
Adventures in Piano Building - cevn
https://medium.com/@hackmancoltaire/adventures-in-piano-building-c3fe5fa0b56b
======
josh2600
Wonderful piece, but the author is wrong about one point.

The idea that Piano rolls predate all other programmable storage medium is
factually incorrect. Surely the Jacquard loom and its punch-card system,
patented in 1801, pre-date the piano rolls of the 1900's?

Other than that, a great piece, but I would be remiss if I missed a chance to
remind people of how amazing (and early) the Jacquard loom must've been at the
time.

~~~
jacquesm
It's still just as amazing today, even more amazing that they are _still in
use_!

~~~
noonespecial
And also that it was considered a diabolical device designed to steal from
artists who deserved simply to make a living when it was introduced.

------
userbinator
_I also found some very hard and crusty pieces of cotton wedged between a few
of the hammers that didn’t look like they were supposed to go anywhere and
were blocking some of the parts_

Those were the dampers, without them the sound will be "harder" and more
percussive:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piano_action_-
_Project_Gut...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piano_action_-
_Project_Gutenberg_eText_17571.jpg)

With such a big LCD I think it would be a fun addition to embed a PC inside
it, with the keyboard of the piano acting as its... keyboard. After all, the
original PC/AT keyboard only had 84 keys.

...and those who liked the article might find this interesting too:
[http://www.linusakesson.net/chipophone/](http://www.linusakesson.net/chipophone/)

~~~
hackmancoltaire
Oh also, there is a Mac Mini controlling the display. The next phase of the
project is to install key scanning hardware that would detect key presses. So
it COULD in theory act as a regular keyboard as well. The music would be
pretty random though, but interesting.

------
wallflower
I really enjoyed and liked the going down the rabbit hole aspect. And the
confidence that at every step, even as they got more fractal, there would be a
solution.

As someone who has taken a woodworking class or two, I love the ethos of how
sometimes experienced wood workers tell the beginners to just throw in a shim
[1]. I know that some wood workers would blanch at that - but art is about
compromises.

I wonder out loud how we can start getting underserved kids to learn how to
make more physical stuff with digital help (CAD drawings).

Reminded me of Tim's Vermeer

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim's_Vermeer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim's_Vermeer)

[1] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shim](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shim)

------
tunesmith
Bravo! It's so fun and... whatever that word is that is a mix between
inspiring and intimidating... to see journals of projects like these where so
many different interests and passions come together. I loved the visualization
exploration, too - aside from the lines, most of them didn't really
communicate anything to me but I was surprised at how well the circles one
worked.

~~~
hackmancoltaire
The small clips I recorded don't really convey the connection as well as when
you're standing right in front of it. You see the connection between the
keypress and the visualizer much better when it all works as one.

------
qdot76367
If you're interested in getting into the nitty gritty of piano building and
maintenance, check out this book:
[http://www.pianosinsideout.com/](http://www.pianosinsideout.com/)

It's basically an engineering textbook for pianos.

~~~
thirteenfingers
Thanks for that - I've never seen that book before but it looks incredibly
thorough and comprehensive.

Another book on the subject is Arthur Reblitz's classic "Piano Servicing,
Tuning, and Rebuilding: For the Professional, the Student, and the Hobbyist"
which I do own and highly recommend.

[http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Servicing-Tuning-Rebuilding-
Prof...](http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Servicing-Tuning-Rebuilding-
Professional/dp/1879511037)

~~~
qdot76367
My tuner recommended Inside Out to me after he saw I bought Reblitz.
Apparently Reblitz is pretty out of date as far as tuning methodology goes?
Can't really speak to it myself as I now own both and have read neither due to
that particular hobby getting backburnered for a bit.

------
sizzzzlerz
Fantastic! I love your integrating the display into the whole experience. Its
really surprising how nice the tuned piano sounded. Your tuner worked some
real magic there.

------
fit2rule
I've seen the same shiny-eyed ethos in piano builders as I have in computer
makers. There's something very aesthetic about both sciences, which makes them
so valuable - at a spiritual level - to us all. Piano's will never feed you,
nor computers - but both can be used to motivate our fellow man into the
effort, and thats all that matters I suppose.

------
jacquesm
That's one of the best posts for the year. Thanks cevn!

------
gtani
Wonderful article. I've played piano all my life, except for the first 6 and a
bunch of layoff years, and other instruments (woodwinds, strings, percussion,
mostly). I understand the others and tune them myself to the extent i can, but
pianos are a mystery.

I have to be _that guy_ and remind people that are inspired by this to truck a
piano home, that hantaviruses are a thing, sometimes a fatal thing, and mouse
droppings are biohazards.

~~~
hackmancoltaire
Masks and gloves were worn during cleaning, plus lots of ventilation.

------
Avitas
I have no interest in pianos. How interesting could this possibly be?

WOW! This is something that would bring a smile to... hmm, I would guess, damn
near everyone.

------
callesgg
One thing i know from my own Digital Piano is how important the force and
speed of the key strokes is.

Something that the article did not mention accounting for.

~~~
hackmancoltaire
Since the original player piano mechanism doesn't support force there was no
need to incorporate it into my design. Many of the original QRS piano roll
scans don't even have that information. Although with further work and a
switch out of the solenoid to a pressure control valvle I might be able to
control the pressure of the key stroke.

------
dangoldin
This is a great post! Thanks for sharing. Makes me want to pick up a hobby
that involves something other than staring at a computer screen.

------
ratsimihah
This looks like a piano from the future. It's different and mixes traditional
(the piano) with modern (that giant screen.) Neat job!

------
peapicker
Fantastic work, really enjoyed the article.

------
raverbashing
Interesting

Pianos, as they're advances, are very prone to decay

I wonder if there are studies of building pianos with more stable materials
(like polymers?)

That being said, it would be better if the author knew about the difference
between "its" and "it's"

~~~
hackmancoltaire
The author knows. But between desktop autocorrect and not enough proof-
reading. It's hard to get it all right.

------
kevinwang
damn, that's really cool.

