Bob Bonner has been servicing pianos as a piano tuner-technician since 1991. He has a degree in Music Education from Manchester University and is an active trumpet performer in the Carmel Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis, as well as his church orchestra.

Bob launched his business in 1971 and since then has serviced well over 22,000 pianos in the Indianapolis, Carmel, Zionsville, and surrounding areas. His services have ranged from private homes, public school districts, private schools, churches, to concert events. He has attained recognition with the coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Tuning

Tuning and relative humidity levels essentially need to be addressed simultaneously. Since a piano is made of many wood materials which are critical to the aesthetic tonality, it should be noted that fluctuating humidity levels affect the wood soundboard on a dimensional scale. The wood soundboard expands during high humidity thus making the piano’s pitch go sharp because of increased tension on the strings. Conversely, a dryer air in the winter shrinks the soundboard causing the piano pitch to go flat.

A piano should be kept in a steady relative humidity environment as much as possible. Ideally, the humidity levels should be around 41 to 44 percent. When relative humidity fluctuates outside those parameters, the piano needs to be tuned due to the pitch dropping during dry winter weather, and raising during seasons of humid spring and summer weather.

It is recommended universally by the piano industry that a piano should be tuned at least once a year. Twice per year tuning, or more often, is necessary if there is a wide range of humidity levels or a heavy level of use such as hard playing.

Professional musicians obviously prefer the consistent pitch, internationally recognized as A = 440 cycles per seconds (cps). Just as importantly, having a piano at the proper pitch is essential even for the beginner piano student, since the young ear is “learning” some degree of pitch recognition subconsciously. An out of tune, or off-pitch, piano will not satisfactorily accompany another instrument or singer.

Humidity Control

The environment of the piano should be kept as constant as possible in the relative humidity range of 41 to 44 percent. This ideal is not possible in most homes, and especially in large public buildings where the outside air is required under building code to be brought in for air freshness. The most cost effective way to provide a piano with the humidity constancy is with an added on humidity control system. There is one company which specializes in these systems: The Dampp-Chaser Corporation. They have incorporated much advanced research and technology in building a reliable and effective systems for maintaining that constant humidity around a piano. There is a humidifier component which will add moisture to the air near the soundboard, and there is a de-humidifier component which will dry the air near the soundboard. These two components are controlled by a humidistat which senses which component to turn on or off.

Bonner Piano Service has been a Dampp-Chaser Corporation recognized installer of the Dampp-Chaser System for many years. Call us for details and pricing.

Regulation

The piano’s action consists of thousands of parts which move in conjunction with the keys. Over time certain parts will wear down, felts will compress, piano hammers will wear out and springs will weaken or break. Even a few ten-thousandths of an inch will affect the key touch. A single key stroke activates many moving parts which must work in proper ratios. If the parts are out of adjustment or worn, the piano will be hard to play, and the action will not have sufficient efficiency to be able to be played with a consistent soft key stroke, or to even attain a powerful key stroke. Children especially can become frustrated and discouraged with a piano that is hard to play. Mr. Bonner can demonstrate simple adjustments to your piano to make its action more efficient. He will work with you to determine which parts should be adjusted or whether some parts should be replaced.

Tonal Voicing

Voicing the tonal qualities of a piano is a highly skilled artistry. In manufacturing a high quality grand piano, the voicing technician spend much time regulating the hammer surface so that each hammer produces the same quality or tone throughout the scale. In the older and/or “lesser” quality pianos, the voicing is not as controlled, but still can be a factor that becomes more pronounced as the instrument is used over many years. In most older pianos, where the hammer tone is bright, shrill or “tinny”, a mellowing of the tone can be achieved by a simple filing and reshaping of the hammer on the strings. If further calming of the tone is necessary, the hammers can be needle-voiced, a process where a special needle is inserted to a certain depth at a particular point of the hammer a limited number of times.

There are many factors designed into the construction of piano hammers, especially of high quality ones. In less expensive pianos there is less control over the hammer production and through voicing can improve the overall tonality remarkably, however there still may be a limit to how much voicing can be done to bring about a desired sound. In other words, we can’t voice a cheap hammer and expect a Steinway tone. But neither will a Steinway hammer installed in an inferior piano result in a Steinway sound.

Cleaning

A clean piano is more attractive aesthetically, particularly a grand piano. Routine cleaning of the plate and soundboard should be done periodically by the technician. Allowing dust and dirt to remain on the soundboard for many years makes it more difficult to removal more difficult. Cleaning the action, especially in an upright piano will help thwart the harboring of moths and insects, which can damage the felts on the keybed and other felt components of the action.

The finish of newer pianos can usually be cleaned with a microfiber cloth. Typically, one should never use a furniture polish on an ebony black piano. Keys may be cleaned with a soft cloth dampened slightly. If there is a heavier build-up of dirt on the keys, a bit of mild detergent in the cleaning water will help remove the soiling.