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Piano Pages
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Where should I put my piano?
First, and perhaps more importantly, here are some places you should not put it :
1. If it is an upright piano : backing onto a radiator, or hot water pipe.
2. In the path of hot air from hot air heating.
3. Where it will receive severe hot sunlight exposure.
4. If it is upright, against a damp wall.
5. Where it will suffer from any kind of severe heat or humidity exposure.
For example, some things to avoid are:
Areas that are open plan adjacent to a kitchen.
Under strong spotlights, or other infra red radiating sources.
If you have to put the piano somewhere very humid, you may be able to use a damp chaser. Ask your piano tuner for advice, because this depends on the situation.
A modern piano is designed cope with ordinary central heating, but the above exclusions still apply.
An older piano may require a humidifier in central heating, but often this is not the case. Ask your piano tuner.
Keeping a piano in a garage, even for a short period, is not a good idea.
Where you CAN put it
Given the above exclusions, you can put the piano wherever you think it should be, within reason. Upright pianos have the soundboard at the back, so this ideally should face into the room. This is usually impractical for most people, and less aesthetically pleasing to see, so the upright piano is usually placed with its back to a wall. This is fine, provided the wall is not damp.
The biggest difference to the sound of the piano will be made by the acoustics of the room itself, and only secondarily the position of the piano in the room.
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The acoustics of the room will depend mostly on:
1. The dimensions of the room
2. The surfaces and contents of the room
Room acoustics is a very involved subject, but here are some vague generalities:
For a piano...
A large room is good, up to hall size. (Church or Cathedral size is not so good).
A high ceiling is good.
Small rooms are best with non-parallel walls.
Reverberation time increases with the dimensions of the room.
The ideal shape is the 'shoebox' shape.
Soft surfaces, furniture, and people, reduce reverberation time by absorbing sound energy.
Hard surfaces help longer reverberation time by reflecting sound.
Flat, parallel plaster walls are not so good and can produce flutter echo.
Differing surfaces are good, especially a mix of wood and ceramic. Musical sound is like light in that there are different 'colours' or wavelengths. Different surfaces absorb or reflect different wavelengths, so you need a mixture.
Wooden surfaces produce 'warmth' of sound.
Open windows or other apertures are like almost perfect absorbers - decreasing reverberation.
The contact of the piano with the floor has consequences, particularly for an upright piano with its back to a wall, because much of the sound of the piano will be 'structure born'. Floorboards can act as an extended soundboard.
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