Disklavier

Pedal drop sounds
Dmitry, I have a Mk 4 C5 Pro, and the pedal noise was driving me mad. I
complained to Yamaha, and a piano tech visited and confirmed the noise I was
hearing was incorrect, so don't let them tell you the noise is normal. The
problem was solved very simply. If you take the piano action out, you will
see the push rod from the pedal trap work connecting to the dampers. There
is a felt washer between the two surfaces, and this washer has flattened to
the point where it was no longer effective. We cut another washer from thin
felt, and placed it on top of the other washer. Problem completely solved.
 
Apparently the sound, though minor in itself, is amplified by the acoustics
inside the piano. I had previously tried slowing the dampers by using
Spencer Chase's proportional pedal software, but nothing was going to solve
this problem other than a felt washer. Good luck with it, and you will be
amazed at how silent the pedal can actually be. 
 
Peter Phillips (Sydney)

Peter Phillips

(02) 9773 4734

web: www.petersmidi.com

There are some other things you can try.  The latest technique I  have had good luck quieting dampers hitting the strings is to take an emery board (disposable nail file that looks like sand paper) and GENTLY brushing the damper felt,  Usually one pass is enough.

The clunk in the damper pedal is probably one of 2 adjustments.  If the pedal travel is great (like more than in inch)  there is an almost invisible screw (called a capstan screw) attached on the underside of the piano over where the damper lever travels upwards.  You can turn that screw down to limit the travel of the piano.

If you must push the pedal down more than a 1/4 inch to get the damper felts to rise, then the pedal rod need lengthened.  You do that by turning the nut on the top of the damper pedal rod.

Also check the felt on the pedal lyre that contacts the top of the pedal when it is released.  It should be soft.

Also, be mindful that not all MIDI files have good pedal data.  Sometimes the data indicates the pedal is either on or off.  I get this on my own Disklavier when playing MIDI files I downloaded from the internet.

Sometimes the pedal solenoid on a Disklavier needs to be adjusted.  I believe the clearance is 15mm.  You might be able to check this by laying down underneath the piano and looking through the slot on the cover over the pedal solenoids.  If you press the pedal all the way down and you have not seen a little red LED come on, that is a good indication the solenoid needs adjusted,  Most piano technicians are not familiar with pedal solenoid adjustments on the Disklavier.

Hope these suggestions help!    Carol Beigel

I need to amend a few things on my last post about pedal clunk.

First, the Disklavier needs to be turned on to check for the red LED through the slot on the pedal solenoid cover.  There may also be a slight adjustment available in the PRC under service tests or Toolbox.

Second, the capstan referred to is to adjust the pedal lever travel - not piano travel!

Try a genuine Yamaha Disklavier file.  If the noise still persists, try and record and playback test.  You do this by recording a file yourself.  Hit Record, then play each note on the keyboard and then press down  the pedals.  Then play the file back.  If the pedal clunk is on your test file, you probably need the services of a real Disklavier tech to adjust the pedal solenoid.

Carol Beigel
Registered Piano Technician and
Disklavier Tech in Maryland

I found that noises caused by damper pedal drops can be hard to identify. My
previous posting did not mention the six months of trying to solve this
problem. I tried adjusting the height the dampers rose to when played from a
MIDI file. I built an in-line decoder to do this, and set the pedal height
to values ranging from just clearing to maximum. This had little effect on
the noise, even at the lowest height setting. I had figured the dampers
hitting the strings to be the cause of the noise, but this is only a minor
part of it.
 
I then figured the noise was caused by the pedal mechanism hitting bottom. I
fitted a piece of soft rubber under the damper pedal, but all it did was
reduce a mechanical sound in the trap work that was secondary to the whole
problem. Back at the computer, I experimented for months with various fixes.
Spencer's proportional pedalling software was one method, and I also
manually added proportional pedal commands. Nothing worked!
 
I would take a photo to show the offending linkage, but that is not so easy
to do. The actual linkage is in the centre of the keyboard, and we fitted
the extra felt washer by sliding it between the two surfaces. That is, we
punched out a felt washer, then cut it so it could be slid into place, not
dropped on top of the existing washer. The Yamaha tech found the problem by
probing around while manually operating the pedal, and when he poked his
screwdriver between the two surfaces, I knew straight away he had found the
source of the noise. 
 
There could be other things happening in your piano Dmitry that differ from
my experience. But I can assure you that of all the problems I have ever had
with pianos, this one was the most frustrating and difficult to solve. I
hope the information I can at last provide is of some use.
 
Peter

  _____  

From: disklavier@yahoogroups.com [mailto:disklavier@yahoogroups.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, 4 October 2016 11:41 PM
To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [disklavier] Pedal drop sound




Hi Peter, 

Thank you so much for the suggestion! Today I disassembled the piano and got
access to all the its parts.

I have to say I spent some time to press the pedal and try to find the
part(s) which produces the sound. I would say I'm pretty confident that the
sound comes from the dampers when they touch the strings all together. I'm a
bit confused what I can do in this case now. Will try to look at all of this
tomorrow but really don't know what I can find more.

If you have any idea about this it would help me a lot.

Thank you,
Dmitry



On 3 October 2016 at 17:30, 'Peter Phillips' eleced@... [disklavier]
<disklavier@yahoogroups.com> wrote:



  



Pedal drop sounds
Dmitry, I have a Mk 4 C5 Pro, and the pedal noise was driving me mad. I
complained to Yamaha, and a piano tech visited and confirmed the noise I was
hearing was incorrect, so don't let them tell you the noise is normal. The
problem was solved very simply. If you take the piano action out, you will
see the push rod from the pedal trap work connecting to the dampers. There
is a felt washer between the two surfaces, and this washer has flattened to
the point where it was no longer effective. We cut another washer from thin
felt, and placed it on top of the other washer. Problem completely solved.
 
Apparently the sound, though minor in itself, is amplified by the acoustics
inside the piano. I had previously tried slowing the dampers by using
Spencer Chase's proportional pedal software, but nothing was going to solve
this problem other than a felt washer. Good luck with it, and you will be
amazed at how silent the pedal can actually be. 
 
Peter Phillips (Sydney)

Peter Phillips

(02) 9773 4734 <tel:%2802%29%209773%204734> 

web: www.petersmidi.com