I think about remove cap from grand piano for better sound in our orchestral room but doubt about the dust inside piano - is it problem or not? Can piano stay without cap around year or I can damage instrument? Or any negative factors?

Its better to have the cap not removed for the piano. One option is to keep the cap removed but add a string cover or something that makes the same function of the cap but easier to remove!.

Lluís, thanks, but what do you think about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGbFgg-JOc8 - how keep instruments in this studio?

If your piano sounds that good, keep the top off!!

If you can play that good, keep the top off!!!

Since I can't play anywhere near that well, I'll leave the top on!!!

Rick

Rickster, you are right, but we say about save instrument in good state without any cap - it is real or not?

To leave it open all the time isn't good. The options are to use the proper lid, and open it with the prop stick, or to leave the lid off, but cover it with something lightweight and easy to remove. Avoid cloth, because it's a source of dust as the fibers wear out. If appearance doesn't matter while the cover is on, a thin sheet plastic, such as 6 mil poly, will keep the dust out. You can get it at Home Depot. It's cheaper than their tarps, and better, because the tarps wear out and shed particles.

I can think of a few other reasons not to replace a grand lid with a tarp! But tarps DO come in handy - I use them to cover my lawnmower, firewood at my cabin...

I was commenting on the wonderful pianist and the fine piano earlier when I said to leave the top/lid off.

But getting back to reality, I would not leave the top/lid completely off for long periods of time. It helps protect the innards from dust, debree and other...

I keep the lid closed, with the fly-lid open on my grand piano 95% of the time. I do open the lid on the long stick on occasion.

I'm thinking the top/lid should only be removed for special performances, like in the YT video. A home setting is totally different, in my view.

Besides, when I sit down at my Yamaha C7 to play and look across that long top/lid, it reminds me of an aircraft carrier!

Rick

We have had a few pianos in our shop for complete restoration due to water damage. One was a beautiful Baldwin that was placed in an area directly under a swamp cooler in such a manner than when the lid was open, water dripped into the piano and built up over time. Unfortunately, the soundboard, pinblock, and action all were essentially destroyed. Piano interiors can be quite delicate; for example, if any viscous liquid was to soak into the copper wound bass strings, they would be greatly damaged, and at the least would produce a 'thud' sound rather than clear singing.
I doubt the benefits of being completely 'topless' justify the risk involved with leaving the vital components exposed for extended periods of time.

-Dave

Strangely enough, that's the nickname the family gave to my Knabe. We even have a little model airplane that I put on it once.... ;-)

Yuri,

Is it possible to remove the lid for performances only? We have piano movers who do this all the time for a few local venues and I know universities who have physical plant people who do this for them as well.

Good luck,

I believe that the lid is important for sound projection. Without it the sound goes up and does not project as well into the audience.

Wouter,

Actually it is occasionally chosen to remove the lid of a piano in a performance. The position of the orchestra, audience, and piano all influence the decision and, actually, the pianist is usually not a good judge of whether or not this is an ideal choice.

Being stuck at the piano, they usually cannot tell very much about balance issues in a hall.

My 2 cents,

Removing the lid for a recording session is not unusual; the piano can more easily be miked from above. I've never heard of one being removed semi-permanently for use in a band room. Is there some problem with the piano's not being heard over the band? I would suspect that might point to a piano that is too small for the venue. So, the solution would be to get a bigger piano. Right--- easy to say.

I guess a plastic tarp would be better than nothing. Grand piano lids are made to 'float' a fraction of an inch over the outer rim so that air can still circulate. I would think you'd have to be mighty careful with the plastic sheeting. And the lid has to go somewhere. Heavy wood things leaning against the wall have a fair chance of being damaged.

I love the sound and 'presence' of a piano with the lid open and the music desk taken out of the way. Opening it for concerts, recordings, or special occasions sounds good to me. Leaving it open permanently... not so much. If pianos didn't need lids, they wouldn't have them.

"If pianos didn't need lids they wouldn't have them". Thanks Jeff from one who has fought the gratuitous removal of piano lids for most of a lifetime. Mainly because of the lost hingepins and the ensuing damage when the lid is raised without them. I know about sightlines and stuff that makes people consider removing lids and sometimes it just might be necessary I would rather approve the use of that silly little short lid prop than remove a lid. Why does it seem to me that the very same people who remove lids are the ones without the forethought to put the hingepins in a memorable place, or, even if they can find them, don't have the intelligence to put them back in the hinges. Whenever I am consulted on lid removal, if, on the off chance I deem it to be unavoidable, I always insist it be professionally done. The entails the cost of a removal crew twice "oh yes we didn't think that the next user might want the lid back on" typifies how self absorbed and thoughtless lid removers are.....I'll stop now.

A removal crew? Two ordinary people can do it. My wife and I can R&R the lid on a concert grand. The pins should be stuck back into the hinges on the removed lid - stick them down with masking tape if you're really worried.

Sure you can. It's your piano, and it really is that simple but when musicians, particularly student musicians and other amateurs do it without permission on a piano that isn't theirs, what I related is what happens. You see, nobody in particular owns pianos at venues and in institutions in the mentality of amateur and student musicians and their hangers-on. I spent a morning last week re-aligning bent hinges and repairing woodwork on a piano that had suffered a simple lid removal. All major venues have professionals do each job. The polisher is coming in later to fix the deep gouges and scratches. It's less expensive to get lid removal done properly in the first place. This was only a 7' piano. A 9' piano would take 2 men and a dog to repair. Get out of here with your "me and the wife could have done it". Where were you when I needed you?....

Thanks all for your opinions, my piano about 100 years ... and I decide save cap - sound good in any cases, but I afraid about instrument. Topless - dont good for piano (but good for nice girl at the piano

Very much enjoyed (and impressed by) the audio aspect of the performance. Visually, though, her body seemed so stiff throughout the performance that I wonder if she finds it laborious rather than enjoyable. Compare to this other performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCgbs70c5GI posted in 2010, she loosened up quite a bit -- more in-tune with the style, good for her.

On your question of whether to cap the piano ... if you're going to mic it often like shown in the first video, I'd second the plastic sheet idea. Putting the wing-lid on would just get in the way of optimal mic positioning, and heavier material like tarp and proper piano cover would just sink onto the strings without the wing lid, brushing against strings and shed particles when you pull it off or put it on. Plastic sheet would seem the most sensible.

Good luck.