Modern Pianos
Workings of the Modern Piano
The Modern Piano mechanisim is attributed to Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) of Italy. Cristofori was unsatisfied by the lack of control that musicians had over the volume level of the harpsichord. He is credited for switching out the plucking mechanism with a hammer to create the modern piano in around the year 1700
Cristofori would design an intricate mechanical system that enabled the player to control the intensity of the sound. Depending on the musician’s touch, they could create a soft or loud note and even hold a note for a longer period. However, the most noteworthy innovation was the escapement which enabled the hammers to return to their original position post-strike.
Cristofori essentially merged the best qualities of the clavichord and harpsichord. The Pianoforte enabled the musician to create music with greater complexity, and the sound was powerful enough to reach a crowd.
This convergence point in design marks a significant moment in piano history–the foundation for future versions of the pianos is set. With the blueprint laid out, the instrument goes through an optimization phase.
While the piano is dramatically improved, the mechanism remains the same.
Modern Piano
With better technology and an industrialized society, we see an explosion of innovation. As a result, modern pianos are far more accessible and affordable. The instrument is offered in an array of shapes and sizes.
Even though some modern pianos look similar to the pianoforte, the structure is not the same. The materials that we have to produce modern pianos are far more vast, and the technologies available ensure that they’re constructed with superior precision and, therefore, quality.
Some of the material changes for the traditional piano include the use of felt-tipped hammers instead of leather, the strings on a modern piano are wound tighter, and keys are made with plastic rather than ivory.
On modern piano keyboards, the seven "natural" notes of each octave are the white keys and the five half-tones are black keys in between. But, on pianos dating from the 18th century when Mozart was alive, the colors of the keys was exactly reversed: the white keys were black and the black keys were white. This was true not only for pianos, but also for the keyboards of organs and cembalos of the time. They were the opposite of the white/black arrangement that predominates today. However, when pianos became the dominant keyboard instrument in the 19th century, somewhere along the line, the positional relationship between black and white switched.
Why this happened is not well understood, but because visually, the color white stands out while the color black recedes into the background, the reason is said to be because making the half-tone keys that stick out black presents an image of stability to the eye. Also, it is said that as pianos became more widely used, a brighter keyboard was simply more preferable
Upright Pianos
During the time in which the square piano was rapidly being developed and rising in popularity, several unconventionally-minded inventors began experimenting with an upright piano.
The first recorded upright piano was by Johann Schmidt from Salzburg, Austria in 1780. Several others were patented throughout the late 1700s and early 1800s. John Isaac Hawkins from Philadelphia introduced an upright piano in 1800 that gained a poor reputation for its sound quality and engineering.
The introduction of an upright piano in 1811 with diagonal strings by Robert Wornum in London, England, changed the landscape for the unusual piano style. Changes to the action which are now seen on almost all upright pianos today significantly improved the sound quality, Later, German manufacturers iterated off of Wornum’s action by building an iron frame with three strings for each note which produced a robust sound unlike any of the other present-day uprights.
By 1860, nearly all square pianos in Europe were being replaced with uprights thanks to the increasingly industrialized city planning that mandated smaller, more compact pianos for urban spaces and in-home enjoyment. Around this time, American piano manufacturers began to shift their attention to developing uprights that could compliment the square piano market that had become so hot that they could hardly keep up with demand.
By 1880, the upright piano had completely replaced the square piano production in America, causing the extension of the square piano. Interestingly, the upright piano defies the laws of acoustics and physics by squeezing sound and tone in between the front and back of the wooden case while sending the sound towards the face of the player. However, the quality ranked second to the practicality and still does today. Upright pianos continue to be the choice pick for pianists with smaller budgets and tight spaces, making this style of piano perfect for practice studios, homes and public places like cafes.
Grand Pianos
The early pianoforte designs favored the wing form, and by the late 1700s, manufacturers were beginning to understand the advantages of the wing form for superior sound quality, volume and engineering. Now the preferred piano style for all concert settings and many homes where superior sound and artistry is desired, the grand piano came to the forefront of piano making in 1776.
The natural, horizontal plane for creating the best piano action and string orientation possible for volume and tone lent itself perfectly for the first forte or flügel (in Germany) piano. Developing a grand action for the first “Grand Pianoforte” in 1777, Robert Stodard in London, England, set the baseline for future grand pianos.
By 1827, several developments and changes had been made by the Germans and Americans. However, in 1780, the Viennese manufacturer Johann Andreas Stein and his daughter, Nanette Stein-Streicher, had improved upon the original Schröter action to create a tone for the grand piano so desirable that Mozart, Beethoven and other composers wrote pieces specifically to be played on their piano. The action combined a forceful, direct strike with a slight wisp across the string that created the most elegant tone that other makers could never achieve.
By 1808, Sebastian Erard took center stage in the grand piano market by attempting to increase the volume of the Viennese piano action with repetition. His patented action was a huge success. In 1838, Erard had finished his engineering to the piano action and invention of the capo tasto which was a pressure bar near where the strings were fastened to the frame that increased the rigidity of the strings providing a counter pressure to the hammer that therefore improved the tone. This bar is now standard on nearly all grand pianos today.
Once the most successful components of the various grand piano designs were established, many manufacturers began patenting their own combinations and changes to construction. In 1859, Steinway & Sons contributed to this evolution of the grand piano with the introduction of their full iron frame with fan-shaped strings and overstrung scale.
Many case improvements followed after the fundamental inside construction had been widely accepted as perfected. In the 1860s, English manufacturers were credited with adding veneer to a wooden frame that was made from power machines as opposed to the previous method of hand-planing the case to the desired thickness. This was more economic and guaranteed a consistency to the case making that ensured quality of sound and desired acoustic properties
How Does it work
One end of the strings is supported on bridges, which are attached to the soundboard. The sound is quite weak at this stage. The vibrations of the strings are transmitted to the soundboard through the bridges, and a loud sound resonates as a result of the soundboard vibrating the air. The entire piano, notably the soundboard, vibrates to produce sound.