We have a grand piano (Kawai RX3) in the living room. My son (9 years old) is the only player in the family and he plays a lot. We do not worry about disturbing the neighbors since we live inside 3.5 acre of woods of our own. But we do worry about the sound level might hurt his ear. I used two different sound meters to check the level, both give similar reading. The average sound level is in the high 70dB's and goes to mid 80dB's when playing forte. This is with all the cover fully closed.

My son's teacher also has a similar sized grand piano in her living room, but the sound is much lower than that of ours. She has a piano cover over the whole piano. Although we know the room acoustics must have played a big role in the difference, We wonder if the piano cover could also be a big factor. For those have piano cover over your grand, from your experience, does it make big difference to the sound level with the piano fully covered compare to without it. Which kind of piano cover is the best at reducing the sound level, but not the quality of the tone.

We have hard wood floor but there is a carpet under the piano. If the cover is not a good idea, are there any other neat solution to reduce the sound. It is a living room, so we care about the looks and neatness.

Thanks in advance for your help and comment.

Yes, a piano cover does serve as a sound muter, however it's effectiveness depends largely on the material and the thickness. The thicker and softer it is, the more effective it is. I use the piano cover that came with my piano, and use an additional quilt over the top. If you play with the lid closed but the cover off, the sound is louder.

I'm not sure what you are worried about here? The OSHA standard for 90db is 8 hours a day. Most pianos will never see 105db for any but the loudest transients. For a nine year old to maintain even a mid 80db (with lid closed) for any length that could even possibly damage his hearing is negligible. Now an Ipod, that's something to worry about. Where did you take your measurements? That makes difference, if it was where the player is, you might be surprised to see the level drop when you open the lid.

You'll also see a gap between the body of the piano and the lid. Place some stips of felt along the edge to also block out the sound.

That just means that if you pay someone to play the piano 8 hours a day, you don't have to provide hearing protection. It doesn't mean that lower levels do not cause hearing loss. 75 dba is a vacuum cleaner. No one wants to listen to a vacuum cleaner for even a whole hour.

The RX-3 is a very loud piano especially in a hard room. Closing the whole thing down, including the flylid, makes a big difference. A piano cover over that would not make much more difference as there would still be tons of sound coming out the bottom.

cinstance, there is a sound reduction kit from Edwards String Covers. It works really well, even if you open up the lid all the way.

when my kids were little and napping, i used to stuff cheap pillows up under the beams.. they'd fall out every other day or so but did a great job dampening the sound... i also covered the piano with a couple of quilts and put little pillows near the keyboard in that space.

i was working on the etudes and the crashing thunderous chords kind of bothered the babes.

It's just my personal choice, but if I had a beautiful piano I wouldn't want it to be covered. So I'd try some of the other suggestions given that can help lower the volume without covering the piano.

There's also the possibility of wearing earplugs. There are special ones made for musicians.

Another idea that would help is to put carpet padding under the rug.

Best of all get a set of baffles from http://www.edwardsstringcovers.com/.

There is also a piano blanket you can buy for the inside.

rada

personally I want to hear all the sound I can get....and please keep the photos and vases OFF of the piano....

You could tell the child not to pound so hard.

Otherwise, acoustic room treatments can help: thick carpet with foam underlayment, bookcases, drapes, upholstered couches and chairs, wall hangings.

You could introduce the young pounder to a deaf person, so that he might learn what an inconvenience it is to lose the hearing. As many as one-third of all Americans have some degree of hearing impairment (some with tinnitis to go with it, and that is a real drag), so it's not hard to find someone. Put that together with a program of education about environmentally-caused hearing loss, and it might give your son a chance to think twice (which is ultimately your only hope). It is not that different than sun-caused skin cancer, in that the damage comes years before the problem shows up.

It is possible for your tech to cripple the piano so that it does not make such a big voice, but that would be a crime. Or get him a smaller upright that won't be as loud no matter how hard he pounds.

There is a lot of information you could Google up, but I like this web page for the simplicity of its overview:

http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html

A young pianist is going to want to explore the full dynamic range of the instrument, and that is a good thing, in moderation. If he only plays in the range from ff to ffff, I would wonder if he already has some hearing impairment. It could be worth checking out with an audiologist.

