Quiet The PianoDisc!

[Sarah Fox]

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Hi Phil,

There are two general strategies for muting sound, corresponding to two =
different sorts of sound routes:

If you're trying to mute REFLECTING sound, foam works great -- =
especially the slightly crunchy egg-crate stuff that I presume Isaac is =
talking about.  This foam is effective when rigidly mounted against a =
rigid surface (like a wall).  Acoustic energy is dissipated as the sound =
waves pass through the pores in the foam, which create turbulent =
airflow.  However, if the foam is unsupported, sound will vibrate the =
foam, which will vibrate the air on the other side.  Thus, it doesn't =
work as well as a sound barrier.

If you're trying to block PASSING sound, you need some sort of immovable =
barrier.  You need something solid with a bit of mass to it.  The sound =
will hit it and will reflect back, rather than passing through (and =
vibrating the air on the other side.  This subject has come up before, =
and a very nice solution that someone proposed was a drop-down lid for =
the bottom of the piano.  The idea would be to bottle up the sound with =
both the top and bottom lids closed.

The effectiveness of either lid would be enhanced by damping reflectance =
by lining the lid with reflectance attenuating foam (the stiff egg crate =
stuff).  It would be enhanced further by achieving an air-tight seal =
with weather stripping.  Some of the adhesive-backed weather stripping =
(Frost King?) has very weak/gentle adhesive.  I know, because it's =
falling off of my windows right now.  (@#$%!)

Vibration isolation from the floor is another important factor.  =
Somewhere in the archives, there's a thread about a church piano that's =
too loud.  Someone suggested a caster cup especially made to isolate =
vibration transmission to the floor.  It looked like a nice solution.

Still another solution might be to set the letoff at 1/4" or more, so =
that at the lowest volume levels the hammers don't touch the strings at =
all.  Then hide stereo speakers under the piano, playing piano music.  =
The lid can be kept up, so that the piano looks pretty.  Very sadly, =
most people won't realize that the key movement in no way corresponds to =
the music being played.  I'm saying this with my tongue slightly in my =
cheek, but I'm almost serious!

Good luck!

Peace,
Sarah
www.graphic-fusion.com
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Philip Jamison=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2005 7:03 PM
  Subject: Quiet The PianoDisc!


  I have one of those PianoDisc customers who wants the piano to play =
REALLY quietly. Unfortunately, it's a bright YAMAHA G1 in a really =
bouncy room with an 18' ceiling. I'm thinking of stuffing some carpet =
pad above the beams, padding the caster cups and maybe voicing down the =
hammers. Would string felt help? Any other ideas? It's a new PianoCD =
unit which adjusts to quite a low volume, but she wants it REAL low!


  Philip Jamison Pianos
  West Chester, PA
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