rid of it?

one of the strings of the two lost the necessary stable fixation of the copper winding. It's bouncing on basic metallic string. Or into your piano on a soundboard has anything little objects various garbage (paper clip, needle, pencil heart, etc.) also

The A sharp/B flat note is in octave 3 and therefore still high enough to be in the area that has three strings rather than two copper ones. Have not found any objects in the piano to explain the buzzing. Any other ideas?

see it's hammer (felt) may be dry glue there

do fotos and do little video

Julian,

There are numerous possibilities in a piano to make non-musical sounds, so as Max suggested a video at least that clearly exhibits the problem would be helpful.

Pwg

You heard the audio I take it? My original post linked to a sample. What do you expect to see on a video apart from a hammer and damper moving?

Have you GRAND piano? that it's buzzle sound from out metal stick your damper. It's catching with your wounding metal string

I didn't notice the link till you pointed it out. I hear it now. Here are some possibilities:

Loose pinning on hammershank
Loose hammershank flange
Loose whippen flange
Bad mating of hammer to strings
Loose hammerhead
ANY loose joint or part in the action or DAMPER mechanism
Some contaminant in the hammer
Something else touching a string
Bad string
Something completely different


Solving it is a process of elimination. Starting with the most obvious one eliminates them one by one until the problem is exposed at which point a solution is implemented. This sort of thing requires personal attention from someone who KNOWS pianos inside and out.

Pwg

Thanks for the interesting list of possibilities. I had a piano technician look at it. He sanded down the felt on the hammers somewhat to improve the voicing. The buzz is somewhat less prominent now but it's not fully gone.

Well, that's good. At least it's not hopeless. Something to remember is that once your ear and psyche gets attuned to a specific sound it's VERY hard to let go of it. I believe that this is a piano you acquired used (though I don't know that). If the sound was there from the time you got it, the possibility exists that there is something about that string that has been there a long time. Maybe the next time around your tech can do a little more.

Pwg

I had two strings on my new piano that exhibited the same sound as in your clip. It annoyed me even after I levelled the bichord strings and gave the hammer a light sanding. I decided to shoulder voice these two hammers and the harshness disappeared and has not reappeared after a year. At one point I thought that because these hammers were either side of a rib that was the cause but regardless of whether it contributed the needle voicing fixed it.
Ian

Ian, very interesting!

Pwg

Peter,
I have always been curious why copper wound strings have a markedly different timbre to plain steel. No one has given me a plausable reason apart from saying that the mass is greater without further comment.
My feeling is that the extra mass excites certain partials that are not normally part of a bare steel strings partial set. Could the external convolutions (i.e. like a centipede) of the copper string acting against air result in the different timbre?
The effect I hear is reduced by needle voicing but not eliminated.
On my guitars I note that if I change bronze wound steel strings for steel tape wound (steel) strings I get a marked change in the timbre even although the mass of the string is the same.
Ian