Please Help!

[Yamaha_Sam]

Hi all new to the boards, hoping to get to know you all over time.



I'm hoping you can offer me some advice. I currently live in a moderately large townhouse as a shared house with some work colleagues. This was all fine and dandy for a while but now obvious cracks are forming in the realtionship and it seems best to move out as soon as possible.

I'm looking to move back into apartments, which i've found the perfect one to suit my budget and location. The only trouble is I have a yamaha U1 which is my pride and joy, 1975 fully restored and it's glorious!! my only concern is that being in an apartment, i'm more than likely going to annoy upteen neighbours. I'm happy to be considerate and knock on their doors and obviously say for them to tell me when it's getting out of hand or if they would prefer me to stop for the evening but this might not be practical at times.

I was wondering really if anyone had any suggestions on reducing the volume of an acoustic piano? or am i doomed to go back to digitals? which would be a shame as i've never played a piano quite like this one before and as I said it is my pride and joy.

my thoughts were perhaps a surround, made from soundproof board, and build this into an entertainment unit of sorts, as the piano is in the living room i could make this large enough to have drawers and space for the tv etc. but not knowing a great deal about soundproofing i don't know if that would be a complete waste of time.

I only really want to reduce the amount of noise going to next door, and obviously being an upright the only place i can put it is against the wall which means most of the sound is going straight through the wall.....

argh please help i really don't want to sell my piano but i also have to move and the apartment is the most economical option

[Colin Nicholson]

If your piano has the middle 'practise' pedal, then this is sometimes an option for keeping your neighbours happy. Although most people can play their piano normally during daytime hours. There is of course the Yamaha Silent Piano (not disklavier), which plays as a normal piano, then by locking down the middle pedal, it becomes silent - then using headphones. That would mean part X.

Although a few years ago, (about 10 years ago), I remember assisting in a piano shop fitting a silent unit to a normal upright piano. It involved cutting out part of the keyframe to allow for solenoids, but not sure if the unit is still available separately.

If your U1 doesn't have the celeste rail (middle pedal), you can have fitted the celeste rail as a separate kit. Best to contact your piano tuner for more details, unless anyone else spotting this post has good further advice.

I don't think sound-proofing is good, your piano will sound different, and you will be a prisoner in your own home!!

[Yamaha_Sam]

awww i thought that might be the response. I do have the practice pedal but i hate using it, sounds dead and i find it so hard to practice without hearing the piano, argh why cant i just have a volume dial on the strings!!

hopefully someone else has found some other method, my current research suggests rubber casters, and somethick sound foam attached to the back... reduction but loss of quality i guess too

[Colin Nicholson]

I live in 2-bedroom terrace, nice & quiet here - moved here 2 months ago. I know my 'left' neighbour very well, and the house on the right is still empty. The first thing I did was to inform my neighbour that I taught piano between Xpm and Xpm, and that I usually 'knock off' practising around 7pm, some nights 7.30pm - and he's fine about it. I think it also depends on your use of your piano, how good a pianist you are!! (yes, it sometimes matter to the neighbours), and how loud you play. If you 'kind of' expect to play through the night, well, it wouldn't matter if you filled the room with expanding foam, everyone would still here you. Without losing quality practise time & volume of your piano, you may need to wind in the finishing time you play the piano - the decent thing to do, and just have a word with your neighbours.

I have never ever heard of rubber (or latex) castors reducing the sound of a piano?? I usually fit these to school pianos with polished wooden floors, or private homes with laminated flooring - but then again, the floor now acts as a secondary soundboard. The U1 is quite immense in sound, and the only way I can see it, is to enquire about the silent kit (about £3K), or perhaps fit an extra layer of carpet under your piano - but the sound transmits everywhere - through the top & bottom boards, there's no escaping it. Next thing, you'll end up in a straight-jacket with all this sound proofing!!!

[Yamaha_Sam]

yes, i'm quite happy to reign in the practice hours and commit to set times which to play, but i fear this wouldn't be acceptable to some even with that in place (can't have them missing eastenders can we!) and i'm not by any means professional so as you say they would have to put up with me practicing over and over....and over!!

hmm seems the best thing really is to see if my local store could do some sort of part ex or even a straight swap for a good digital. it is unfortunate but other than that there doesn't SEEM to be a viable solution as the 3K silent system is more than i paid for the piano in the first place!!! and completely out of my budget

[Colin Nicholson]

http://www.jlpianodiscservices.co.uk/

Sam, check out the above site - the price I said was only a rough guess, but then the labour is quite alot & I can remember it being quite expensive. Email them for a quote. If they have "Catch Up" through Virgin Media, just tell them to put that on when you are practising!!!

When is switches to the silent mode, its like a digital piano & hammers dont touch the strings - all done through fibre optics, but the beauty is that you can switch it back to your true U1 sound.

If you decide to go down the digital route, check out Kawai digital pianos, they are pretty good, very responsive - like the CN33 or CN42 (some have USB) and obviously all have headphone sockets. Would be a pity though to lose your U1 just coz of Coronation Street & East Enders!

"ssshh.... Eastenders is on...."

