Piano and Strings:

An acoustic piano makes melody by the striking of tuned strings by pressurized woolen hammer. The tone depends on the quality of the strings, their condition at a given moment- well tuned, out of tune, rust, damage, breakage etc. A grand piano has 88 keys. The frequency ranges from 27.5 Hz (the A0 key) to 4186 Hz (C8 key). The strings are held in a caste iron frame and they pass over a bridge with notches to a pin block. Pin blocks are the mechanism by which the strings are tuned. Strings are the nerve center of the piano. Let us look into certain aspects of the strings in a piano.

Some Characteristics of Piano Strings:

The number of strings in a grand piano is 230 for the 88 keys. For the ten low pitches single wire-wound strings are used. The next 18 pitches are generated by means of double strings. The 60 high pitches have three strings each. Providing the required tension in all these strings is a gigantic task. The total tension tuned in a grand piano is approximately 30 tons. In order to constrain the frequencies to their proper values the string mass is varied with the varying pitches. The steel wire is wound with copper or brass for lowering the pitch. The winding of wire adds heaviness to the string without producing excessive stiffness. One equal tempered semitone is 100 cents more than the previous semitone. Because of the stiffness of the lower strings they fail to produce exact harmonics necessary to grade them as ideal strings. The upper notes are tuned more in harmony with the midrange notes than the lower range notes. The lower pitch notes are tuned 30 cents flat and the upper end notes are tuned up to 30 cents sharp. The piano strings transfer the sound energy into the soundboard which amplifies and gives out the regal tone. The coupling of the string energy with the sound board is the most technical of the techniques. The sound has to be loud and sustained.

Replacing Strings:

Piano strings are usually made to order as per the acoustic requirements of the given piano. There are universal strings with hexagonal steel core and a copper winding. These are good for emergency fittings. Replacing old or broken strings is a tricky matter as the new string may not go well with the dull sound of the old strings.