TONE

Tone is different than tune or pitch; however, there is a relationship.  Musical tone refers to the quality of sound when a note of a particular pitch is played.  Musical instruments are created to provide a desired tone.  The pitch of A 440 played on a piano is the same pitch of A 440 played on a violin or oboe; however, all three instruments project a different musical tone.

Pianos were created and evolved to provide a certain tone.  Even though all pianos have a similar tone, the actual tone of a specific piano is affected by its size, quality of material, quality of construction, scale design, placement in a room, and the wear of the hammers that strike the string.

Most piano purchasers when choosing a piano consider “tone”, along with “touch” to be an important factor when selecting a piano.  Other considerations are size, cost, usage, and furniture design. 

Pianos from the same manufacturer and of the same size or model inherently have the same tonal characteristics.  Subtle differences can and do exist between like pianos because of the complex nature of piano construction.  Most players cannot tell the difference in tone between two identical pianos.  However, some players, such as concert artists, can discern the differences.  When choosing a piano for purchase or performance, they might select a particular make and model as a starting point then choose a specific piano due to tone (and touch) after testing many of otherwise identical pianos.

With all of this being said, you might wonder what can be done to change a piano’s tone.  Simply, a piano’s tone is characterized as either being bright or mellow or something in between.  Not considering the inherent tonal quality of the piano, a technician can alter the brightness or mellowness of the tone by “voicing” or “tone regulating” the hammers.

 About Piano Hammers

Piano hammers are constructed of felt glued a around a wood molding under tremendous pressure, creating a state of compression on the inside and tension around the outside of the hammers.  The size of the hammers differs in every piano from large in the bass section to very small in the high treble section.

Worn Hammers

After many hours of playing (usually many years for most pianos) a hammer will lose its rounded shape, becoming flat, and show grooves in the hammer felt from hitting the strings.  This condition will cause the hammer to hit the string improperly causing all sorts of noise and tone quality problems.  The tone is usually characterized as “too harsh” or “too bright.” String breakage problems are also a hazard.  If there is enough felt left on the hammer, they can be reshaped and voiced.   This will change the weight of the hammers and the distance between the hammers and the strings, and therefore the touch will be affected and cause a need for the action to be regulated.  (See Touch-Regulation)   

Properly shaped hammer                      Worn hammer with grooves

What Is Voicing?

Voicing entails methods employed by a trained technician to alter the qualities of the hammer felt.  Needling the hammer felt in various locations will cause the tone to be mellow.  A hammer can be brightened by shaving some felt off the hammer and/or applying a lacquer to the felt.  Other methods, such as steaming the hammers can also so be deployed.  Voicing is a delicate process.  A needle in the wrong place can ruin the hammer as can shaving too much felt, mis-shaving, applying too much lacquer, or placing lacquer on the wrong part of the felt.  The goal of voicing is to make the tone sound even throughout the different playing sections of the piano.  However, tone is subjective and a technician should only voice a piano at the behest of the owner or performer!