The most beneficial purchase you can make in the preservation of your acoustic piano is a climate control system. Perhaps one of my students has at some point during the last few years come home from a lesson and mentioned that I water my piano. As strange as this may sound, it’s true.

A number of years ago, my piano (a Baldwin Hamilton studio model) began to show some signs of stress. Keys were sluggish, hammers would stick to strings, the general tone began to sound muffled, and finally, an annoying echo developed. It sounded almost as if the damper pedal was being depressed about a third of the way down ... permanently. The piano was being used a lot (from about 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily). It had just been tuned, and in recalling recent piano maintenance, I realized it had been requiring far more frequent tunings than usual.

I called my piano technician who explained to me that, although my piano was being tuned frequently, severe changes in temperature and humidity levels were causing it to wear. The soundpost was not yet cracked, but soon would be due to the dryness of winter. He strongly recommended installing a climate control system. Years ago, similar devices were called "damp chasers." Damp chasers, like humidifiers, added necessary moisture. Unfortunately, damp chasers were not designed to deal with the problem known to many basement dwellers - excessive moisture. Today's climate control system has both a humidifier and a dehumidifier. The system is designed to keep the humidity level in the interior of your piano between 35 and 40 percent. There is no guesswork involved. A light will blink to alert you to the need to add water.

Climate control systems can be purchased for under $300. Mine has already paid for itself. The steady humidity level allows my piano to stay in tune longer. I have gone from 5-6 tunings a year to 1-2. A climate control system can be installed by a technician, or you can save a few pennies and install it yourself. If you choose to do it yourself, you will need the instruction manual, a few hours, and a bit of patience.

© Copyright 1998, 1999 Joe Gallant. All rights reserved.