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My piano has gone through the war zone in the past 24 hours. All I needed taken out was a tapping noise on one note. (B below middle B), and it turned out to be a pen top. That job was done.. but the action that was pulled by the tech was put back and misaligned re: the cheek blocks TWICE.. first time treble notes were muted down (formerly bright and satisfyingly pinging) Then after the tech left, the bass notes were "key bed slapping." Tech came back and tightened the left cheek block. Tonight as I practiced, I noticed unusual difficulty playing smooth and connected legato on my piano. There was blubbering, friction.. I then stopped playing and recorded on my iPhone a whole series of cropped up irregularities.. tons of squeaky noises between notes.. inconsistent touch from note to note.. It's horrific and not my piano's character or feel by any means. Here is the video I took. http://youtu.be/TtWi0vHzCWE I also have a comparative video where I detail the whole piano up and down before the tech came which is a good base line record of the piano before the action was pulled. The tech did not seem to do anything to the action except take it out, repair two split key buttons that are not the issue where I am finding all the pervasive friction up and down the whole keyboard. Here's my vid BEFORE the tech came over. http://youtu.be/9xm8kBBHfWU Compare to what the piano feels and sounds like now.

Blubbering and friction is for life, not only for Christmas.

Your piano had a lot more problems than you were noticing. And if key buttons are splitting??? Has it had heavy playing? It sounds like it may have had brutal playing in its time. A heavily played piano needs regular partiicularised servicing or you will forever merely exchanging one are of problems for another. Contact the techs at Oberlin, see who they recommend for this kind of upkeep.

It'd be best to work with a tech who is right there. We can't see, hear, or feel the action of the physical piano.

Have the key frame bedded and the action regulated.

Greetings,
It is not uncommon for pianos to be different after the action has been pulled and reinstalled. It may be that the keyframe has returned in a different place, which can happen if the hammers have mated to the strings with debris between the stop block and keyframe. In and out and the hammers are all over to the left by perhaps the width of a paper clip or the thickness of a nickel and all sort of strange sounds ensue. This is how simply vacuuming out a piano can change its sound.

If the action were tilted, all sorts of foreign and domestic objects can move around, particularly under the key ends. Loose key leads will take this opportunity to go look around, and any flange that has managed to shrink from its duty will let the part explore whatever range is available.

If the keyframe is really out of whack, the return can be accompanied by an altered key dip, which would cause a cascading series of regulation related problems.
Regards,

My guess is that if the technician took the stack off to repair the keys that they didn't get the action stack screwed back down - seated correctly onto the keyframe. The rubbing could be the back checks rubbing against the sostenuto rail as a result of the stack being in the wrong place. This should be a simple matter of making sure the screws are tight and the bracket feet of the stack are solidly down on the keyframe.

To Sally: I called you about my Kentucky SKYPE student incidentally so I appreciate your reply here.. You are so right about what I believe happened...
"My guess is that if the technician took the stack off to repair the keys that they didn't get the action stack screwed back down - seated correctly onto the keyframe. The rubbing could be the back checks rubbing against the sostenuto rail as a result of the stack being in the wrong place. This should be a simple matter of making sure the screws are tight and the bracket feet of the stack are solidly down on the keyframe."

