Allergens, pet dander, ambient smoke, cooking oils, liquid spills, bugs and rodents (believe it or not) all find their way into pianos. Mold, mildew and pet urine are the worst. It is not that uncommon, surprising as that may seem. The Covid 19 experience has inspired...
I have good friends who traverse the city by bicycle; others, like my brother Mark, are skillful at public transportation and some like me drive from point A to point B. All of us are working as piano tuners in Chicago. There are dozens of fine piano technicians who...
There are many good reasons to have your piano appraised. Estate planning, insurance coverage, casualty and loss for pianos, making a gift of your piano and selling a piano are among these. Additionally, it is useful to know the value of your piano and its exact...
Piano Voicing is the last part of a process that we use to change the voice of the piano. The intent is to improve the tone color, sonority and evenness of piano tone by evaluating each hammer and its relationship to other piano components. Piano Regulation as...
It was a favorite piano of Chopin, Ravel, Debussy, Saint Saëns, deFalla and Stravinsky. Known for its velvet touch and sonorous timbre, the Pleyel piano is a remarkable instrument. After a concert I had given in 2015 for patrons of the American Museum in Britain, I...
Regulation is the art of achieving an even, responsive touch for the entire piano keyboard. There are many steps to a thorough and thoughtful piano regulation. A properly regulated piano action should have a reasonable and consistent touch sensation, key travel or...
Cleaning Your Piano Keys Jeffrey Cappelli, RPT (Registered Piano Technician, Piano Technicians Guild) Piano key coverings may be ivory, in the case of older pianos, or various types of plastic or synthetic material. Plastic is common for use in key coverings...
(a small piece published years ago in the Chicago Chapter PTG Monthly Newsletter "Wippenpost". This offered just for fun)... "I have noticed that birds often like to accompany the sounds of tuning with their own song. Some of our studio rooms in Oak Park face a tree...
About voicing: It is the last step of regulation and in large part a consequence of proper regulation procedures from start to finish. If voicing is the end result of an exhaustive process then we should look at everything that...
The piano is extremely sensitive to climatic changes. In a sense the piano is a living thing. This because much of the construction of a fine piano is of wood. Woods remain hygroscopic long after they are not "living" or after being made into something beautiful like...
1038 Jackson Ave
River Forest, IL 60305
By Appointment Only