Regulating is the process for adjusting the pianos action, or playing mechanism to maximise tonal response, maintain the piano manufacturers required touch weight and response settings, and to ensure continual freedom of individual action parts within the action movement.
A piano can display many symptoms of needing to be regulated. Some of the usual problems are :
- If when you play your piano it has a "loose" or "sloppy" feel
- The piano has notes that stick or play slowly
- The piano has notes that feel like they continue to bounce after they hit the string or after a single key strike the hammer hits the string more than once
- Some or all the pianos notes continue to ring on, or the sound lingers on
- A major telling factor is if the piano is very difficult to play quietly
- Sometimes notes wont sound even if you are sure you have pressed them firmly
- The piano just doesn't feel or respond the way it used to when it was new
There are approximately 27 adjustment procedures in regulating a modern upright piano, and 31 procedures to regulate a modern grand piano. We use about 20 different tools when regulating a piano! Keeping a piano well regulated will greatly enhance your piano playing pleasure and increase the instruments value and longevity.
Ideally, a piano should be regualted about once every five year, depending on how often the instrument is played.