The action, yes is NOT seated correctly now.. and the proof is.. he came back twice after he had pulled the action, and admitted that the complaints I had first about the muted upper treble, and then the key bed slapping in the bass, were valid.. so he whizzed in and out of here after a cheek block tightening, separately on both ends.. He was in a great hurry. I checked that the bass clacking was gone and the minute the clacking was gone, he was gone out the door. In the evening, I began my practicing and as I was playing, felt a different piano action under my fingers to an extreme extent. I have already described all the irregularities and they are valid. There was never extreme friction between mid range notes and my inability to make a clean, legato.. I don't have to belabor what is real. This tech is retiring so I did find a tech who will hopefully straighten this mess out. To the person who suggested I have insulted my piano beating it up, that's nonsense. This piano has had two quality rebuilds. One by A and C Piano Craft in NYC and another by Dale Erwin. When I lived in the Central Valley (Fresno) I had to ship the piano out for the rebuild. (new pins, hammers, bushings, strings, etc) I will be using Jim Christopher in San Mateo who was recommended by Bruce Nalezny here in Berkeley. I do not bang or insult my piano. My repertoire is Scarlatti, Bach, Mozart and Schubert. I am a singing tone pianist. This whole mess has really upset me because I expect an RPT to know how to reset the action, period. This is frankly intolerable and to have a tech who is racing in and out and not quality controlling his work is questionable. Before I sent my piano out to Dale Erwin in 1992, I published an article in the Piano Quarterly that was in the aftermath of a tech in Fresno, polishing whippens and messing with the knuckles, unauthorized. It was truly astounding. Franz Mohr was sent by Steinway and Sons to my home back in 1990 and had about a day to try to straighten out that situation. Ultimately, he recommended that I have the hammers replaced and so all that work was done etc. satisfactorily. Many of my colleagues have had situations like mine, so this is not uncommon. Jim Boyk in LA published the Vanishing Piano Technician in Scientific American I believe.. He had relied on Kenyon Brown and after Kenyon passed away, Jim's world was shaken in terms of good piano maintenance. So yes, there are issues for many of us. I had used Al Ellis when I lived in Fresno. and when he retired he referred all his clients to the fellow who messed up my piano as mentioned. Sally, Ed, and others thanks for validating what I began to intuitively figure out. My new tech is coming Dec. 30th and I expect we will be working together for a significant period.

Ed, the tech basically pulled the action forward, and tapped the note that was initially bothering me with the click and flipped the hammers with his fingers. I actually have the whole thing filmed. I did ask him if I had enough felt on the hammers to have the new tech reshape, voice, regulate so he flipped around all the hammers and yes, I noticed that he was tilting the action. The pen top on the B below middle B must have been there for quite some time but did not cause any noise on the key until a week or so ago. So it must have moved around. I'd say for over an hour, the tech was probing hammers and found two split key buttons on two C#s that he said were because of aging of wood. Dale Erwin in 1992 did not replace all the keys. He did replace some of the key buttons we discovered. The strings, pins, hammers etc were all replaced in 1992. Now, yes the piano needs work which it will have, BUT that does not justify leaving the piano in way worse shape in terms than it was before the tech pulled the action forward. I still teach and record on this piano.. but I will use my Baldwin grand when work is done on the Steinway. Jim works on site unless he has to do big parts replacement.

You are going with a tech who is coming on December 30? That is the day I schedule night clubs, leaving the 31st open in case someone calls at the last moment.

As for the problem, my previous advice still stands.

This is my Steinway piano in a fairly recent recording on you tube. The B note was not clicking at this time. The piano had been recently tuned by the tech as was the neighboring Baldwin. I did not have difficulty navigating the gigue at all. http://youtu.be/p7XAGGXMeuc
I also have a 4-hand duet partner who regularly plays PRIMO on my Steinway and neither I or she had experienced the friction and blubbering problems before this whole mess ensued. When I play the Gigue now, it's like wading through land mines of notes, and I cannot lift for dynamics without losing notes.

I see no previous advice of yours. did I miss something?

No RXD it has NOT had "heavy playing." Not an issue here.

In the previous topic, I said it was probably dirt or loose screws. From the amount of work that you have had done on it, probably screws.

So here's the latest from tech who is coming back for the third time, hopefully the last one, before he retires.
"Sounds like the top action is out of position in relation to the keyboard - most likely because I did not fully tighten all ten screws. "

I think Sally Phillips nailed it as to the problem. Nothing more, nothing less.

Well, that's a pretty important one! With that said, an instrument in regular use by a serious pianist last majorly serviced in 1992 is overdue for regulation and probably some hammer work as well.

Israel Stein is another good technician in the Berkeley area.
Phone: 510-558-0777
Email: istein248@gmail.com

Did Mr. Stein know you were making a video? If not, that is not cool.

As long as he came back and fixed the problem, that is cool. I thought his advice about what your piano needs was right on.

Regards

She never said who the technician was (to her credit )

I was suggesting Israel, as I have known him many years through the Piano Technicians Guild. He is a very dedicated instructor and I know that he does do some recording studio work.

She did, on facebook, youtube and her blog.

Not a big deal, he does seem very competent.

I just like to be asked permission for posting videos of me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0bGm2-bfVU

https://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubb...te_clicking_problem_is_.html#Post2363125

Original post in the piano forum.