buzzing/ringing

[amanfang]

I have a Yamaha upright - sorry to not be more specific - it is about 6 or 7 years old, still in very good shape.  It was just tuned a week ago, and several of the keys have a buzz or ring when they are played.  Is this because it was just tuned?  Will it go away after I've played it for a while?  Any thoughts on the causes?

[Raagshinnah]

I have a Yamaha Eterna which hasn't been tuned/checked since '96 (I just recently started playing again, so i might get it tuned soon) which has the same problem, but only on the middle B-flat.

The weird thing is if i open the front lid (the large one under the keys/over the pedals) and then put it back into place, the buzzing stops for a while. I looked around in it to see if there was anything loose but to no avail

I can't really afford a technician right now, so I was wondering if one of you could give me a few tips on what could be causing the buzzing...

[faulty_damper]

By buzz do you mean like something is vibrating other than inside the piano?  Perhaps a pencil vibrating on the wood?

And by ring do you mean like a bell-like ring every time you play certain notes?  It sounds highpitched.

[amanfang]

It is buzzing.  Not ringing.  Almost like something in there is loose or something.  But I don't know anything about what to look for. 

[faulty_damper]

Ah!  I had that happen for a few weeks before finding out what was vibrating!  I thought it was coming from the piano but it didn't sound like it was coming from the piano.  So I thought it was coming from a small desk nearby and proceded to remove objects one by one and still the vibrating noise was still present.  I finally figured out what it was!  It was by bicycle rollers that was vibrating to the key of D# above middle C!  So I just picked up the rollers and moved it into the room and the buzzing stopped!

Check to see which notes cause the buzzing.  If it's one particular note, then it may be an object in the room.  If it buzzes with more than one note, then it's probably something in the piano like a loose screw (which also buzzed on me because I forgot to retighten it.)

[amanfang]

There are two or three of them.  I can tell it is coming from inside the piano.  But I am going to back to school tomorrow, so the problem will not be a problem for me for another month before I come home again for Christmas....  Perhaps then I'll call the tuner back.

[jr11]

Probably there's something loose inside that's vibrating to the frequency of the notes being played. Flip back the top lid. Unlatch the clasps an either side, and tip the panel out towards you and remove it. Grasp the keyboard cover (the part with the long hinge in the middle) pull it straight up and remove it. Go under the keyboard, depress the flat spring in the middle (or perhaps there's one on either side) and tip the lower cover out toward you and remove it. You now have the entire action, strings, pins and frame exposed. Play the offending note(s) while you stick your ear inside and try to isolate the buzzing. Once you find it, remove/tighten/wiggle/kick/whatever is making the noise till it stops. While you're at it, vacuum the dust bunnies out, maybe get an electronic tuning device and a pin crank and twist the pins a bit till the tuner thingy says it's in tune. Put the whole mess back together, and charge yourself $100; congratulations, you're a piano tuner.

Okay, so the above was a bit cynical, and not intended to insult technicians, but the point is, lots of things about a piano aren't that complicated. Take a stab at fixing the buzz yourself... and I was kidding about tuning it... sort of...

[Ed Thomas]

As JR11 said, the buzzing is usually something inside, but sometimes it is the piano itself.  Sometimes the lid on mine buzzes and all I have to do is lift it and settle it again.  So check the keyboard cover and lid, too.  Most likely it is something as JR11 said, though.   He is right about the piano.  It is a beautiful machine, but shouldn't be a mystery.  I've tuned mine fairly often.  Though I'm never happy with my results, I can tweak if I have to, and keep it closer between "real" tunings.  Nothing quite like taking the piano apart and diving in to make you feel closer to it.

[faulty_damper]

And accidentally breaking off a hammer while pulling out the action because my right palm was depressing the last C key.

[donjuan]

And accidentally breaking off a hammer while pulling out the action because my right palm was depressing the last C key.

lmao

Im imagining the look on your face as it happened..
"oh, you ***ing piece o..
 

[faulty_damper]

Actually, I didn't even know it was broken (even though I heard the wood breaking as I was pulling it out) until I put the action back into the piano to adjust the blow distance.  When I finally finished setting the blow distance of 4.7cm of the bass and middle and then needed to do the treble, I noticed it was broken as I was sticking the straw between the strings!

It was then that I realized what that cracking was.  But wood glue was used and it seems to be holding but I bought a replacement shank ($9) just in case it fails at some future point in time.