Sounds great, personally I like the sound of detuned pianos too. I know that's a bit weird, but in this increasingly digital, squeaky clean world, there's something genuine and natural about the sound of a detuned piano.
You’re going to love the old self playing piano I just bought. Making a video of it for my main channel, you can barely hear what song it is on entertainer
Have you heard of just intonation? Back before we had 12 tone equal temperament (the distance between A-A# is the same as A#-G) we had tuning systems where we tried to maximize the number of mathematically perfect fifths (2:3) while preserving the ratio of 1:2 for an octave. You can look up this video where a piano tuner demonstrates multiple of these tuning systems with different Bach pieces which were likely written with tuning in mind.
As a piano tech, a great first go at tuning! of course Piano meter helps a lot, its truly a great piano tuning app especially for beginners. Wonderful find of a Grotrian Steinweg too, absolutely wonderful world class pianos, I wouldnt be ashamed to call it Steinweg over Steinway either in your case
Great that you were supportive. I don't consider myself any kind of tuning-snob, but I must be very sensitive when it comes to tuning. He proved that an amateur can get close but "no cigar." Of course, we all know a "piano in tune" is a lie. I'm convinced, it takes a very accomplished pro-tuner to be able to "mask" that lie to make the piano sound "in tune." Personally, i play a Yamaha digital piano. I am 100% sold on the digital and my sister is 100% acoustic. (she would rather play on an out of tune acoustic rather than a "perfectly in-tune" digital. This I can't understand?? My keyboard sounds like a $180,000 concert grand piano (in any concert hall I choose in my software) Much like one note played by Miles Davis on trumpet, I can play one note on my keyboard that can send shivers up your spine.
@@ThePianoMan1953 Im in between as i use both digital and acoustic, when i can id always choose to go down to my work and play on our C7 Yamaha, but at home i only have the space for my Dexibell and Yamaha digitals. The main difference would be Key action, 99% of digitals don't come 100% to reproducing the feeling of an acoustic touch wise. Also speakers can be a let down on digitals too
@@Erainia Right, I haven't found a digital (in my price range) that comes close to an acoustic action. I tend to play my Yamaha P-105 through the Garritan (Abbey Road Studio) software and through the Yamaha 7" monitors with sub. It's better than my playing deserves! 😀 I originally thought I liked the bright Yamaha sound but I find I like the darker presets. (especially when playing jazz ballads late at night) The biggest problem with any portable, weighted keyboard (that I can see) is that the entire plastic housing "acoustically" amplifies the "thud" when the keys hit bottom. Everything has a trade-off, but it is annoying!
@@ThePianoMan1953 Oh Puleeze on the "my digital sounds like concert Grand." NO it does not. Digital can be decent, and as you suggest, more trouble free, but still, give us all a break. I own a highly rated digital piano and have high end libraries as well, so I don't have an ax to grind, but just puleeze.
And this is exactly how your piano expertise grows. Learn by doing, and having a clear goal. So nice to see you learn the craft of piano tuning! ( Love all your other weird stuff too!! )
Grotrian-Steinweg sells its pianos under the name “Grotrian” in certain countries now, due to litigation from Steinway. No, they are not the same brand. In the 1800s, Grotrian was an associate with Steinweg, who emigrated to the US from Germany to found Steinway and Sons. Grotrian inherited the Steinweg factory and brand, so the two companies have the same roots, but are not the same company. They do make very beautiful pianos of a high quality however, on par with the highest tier piano brands, with a very colourful sound. Congratulations on a great instrument!
Hearing the song you know on your own piano, but then tuned is such a strange feeling, especially irl. I compare it to walking into the sound room in a past internship. This big company has a room in which they test how loud their machines are. If you've never done anything like that, it's hard to imagine the releaf when walking in there. You feel how the air changes from like 10dB to below 0dB
1:59 I‘m currently doing a technical internship because, well, I want to became an engineer and this is actually how mechanics work. It’s definitely not recommended and they don’t learn it like that in the apprenticeship but well…it’s often faster than finding the perfect tool 😅😂 But I still really hoped you wouldn’t do it haha
Nice. Have you ever tried tuning the two or three strings for each key to different notes? Say tune them in octaves or fifths, like strings on a 12 string guitar? Or maybe take a 1-octave range of keys on a piano and tune the 3 strings to major triads? and another 1-octave range and tune them to minor triads? Instant harmony with 1-finger per hand playing!
