Bruce and Tom, I've installed plenty of these foam filler blocks on players. There's a place in town called A-1 Foam that sells nothing but foam. They primarily sell the grey egg carton foam for bed ridden people. They also market mattress foam custom cut to fit in the back of pickups or RV's for instance. There might be a place near you that has foam for pillows, seat cushions, mattresses, exercise mats, and of course, pianos.
To make your fitting a bit easier, try taping newspaper to the underside of the piano and use a felt tip marker to draw the outline of all the cavities. Then cut out all the shapes and take them to a foam peddler. Accuracy isn't that critical since the guy cuts the stuff a bit large anyway. Pressure holds it in there and so they can be removed at any time. Closed cell 3 inch foam works really well.
In settings where the room has a hardwood or tile floor the sound reduction is quite noticable. As some piano owners get older, the upper frequencies are an irritant and rather than voice a perfectly good hammer down, I've added the foam and they've been happy.
If you're a long drive from the vendor, perhaps you could discuss shipping the patterns to them and have them ship the foam back to you.
Good luck.
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Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
360-256-2999
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-07-2012 05:07
From: Thomas Servinsky
Subject: Reducing volume of grand piano
The most effective way is to install the good acoustical baffle foam on the underside of the soundboard belly. You can buy the sheets in a 3x5 ft section and cut it to fit perfectly for this piano. Or you can call LaRoy Edwards and they have them pre-cut ready to go. The cost difference is substantial, which is why I cut my own.
Markertek in NYC handles the gray acoustical foam ( get the 3" thickness). For the installation you'll need either a very sharp razor knife or an electric heated knife to cut the material cleanly. You'll want to face the egg-crate looking side as the top side.
Simply get on your back and measure the triangular sections between the main support beams under the piano. You'll be cutting the triangles approx. 1" wider than the opening in order for the cut pieces to fit snugly in the open areas. A 3'x5' sheet will yield enough for almost 2 pianos. I think the cost is around $50 plus shipping.
Markertek's phone number is : (800) 522-2025
The amount of sound that reflects from of the bottom is often discounted as being not an issue. Once that the bottom side has been addressed, the sound volume can diminish by about 30-40%. The other benefit of addressing the underside is that the player seldom notices the diminished sound. Only those standing in the proximity of the piano will notice the sound reduction.
This is the ideal way of addressing player piano issues as well
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Tom Servinsky
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-06-2012 18:22
From: Bruce Trummel
Subject: Reducing volume of grand piano
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Bruce Trummel
Piano Tuner
Aromas CA
831-726-7006
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I have a client that needs to reduce the sound level of an older Mason and Hamlin grand piano. ( Model A built in 1968, according to Pierce.) It is in a pubic space and they want to reduce the volume so that people conducting business in the same room can hear each other while the piano is being played. Even with the lid closed it is too loud.
I have looked at a product called a grand piano muffler. It is available from grandpianomuffler.com.
It is similar to the "practice pedal muffler" often seen in vertical pianos. However, this product is custom manufactured for each piano. One of the things that concerns me is that in some cases the damper guide rail must be lowered, which of course involves removing the guide rail. Does anyone have any experience installing one of these?
Or maybe someone has an alternative idea to reduce the sound output? Thanks.
Bruce Trummel