Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-05-07
THE CARE OF A PIANO.
Points About Keeping the Instrument in
Good Condition.

Points About Keeping the Instrument in
y Good Condition.
From the New York SUM-
The care OF piano must be begun the mo-
ment the piano enters your house, piano
maker said, land to be effective il calls FOR the
employment OF some good common sense. II
1t be an upright piano, do not stand IL close to
the wall, unless You prefer to have the tone
muh1ed. 1t will sound best across a corner of
the room. Keep piano in the winter in the
coolest part of the room, not exposed, of
course, to frost or dampness The hot sun.
particularly when shining on the piano through
glass, will sometimes blister the yarnisb
Neither is 1t good to keep the instrument in
dark part OF the room, as the ivory keys are
more likely to grow yellow and there is also
greater danger of moths.
Mine times out of ten the buzzing or sing
ing noises that are 30 frequently heard are out
side OF the piano. II may be the mica in the
s,os We or hanging lamp near by. or an easel
on the piano, or u score of other things whose
keynotes vibrate in sympathy with the tones
OF the instrument. In the horizontal piano
small particles. such as pins. beads, &c., fire.
quentiy find their way into the sounding board,
and cause great annoyance.
lhe most seri Gus injuries that befall pianos
are usually the results of temperature Either
IL is too dry or too damp. The incompetent
tuner does great harm, but the extremes OF
not air or moisture do more harm than an the
tuners alive. From careful observation it is
safe to say that 80 per cent Of the pianos in
cold ATTITUDES have. after the first year, one or
more cracks in their sounding boards. II your
house Is heated by stoves put the instrument
IN a room without astove-;n one that is heated
from an adjoining room II you have steam
or furnace or any Of the other modern methods
OF heating your piano will do better if kept in
room that is not quite warm enough for COM
fort
"You know the sounding board-the life of
piano-is forced into the case when it is
made SO tightly that it bulges up in the GEN.
ter. The wood is supposed to be as dry as
possible, but OF course it contains some mois-
ture and gathers lot more GU damp DAYS and
IN handling. Now when you put piano in an
overheated, dry room all this moisture is dried
OUT, ana the board loses its belly" and gets
habby and finally cracks. Even if it does not
crack the tone loses its resonance and grows
thin and tinny, and the felt cloth and leather
used IN the action dry up, the whole mechan-
ism rattles and the piano is blamed.
How can you prevent it? Easily enough.
Keep growing plant in the room, and as long
as your plant thrives your piano ought to. or
else there is something wrong with it. Just
try 1t, and see how much more water Won will
have to pour on the flower in the room where
your piano is than on the plants in ans other
room. Some people keep huge vase or urn
the piano, and they do this as long as their
fires are kept up.
Sudden changes from cold to heat will
cause moisture, which is injurious to the finish
and Will rust the strings and pins of your in
strument But piano in a room that is
freezing cold. even 40 degrees below zero for
that matter, can be gradually warmed and
receive less harm in five years of such treat
ment than it will during one winter in the
same climate if subjected to continuous heat
of IS degrees.
Every one has observed, after purchasing a
new piano, that it soon takes on q dull. smoky
appearance. To remove this use fine sponge.
tepld water and CASTLE soap. Go over the
case. little at time. The water alone with
out the soap, will usually be all that is needed.
chamois skin, as dry as can be wrung out of
water, should be used to dry the surface after
using the sponge. For old pianos a polish of
raw ilnseed oil two parts), alcohol and best
vinegar Zone part each) may be applied with
good results II care be taken to use a very little
at a time and to thoroughly rub that little off.
Shake the polish frequently, use soft cotton
cloth, one piece to rub it on and large, clean
piece to finish off with. Bruises, usually on
the front, can be taken of by rubbing with
powdered pumice stone and water or with
sapolio. Clean the keys with alcohol and water,
equal parts.
1t is impossible to specify the number of
times year your piano should be timed. A
piano. to be kept i'll fair condition, should be
tuned four times year. So much depends
however, on the temperature. style and make
OF the instrument, the manner Of use, its con-
dition, de-, that where one piano requires Eve
or six tunings annually another might get
along fairly with much less
I'm the matter of tuning there is much neg
ligence, people preferring with singular per-
versity to let their piano 60 to rack and ruin
rather than get good tuner in time. This is
the sort Of penny-wise pound-foolish policy
that buys cheap piano for a beginner.
fondiy expecting musical progress to be made
on poor instrument and with q poor teacher.
To sum up, buy a fair-priced piano from a re-
liable dealer and with a well-known name on
its fall board. Keep it well after you have
bought it. Don't try to play on IL unless you
know how, and to know how You mus. employ
a good, not cheap teacher, and finally employ
a reputable tuner TO look after the instrument"