Yes I’ve bought pianos that was so out of tune were some notes turned into chords lol. Sounded quite nice. It would be cool if the notes were tuned to chords. But if you played actualy chords you would play some really crazy chords. Idk if that makes sense. But I’ve had this idea written down since the E-piano. But I’d like to do some vids inbetween
I'm sure I tried the wrench method as a kid, before I bought a tuning hammer. In the 1960s, when I was about 14, I bought a hammer and used a library book, "How to Tune a Piano" and tuned our old upright. My parents didn't have much money and refused to get it tuned. As an adult, I went through two new upright pianos and tuned them both myself, but sometimes hired a tuner, if I wanted some notes voiced differently or whatever. I did a decent job without a tuner, long before cell phones, but when electronic tuners first became affordable and widely available, that made it easier. Still, tuning was tedious for me and very time consuming, like I'd do it over three days. Anyway, there is a technique I think most tuners use called "let-off" that helps seat the pin in the pin block, and that is with each note, lower the pitch just a little from the existing pitch, before bringing it up to the correct pitch. I believe the theory is the wood has formed around the pin at the existing flat pitch, so bringing it back in pitch, counter clock-wise, helps kind of shape the wood around the pin. I'm sure I could read up on that somewhere. The Internet is a game-changer for finding information about pianos. The other thing that technique made me feel better about was using let-off, not breaking a string. Often, with old pianos, they will have certain notes that go out of tune quickly, or too many notes that do that. But sometimes a new piano will do that. I know because I had one. My first brand new piano, a Baldwin, a real lemon, had a defect in that way. I should have returned it. It would go out of tune further in two weeks than my next piano would go in four years. The second piano was amazing at holding tune. But, ultimately, although not a pianist, even though I've played since I was five, I like a piano that is in perfect tune, and so later in life went with a Roland digital. But I like MIDI for composing also. I got spoiled in music school by first playing a lot of Steinway pianos, many which were not very good at all, including the occasional B or D, and then later in music school in Vienna, all Bösendorfer grands, a few which I liked. My playing doesn't warrant such a great piano though and I'm fine with the Roland, as being in tune is the #1 thing for me. The Grotrian seems like a terrific bargain. My brother bought a real hunk of junk upright 35 years ago for $1000.
hello youngman, that was one helluva good find ! I'll be glad to share some of my experiences. Little bits at a time works real good, at 66 years, I;ve played by ear all my life, and retired chief engineer in demolition and scrap metal recovery using cold cutting technics to avoid "Hot cutting permits" inside oil leases. Since I began on very old pianos in this friends antique mall, and by looking at what you have, don't even worry about breaking strings ! Stupid things break even when your firstn turn is counter clockwise and "pop" ! My Man, tighten them strings up above 440 after your gentle cleaning, just do it ! Unless you're ready to take up to a month, it'll save you so much time !! Start in the middle,, then go to both ends and alternate down until you met center! I got sick and tired of being afraid of breaking a string, and thse were much older and dirty dusty machines! Always tune pass 440, and you'll finds that piano can take it, then gently lower the pitch into tune ! It's that simple, "you 'll find" that's the best way, and it's easier! Your piano wasn't engineered to be "de-tuned". Crank'er up, then settle it in! If it still falls out of tune, use "locktight"! Doesn't hurt nothing, if you have to move the key ever again, it'll break through the lock tight no problem! Beats changing the keyhole sleeve and key!
I once saw a 1930s Bechstein Concert 8 at a showroom for sale for $4000. I refrained from buying it because 1. I didn’t have $4000 and also bc there were problems with the action (sticky keys, broken and faded key surfaces, etc), but the sound was just fabulous, and the actual true ivory keytops were definitely something special to play on. I’d say anyone that can get an old but extremely good piano like Mat’s Grotrian Steinweg or that Bechstein I mentioned and service it (either themselves or by someone else) absolutely should…
Woah, i didn’t know you have this secret piano. Also i never thought you’ll keep your piano be normal and still be piano. Because of this quote “I’m an engineer” lol
Not tuned sounded interesting!! The result is not too bad, fine tuned is playable! Good job, took you a few hours but I think it's worth it for many hours of playing ;)
Tbh, sure it may sound laborious to self-tune your piano. But it is teaching you how to really take care of it like a baby especially if you take great pride in the instrument. I may intend to get the tuning wrench so I can tune mine.
