Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Quiet Practice Mode Question

My piano has a "curtain" which drops down in front of the strings for the hammers to hit so the sound is much quieter when the system is activated. My question is: Could this be bad for the voicing and/or regulation of the piano ?

I doubt it.

If anything, it would extend the life of the voicing,
because the curtain essentially protects the hammer
felts from the impact of the strings, so that both
string grooving and felt compression are greatly
reduced.

Thanks for your quick reply Scriabin67. You didn't mention the regulation, is that going to be unaffected?

I don't think the regulation will be affected.

And I would venture to guess that if you played
only in quiet mode, the soft curtain will be
less jarring to the action as a whole, and might
even make the regulation last longer.

Don't worry about it, and enjoy your piano....

In UK terminology it's called a Celeste rail and the material Celeste Felt. In USA parlance, a Muffler Rail and Muffler felt.

I second Scriabin67's comments.

The tone is completely changed by the mute, so I guess that's a change in the voicing. But if you mean will using a mute affect the tone of the hammers when you play without the mute, the answer is no.

For regulation, the piano must be regulated to have larger let off or the hammers may block due to the reduced let off with the mute. This means sensitivity is sacrificed when playing without the mute.

The mute, from a musical point of view, changes the regulation, tone, and feel of the piano, and negatively IMHO. The hammers seem to "rub" against the felt and I feel this in the key. It can be distracting.

Regulating proper let off without the mute, may result in blocking or double striking of the hammers when using the mute. To elimate that means to sacrifice sensitivity and response with larger let off.

Hope that helps.