Help! Ways to make a piano sound softer...

[maui_bandeira_]

Hi everybody,

As you people should know from my other topic, I'm looking for a piano to buy.

Recently I found a W. Hoffmann upright (model 123H) that was really good. The mechanism is made by Renner and it was brand new (the piano is 15yr old), the harmonic board and everything else was working amazing too.
The only issue was that it sound was too loud. The piano was at an old lady house, and even in the big room it is, the instrument already sounded too much. I live in a small apartment and am looking for something to practice a lot, develop my technique and such things, and to have an instrument that sound too loud is good only on stage, not in your home (you know that).

So I thought maybe there's a way to make the piano sound softer (of course there is)...

I wonder what (and how many ways I have to) can be done and if it is reversible. I worry about making such things that I cannot take back later, and I don't really thrust the tunners at my city

Thanks for your attention,

Maui

[invictious]

Try putting your piano on a carpet, really soaks up the sound.
Cover your room walls with things like egg cartons, they isolate the sound and reduce the volume outside.
You can also carpet the walls.
It will sound like junk though, without all that reverb and resonance.

[thalberg]

My Chinese friend Karl had a Steinway M in a tiny little apartment.

He placed insulation (what's in walls) inside the piano.  I think it was under the soundboard, or on top of it, or something.  He got it in the piano.  And it really, really cut the sound.  And he had echoey hard wood floors, too, and it still made the piano soft.

[maui_bandeira_]

Thank you both

Thalberg, great tip, I'll consider this - Do you know exactly what materials your friend used in the piano? And the sound quality remained? Thank you great help :]
Reading this gave me the idea of talking to my former acoustic teacher at college, maybe he can give me some tips :]

Invictious: I do not own the apartment I live in

[frederic chopin]

A friend complained that his upright piano was too soft with a hard touch and when the piano tuner came round for routine tuning, he said the dampers were to tight and loosened it with great results. Perhaps the opposite might work?

[lavalse]

Hi maui_bandeira_ - just a thought, but try googling for "acoustic foam" - it supposedly lowers volume w/o affecting tone; something I intend trying soon too - but remain a bit skeptical...  It's not cheap...

[bo-kai]

what i've done is put some polystyrene foam at the back, and put a mattress behind it too, so that it is not in direct contact with the wall. if it then sounds muffled, just open the lid. it wont' look that pretty, but it surely softens the sound.

[maui_bandeira_]

Thank u guys for all the help. I ended buying the instrument, and it arrived at my house two days ago. I'm now waiting for the tunner to make the needed adjustments and to talk about this too.
The mattress idea is really great. One friend of mine who have a giant Essenfelder upright did the same thing but with blankets, with great results. I'm sure will try this soon (right after I change the piano to the place it will stay).

Thank you very much
:]

[melismatic]

Pianos can be adjusted by piano technicians to give them a softer, mellower sound.  Having a carpeted ground is also good for making a piano softer.

[G.W.K]

My pedals make the piano softer...in my opinion

G.W.K