OKAY! its day 3 of the Battle of the Bands workday... and our name did change! we are the----BOMB SQUAD!!!...now on to other business.... ive been studying how a piano works, [i knew it would be a challenge and pretty complicated and difficult... but man oh mann] since ive played piano since i was about 8. I'm not very good, but i do know my way around a piano; i know its a string instrument and the keys press hammers that strum the strings inside, but ive never really took the time to see it work as i actually play. I observed my piano at home... and i wikipedia-ed and google-d it and found out it will really be a challenge for me, and i dont know if im truely UP to the task, so im rethinking the idea, but it would be really nice if i came to school with a small, working baby piano... heres some stuff that shows whats inside the piano and how it "ticks."The following is a brief explanation of how an upright piano works:
so basically, this is what is happening in the picture [i took notes on this]-- When a key is pressed slowly and softly, it rocks on the center rail and goes up in back.
- key raises the sticker and whippen
- whippen pushes the jack, which pushes the hammer butt.
- hammer butt pivots on its flange and moves the hammer toward the string; when key is half way down, the spoon engages with the damper lever, lifting damper off the strings.
- when hammer is almost to the strings, the jack heel bumps into the regulating button, and as the whippen keeps going up, the jack pivots and slips out from under the hammer butt
- hammer continues under its inertia to the string, instantly rebounding
At this point the strings start vibrating, the vibrations are carried to the bridge which transmits the vibration to the soundboard; [the large, thin wood piece you can see in the back of the piano] it amplifies the sound [a.k.a big speaker] - The catcher is caught by the backcheck and held in this position as long as the key is depressed.
- When the key is released, the whipen drops, the backcheck releases the catcher, the briddle tape gives a little tug on the hammer butt, and with the help of the butt spring, the hammer returns to the hammer rail.
- The damper spring returns the damper to the strings, and the jack spring returns the jack under the butt, ready for the next repetition
*entire sequence occurs in a fraction of a second, allowing pianist to repeat notes rapidly
SO MANY steps to play one note! and WOW, a fraction of a second??.. how can i make a baby piano work so smoothly and effectively that it will play note by note on each and every string i want in FRACTIONS of a second? This is going to be tough!
Oh and btw! i also wikipedia-ed it, so heres what i got.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano#Construction
they do show how pianos work and different kinds, but they only show professional and pricey pianos. they dont exactly show how they basically work, so its not as helpful as what i found on google, not that it didnt help me.
OH WELL, SEE YA LATER!! [i have some serious work to be done. til next blog!]
-Val Joseph aka veryVALuable
