Posts Tagged ‘Carlsbad’

Cleaning Your Piano

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Cleaning is never fun and easy but, it is something that must be done from time to time.

What we use in the store is a polish that is designed specifically for the high polish pianos.  Although the easiest and simplest way to do the cleaning is by using a very soft and lintless cloth like a cheesecloth or old soft T-shirt works wonders.  I say to dampen the cloth a little but only to the smallest extent and my adage is to wash your hands, rinse the soap off well and then dry them on the cloth that you are going to use to dust.  In other words very lightly damp.

Dust Bunnies

If your piano has a wood grain or a satin finish then do the same thing except be sure to wipe with the grain of the wood.  NEVER EVER use furniture polish to clean your piano.  It is not good for the piano and it will take a long time to get the residue off.

Use the same technique when wiping off your keys.  DO NOT use polish or cleaner of any kind EVER to clean your keys.  If they are ivory this is not good at all because in many cases it will cause the ivory to absorb the polish and the keys will simply come off.

Here’s the tricky part.  If you have a grand piano dust will inevitably get onto the soundboard of the piano (that piece of wood that is under the big metal plate) and if you are like me at all this will make you insane.  Please do not attempt to clean that yourself.  Call a certified technician which you can find at www.PTG.org and tell them you need to clean your soundboard and have your piano tuned.  Paul McCloud at Accutone Piano Tuning www.pianoservsd.com is the guy we use here at PianoSD.com in Mission Valley in San Diego, California.

If you live in a particular humid area of San Diego for example like Carlsbad or La Jolla, you will notice that the dust will “stick” to the soundboard a little more than if you live in a drier climate like Rancho Santa Fe or San Marcos.  In the cases that the climate is a little drier you will notice that the dust gets in quicker but is a little easier removed.  However, in either case please call a certified tech to come out to do the work at his next tuning, but, let him know when you set your appointment that your piano needs a thourough cleaning that way he is prepared.

If you need some polish that is designed specifically for the piano you can find it here at PianoSD.com.

Drop by and say hello sometime we would love to meet you.

Ric Overton

Real or Fake ?

Monday, May 24th, 2010

I hear more than my share of talk about real or fake pianos.  Some people have actually commented that they don’t like fake pianos.  They were talking of course about digital pianos. 

Although there are certainly some arguments about accoustic vs. digital pianos, there are still people who would prefer accoustic pianos over digital pianos.  I recently had a discussion with a gentleman from Carlsbad who told me that he was convinced that the digital piano was a terrible thing to learn on – that is until he actually sat down and played one.  He was so overjoyed with the digital piano that he purchased one on the spot.

We have many piano teachers who are turning to digital now too.  Teachers are finding many ways to use digital that was never possible before.  You can record, use computer functions to help you compose, always in perfect pitch, automatic transpose, easily transportable, heat and humidity dont effect it at all, several voices to choose from which give you the capabilities to play and entire orchestra score with recording and really the list goes on.

 httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpnsZKmuO0Q

Of course, the accoustic piano will never disappear but, we are finding that more and more people are turning to digital pianos as an alternative for use with more demanding music that is being performed today.

The touch is very realistic and the sound is incredible.  I know when I was first introduced to the idea of digital piano I was not completely sold, however, once I understood the basics of how digitals operated I was just absolutley thrilled with the possibilities that the digital world opened to me. 

We have customers from many parts of  San Diego such as Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla and San Marcos that have become real fans of the Roland digital pianos because of thier realism in touch, tone and clarity of sound.  More information can be found at www.RolandUS.com

If you have any questions or comments feel free to let me know and I will try to help you.  Feel free to stop by our store located in the heart of Mission Valley in San Diego, California.

Stop by and see us we would love to meet you.

Ric Overton

A Guide: What Is Piano Voicing?

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

I wanted to take a few minutes and talk about voicing on the piano.

When you purchase a new piano you will find nuances about your piano that make it individual.  The tone of the piano is generally the one thing that stands out immediately.  Perhaps you like a brighter sound or more mellow sound a full sound or more thin sound.  It all depends on you and your likes.  I happen to lean to a tone  that is round and full but at the same time a little more stable than the next person.

Generally, all of the things I have just spoken about can be dealt with through a process called voicing.  Voicing involves the shaping of hammers, and addressing the density of the felts on the hammers.  Hammers have an ideal shape.  Each hammer should strike each one of the strings in their particular set.  In other words, each note has either one, two or three strings.  When the hammer comes up to strike the string each string should be struck in order to hear the complete sound of the intended note.

The hardness of the hammers will have a huge effect on the tone as well.  Once we have been able to determine your taste then we must set the hardness of each hammer.  If the hammer is harder then we have to pin the hammer.  We use a device that actually goes into the hammer itself and then moved around a little to seperate the wools in the hammer and actually make it less dense to produce a more mellow tone.  If the hammer is softer then we have to iron the hammer making the wools more dense and creating a more bright sound.

Paul McCloud of Accutone Piano Tuning www.pianoservsd.com does a lot of voicing for us.  We want the piano to sound very good when the cusomter makes their initial trip into PianoSD.com in Mission Valley, San Diego, California.  After the sale if we need to make some changes then we can.  Its often hard to drive from La Jolla or Rancho Santa Fe to go through this process so we can actually do this in a persons home in a short amount of time.

The differences in humidity, heat and sunlight can also techinically have an effect on the voicing of the piano too.  If you live in Carlsbad as opposed to San Marcos you may need to make a certain amount of allowances for that as well.  Only a technician can decide that for you.

The Standard of Excellence

In any case, voicing of your hammers should never ever be attempted by someone without experience so a qualified technician should be able to help you.  If you are in San Diego area I of course, would suggest Accutone Piano Tuning at www.pianoservsd.com of you can visit www.PTG.org to find a technician in your area.

Stop by the store sometime, we would love to meet you.

Ric Overton

Finding the one

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

I just read an article from www.PianoWorld.com that discussed finding the one.  The “one” of course being the piano of your dreams.  The one she found was an old piano that was in not so great of shape but the one that she really liked the best.

It is vitally important when you are choosing a piano that you find the one you love.  It may not meet the idea that you started with or what you had in mind when you started looking.  The name brand is far less important than the tone, touch and clarity you get when you play the piano of your dreams. 

Of course you have to look at the overall condition of the piano and have a piano technician like Paul McCloud at Accutone Piano Service www.pianoservsd.com go out and be sure there is nothing technically wrong with it.  The move is the second thing to consider which you can find a qualified piano mover through Precision Piano Moving www.precisionpianomoving.net .

Location is also an important thing.  If you live in La Jolla for example that is a little more humid than say Rancho Santa Fe.  Or if you are in Carlsbad as opposed to San Marcos you must be aware that humidity levels may need to be addressed. 

The most important thing to consider is whether or not you like the piano and the guy that is selling it to you.  If you love the piano-buy it. 

There are several questions you have to ask yourself BEFORE you buy the piano that you have been looking for.  We hope that you will feel welcome at PianoSD.com in Mission Valley in San Diego, to visit, ask questions and perhaps get a little education if you need it.  We always welcome those discussions about the piano.  We are all very passionate about the instrument and would lobe to be able to put a piano in your home or direct you to the right place to buy what you are looking for.

If you have any questions that I can help with please feel free to let me know or simply drop by the store sometime and say hello.  We would love to meet you.

Ric Overton

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