A few years ago at work (office), we got a freebie piano. After the tuner was done, he could start right over from the beginning; the turny bits wouldn't hold / were very fond of their original position.
You could do the system in which each string will be connected to servo or motor with gearbox and make it self-tuning similar to Gipson guitar :D. In that case it could even have some preset profiles with best sounding detuned piano :D
Honestly, I’d like to see this Steinweg piano as a Kontakt Piano Library, it has such a nice and crisp sound and I would want to use it. But try to get every key to not be off and hire a professional to tune before it gets sampled.
I really hope you keep using a river runs through it for everything. Like play your million subscriber song that you promised but still use this as a baseline for your stuff
Grotrian Steinweg were started by Heinrich Steinweg who later became Henry Steinway. These pianos are high end and valuable instruments. Tuning bass first can wreck your bridge and board etc. How to tune your piano? Go to college and learn to tune by ear, or get a trained tuner to teach you. Better still pay someone who knows what they are doing. That pianos been restored.
hello mattias, i have come to take you to jail for not ruining a piano, you should call your piano technician and he will be confused how it sounds normal
You've spent so much time building unique instruments... How about trying your hand at composing to build your own songs? You have an array of very unique pianos to play around with and with your work ethic I'm sure you could pull off a new skill like that. You're clearly incredibly enthusiastic for music, after all.
Good video. You must’ve got a bargain on that Steinway, well at least to the regular price. I own a Casio keyboard myself. My guess is even perfect pitch musicians would have difficulty with the mechanic part of the process. I can tune a guitar but I definitely can’t tune a piano.
It’s technically not a Steinway, at least probably not the Steinway you’re thinking of. While Grotrian and Steinweg were associated and started this company together, Steinway and sons is the company he formed after immigrating to America, and this is a Grotrian-Steinweg piano. It’s still a very high quality piano thought and definitely more rare than a Steinway and Sons, at least in my experience.
Do more armature videos. They don't even have to be for this website ;) I kinda wanted to say that spending more on the tuning tools was an investment, but considering the things you do to pianos, I'm not so sure it is...
I'm planning to tune my aunt's piano by myself because no one cares about that piano, it'd be expensive to find a professional tuner in the Philippines. Also I wanna learn how to play a piano so I'll tune her piano to practice playing. (Yes I do not know how to play a piano yet and im'ma attempt to tune one🤣) wish me luck boys🤣🤣
Buy a piano tuning wrench, a couple (or three) strips of dampening felt, and some rubber dampers (around $50 total); and watch a RU-vid video on how to tune a piano before you damage your Steinway and end up having to spend a couple of thousand dollars to repin your piano.
Step 1: Amateur piano tuning Step 2: Satisfying old piano tuning … Step 89: Satisfying Piano Cleaning Relaxing Video … Step 93: Satisfying Old Piano Painting Relaxing 1 hour complication
A socket is not shaped to properly fit the tuning pins as the pins are tapered. Using a socket will likely damage the pins and may cause them to be untunable.
You shouldn't tune historic pianos yourself without some experience on a modern one. They often are not tuned to A440. Raising the pitch to A440 could result in snapping the whole thing in half. Some pianos can handle A440 some cannot. Even just going too fast can be dangerous. A440 was not a standard until 1915ish. So if you have a piano from 1890 it's probably not in modern pitch.
Really? Any source for that claim? Tuning to 432 or 435 Hz which seems to be the most popular tunings would lower the notes 1/5 of a half tone. So no, seems highly unlikely to snap a piano in half.
@@masoon3000 Perhaps I could have worded that differently. You have to remember the context of a historic piano. It's old and perhaps not in the best of shape. May even have sustained physical damage over the years. I am not suggesting that every [upright] piano having a pitch raise will snap in half. Moreso, it's a real danger and has happened to piano technicians. That 1/5 of a half tone across all the strings is a lot of extra tension. Some pianos are not made to handle that and can be damaged in the process. This is why you should have a qualified technician or do your research prior to tuning a historic piano to A=440. Not all pianos are built the same either.
A440 was actually only set as International Low Pitch in 1943. This Grotrian-Steinweg was built to be tuned to Continental Pitch which was A439. Raising it that little bit above spec is quite safe.
@@swansong1851 1926 to 1936 would be more accurate. The term low pitch isn't used how you used it unless that's just auto correct lol. Pianos that haven't been tuned for 30 years are always way below pitch. "It's only one hertz" isn't true for a lot of cases. But I agree less problematic for this piano.
