Not solely are pianos stunning musical devices which have stood the take a look at of many centuries of time, they’re additionally unbelievable machines. Sadly, all machines put on out over time, which suggests it’s typically not possible to revive each outdated piano we’d come throughout. However a couple of are well worth the hassle, and [Emma] had simply such a novel machine roll into her store just lately.
What makes this instrument so distinctive is that it’s among the many first electrical pianos to be created, and one in every of solely three identified of this specific mannequin that survive to the current day. It is a Vivi-Tone Clavier piano which dates to the early Thirties. In an earlier video she discusses extra particulars of its inside workings, however primarily it makes use of electromagnetic pickups like a guitar to detect vibrations in plucked steel reeds.
To start the restoration, [Emma] removes the motion after which lifts out all the keys from the important thing mattress. This instrument is nearly a century outdated so it was fairly soiled and wanted to be cleaned. The important thing pins are lubricated, then the keys are adjusted in order that all of them return after being pressed. From there the keys are all adjusted in order that they’re sq. and even with one another. With the keys principally so as, her consideration turns to the motion the place all the plucking mechanisms will be filed, and different changes made. The final step was maybe essentially the most tedious, which is “tuning” the piano by adjusting the pluckers in order that all the keys produce the same quantity or quantity of sound, after which including some solder to the reeds that have been barely out of tune.
With all of these steps accomplished, the piano is again in working order, though [Emma] notes that since these machines have been so uncommon and produced so way back there’s no actual approach to know if the restoration feels like what it will have when it was new. That is really the same downside we’ve seen earlier than on this construct that hoped to mannequin the sound of one other electrical instrument from this period known as the Luminaphone.
Because of [Eluke] for the tip!