Proper voicing of a piano does not "cripple" it. Most of the time, it moves the sound energy from the higher partials to the lower partials, so that the sound carries farther. The piano seems softer, but actually carries farther.

I vaguley remember a thread where someone here went on and on and on that pianos weren't too loud; statistics were given using forum members who complained about their piano and the results miniscule. How times have changed.

Ok, lets look at this another way. If you are concerned about hearing loss then use hearing protection. Hearos are great and provide plenty of attenuaton. 14 pairs for 3 bucks and the problem is solved without all the hassle of redecorating your house.

My Mason BB in a 12' by 18' room(with opening on to other room)is not too loud.

Thanks everyone for the advices so far. My son does not really pound on the piano. We just moved to this new house several months ago. We had high ceiling before and the sound level was never a concern. Our living room is now very large (25'x19') but the ceiling is only 8'. Also the spot I choose for the piano might not be the best position (45 degree pointing to a corner). I will try to move the piano a little away from the corner this weekend, to see if the acoustics can enhance a little bit. Since there is plenty of room around the piano, maybe we should put more plant in the room to absorb some of the sound. If it does not work, I will think about the options suggested in this thread in the coming days.

The strange thing is that when I actually sit on the piano bench, the sound seems to be weaker. It gets stronger as I moving further away.

"Proper voicing of a piano does not "cripple" it. Most of the time, it moves the sound energy from the higher partials to the lower partials, so that the sound carries farther. The piano seems softer, but actually carries farther."

I didn't mean a proper voicing like you would do, BDB. I knew someone with an overbred little yappy dog, who took it to the vet and had it 'voiced'. Or 'de-voiced.' It still barked, but the bark came out like it was whispering,
"Yap! Yap! Yap!
"Yap! Yap! Yap! Yap!
"Yap! Yap!"

I have heard pianos that were 'voiced' like that. My blood pressure didn't peg the gauge, but I've never forgotten the pitiful sound. Just like that poor dog.

To the OP: moving the piano within the room is the first and best thing to try. Sometimes a short few inches can make quite a difference. You are quite right that the sound changes considerably depending on the listener's position. Unfortunately, plants do not do much absorbing of sound energy, but you need not believe it until you try it.

The six-foot RX3 should be a nice size for the space you have. I wouldn't think the problem is that the piano is actually overloud for the room. However, once you find 'the place' in the room, and have your comfortable music room furnishings arrayed, then it might be a good idea to have a good voicer (a talented and experienced one) make some adjustments... while he tweaks the regulation and puts a nice tuning on. And one more thing: opening the top doesn't always make the piano louder (though it can). Sometimes the player learns a more gentle relationship, from being in such immediate touch with the 'presence' and subtle power. And he can learn to use the subtle power for subtle things, and the fff power for the places where it goes.

Anyway, if he's going to learn from sheet music, the top needs to be open so the music desk can be used. Get him a nice balance-arm piano lamp and, maybe for Christmas or a birthday, an adjustable Janssen bench

You sound like a really caring parent. I am always happy to see this; it does not exist for all young musicians.

Is this a place where you would be comfortable having his music buddies come by to hang out and practice? My choir director used to have the weekly choir rehearsals in his own home, with his nice grand piano. Some great times, those.

It probably would not be quieter, but it might sound better. The experts say to point the opening side toward the middle of the room and not right up against walls and corners. You have the space



I have the same experience. What was just bearable at the bench was excruciating just a few feet away where we have the listening chairs It was a very "live" environment for the piano.

I think a larger space is actually more difficult to treat due to the amount of area involved. You can add rugs, plants, furniture, etc., but directly treating the piano (with foam) I think is more effective (and cheaper, even with the custom Edwards kit).



I totally agree. I absolutely loved the undampened trebel and the duplex scale but it got painful after awhile. Although the sound is different now, it's still quite satisfying. Right, no photo frames (horrific photos of Craigslist grands used to display photo frames come to mind ) ! One added benefit for the foam kit is that you can now raise the lid to prevent clutter (unless other people put things directly on to the foam pad, argh).