odd sounding notes at keyboard - deception

pseudonym58

I can't be the only one to have experienced this:
I'm seated at the piano (in this case a Yamaha C2), and a note or two here and there sounds different from its immediate neighbors. Perhaps a bit duller, or with an unusual overtone, or even a more pronounced noise of the action on that particular note.
I used to get a bit concerned about it thinking that I would have to ask the technician to take a look at it - assuming that it was still present when the technician was next available for a tuning (not necessarily the case).
More recently I've discovered that the anomaly can be extremely localized, and highly dependent on where I'm sitting in relation to the piano. Often I can just stand up and play the same note and hear nothing odd or different about it whatsoever.
So I just mention that here, in case someone has had a similar experience.

iternabe

pseudonym58 Are those key in the lower register? When you stand up, your ear is at a different position. The fact that sound perception changes relative to listening location makes me wonder if room acoustics is coming into play.

pseudonym58

iternabe Various different places, it depends on the day. One thing that seems pretty uniform is the F, F# and G about an octave and a half above middle C seem a bit subdued. But as I mentioned, all I have to do is stand up and the difference between those notes and the notes around them disappears.
I figure we have enough things to worry about nowadays, I'm happy to set these things aside! 😆

sweelinck

The most common (fixable) causes of this are unisons out of tune, a hammer needing to be voiced, or a hammer that has been overvoiced.

navindra

I'm generally very sensitive to changes at the register breaks but I've mostly made musical peace with it.

On acoustic pianos, people (sales folks or piano tuners or even my teacher) often tell me that they can't hear what I'm hearing... the funny part though is that piano tuners are able to fix the issue even though they can't hear it!

Sometimes a note will sound strange to me on uprights or even hybrid digitals that have a soundboard. In those cases, I found that adjusting the position of the piano helped.

sweelinck

Voicing variance from day to day is likely a result of humidity changes, which not only changes the piano, but also can change a room's acoustics due to changes in the speed of sound at different humidity levels.

What4

Funnily my tuner/technician just adjusted the key dip on my upright and replaced the felt disks under the keys. It has made a world of difference in what I’m hearing and how the keys feel. For the record my piano is a fairly new Bluthner B and now that it sounds so good I’m pretty pleased with it. A few days ago I was furious at the strange sounds and double strikes.

sweelinck

Pallas

I have dull spots with my YUS5. In the
spring I'm having it voiced and
regulated to see if it helps. I'm going
to put stick notes on the dull keys
before he gets here.

I would suggest writing down the names of notes with octave number instead. The piano should be tuned before voicing, and the sticky notes will just get in the tech's way.

What4

Ithaca
According to the serial number I was given (by Kim’s piano) it’s
a 2013, that I bought in new 2023. I got an excellent deal, and the full warranty. The piano did have to be moved from California to Houston, and I suspect prior to that it had to be moved from Lansing to California. I don’t have any idea why the key dip went wonky but I will say that we often have the air and the heat on in the same day. As for the pads, they were a luxury add-on from the factory installed ones. There was nothing wrong with the first ones, but these are significantly nicer.

What4

Ithaca What4 Curiouser and curiouser. Your comment got me to wondering, so I sent an email to the Blüthner USA distributor. Evidently my piano arrived NEW to Kim’s Pianos in 2020. I wonder if the shop modified it for me because I commented that I found the action a bit stiff. I don’t know why they told me it was a 2013, probably because it’s difficult to interpret the modern Bluthner serial numbers. Have to admit I’m pleased that it’s seven years younger than I thought. And I’m still loving how it sounds.

sweelinck

Pallas
Well, thanks, but actually my purpose is to do everything I can to support the success of the technician servicing my piano. A servicing includes a modicum of voicing, regulation, and adjustment, but will be limited to what can be done in a reasonable timeframe. I'm also liable to forget about some issues.