[Yamaha_Sam]

it does sound ideal really. Can then have a blast of the true sound at weekends whilst keeping them happy during the week

have sent an email hopefully they'll come back with a special £3000 off for new customers lol

[Yamaha_Sam]

Just to help others in my situation:

Hi Sam
Thanks for your enquiry, yes we can certainly help you with the answer to your problem. The U1 is a popular choice for a retrofit silent system I have just completed one for a Surrey dealer. Our Magic Star pro model or the more basic GT-2 would work very well without causing any damage to the piano. Its a days work so we can fit onsite within the M25 area or we can arrange carriage to our Ruislip West London workshop, however carriage is not included in the fitting cost. A discount is offered for workshop installs as this means less pressure of time onsite and the benefits of a fully equipped workshop. Pricing details below.

Model GT-2 Basic model onsite inside M25 £1375.00 + 17.5% Vat ( £1615.63) With Workshop discount £1260.00 + Vat (£1480.50)

Magic Star Pro model onsite inside M25 £1620.00 + 17.5% Vat ( £1903.50) With Workshop discount £1450.00 + Vat (£1703.75)
Workshop discounts GT-2 £120 Magic Star £170 This helps with transport costs typically around £300.00 + Vat for collection/delivery. Onsite visits outside the M25 can be quoted to allow for travel costs and extra time.
Please be aware Vat will rise on January 4th to 20% orders placed and paid in full before Christmas will be charged at the current rate.


Hope that's helpful, please do call me if you would like more details. A scan of the tech specs is attached.

I look forward to your call


Regards


Les Cooper

J&L Piano Services

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

Hi Sam
I'm glad to hear that you are still enjoying the U1 that you bought from me a while back (I hope I've got the right Sam!!?).
I could send my technician out to your home to install the GT-2 system for a very sensible price.

I'm not sure if it is OK to post the price on here but let's just say the number only has 3 figures in it. The only other bit to pay would be for my technician's fuel to get to you and home again.

The total price should still turn out reasonable and you could pay using 0% interest over 9 months if that would help.
Drop me an email at markgoodwinpianos@gmail.com if you want a proper price for this.

Regards,
Mark

[Yamaha_Sam]

Yep same sam

You never cease to please me with your customer service!! yes i love my piano it honestly is my pride and joy and having a way to be able to keep it when i move would be fantastic!

i'll send you an email and hopefully we can work something out

cheers again mark massive help as always

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

Jolly good
See you on the email

Thanks,
Mark
p.s. thanks for the kind words. You flatter me!

[Colin Nicholson]

,,,,.... and as they say on 'Moppatop Shop'

another happy customer!!



cheaper still, just buy some ear muffs for your neighbours!

[Barrie Heaton]

I only really want to reduce the amount of noise going to next door, and obviously being an upright the only place i can put it is against the wall which means most of the sound is going straight through the wall.....

You can sound prof the room first off al you will need Castor Cup Sound Insulators then you need to kill the sound from the back of the piano. I use Ripple Foam cut it to match the gaps in the bracing in the back of the piano put the ripple to the sound board the more you want to kill the sound the closer to the sound board you put the Ripple Foam with multi layers. in the room thick lined curtains and lost of soft furnishings help a tapestry hanging just off the wall helps as well

You can have the piano voiced down as well...

Barrie,

[Yamaha_Sam]

hmm definately another option, I mean whilst the silent system seems ideal (and marks price is very good ) I don't know I just can't bare to tamper with it, it's been happy enough in the state it's in for 30 years seems unfair to modernise it now in some weird way lol...

I was thinking of having it orientated differently in the room i.e having it central with its back against the back of a sofa therefore cutting down the amount of exposed soundboard and also taking it away from the wall.

it really seems to be coming down to having a easy fix that's relatively inexpensive, again fair priced modification from mark but still out of my imediate bank balance. or selling it in favour of a digital. and in that instance i don't think i'd get anywhere near what i'd want for the piano and then would have to resort to a sub standard digital.... it is a tricky position, on the one hand i love the piano but on the other swapping to a digital is seeming to be the only practical solution...

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

Nice post Barrie. Good advice

It's a tough balance between not wanting to feel like you've butchered a piano by fitting the silent system and not wanting to have to play quietly, or play less frequently or make your piano sound muffled to keep the neighbours happy.

I don't even have room for a U1 or U3 in my house at the moment but as soon as I do I know I'll be getting one with the silent kit fitted. It's good for the neighbours and it's good to "lose yourself" in your headphones sometimes. Maybe that sounds cheesy but that's what happens when I play with the headphones on a silent piano.

Not an easy choice. Maybe try Barrie's idea first and see if the neighbours react?

[Yamaha_Sam]

Yes i agree, i definately get caught in the moment when i play... I also play accompanyment for my teachers choir and when i'm practicing "hard days night" i'm amazed that the neighbours havent sent out a firing squad!

think that will be first port of call, try to reduce the sound first and tell the neighbours that i wont be playing passed 6pm anyway (which i very rarely do apart from drunken nights when 2am "topcat" is in order lol) and hopefully i'm just making a mountain out of a molehill. KNowing my luck i'll have a Drum and base fan living next door and the block will be glad to hear some decent music