Soundboards & Rebuilding w/ Nick Gravagne

Soundboards & Rebuilding w/ Nick Gravagne

Make sure to get in on our latest masterclass covering Action Geometry with Dean Reyburn. Join us Thursday April 18 at 3pm Pacific or 6pm Eastern Time. Visit https://bit.ly/pianoaction to register!

Nick Gravagne, who joined us for the PTM 2020 convention is back on Radio Hour to share some of his insights on building sound boards. Nick has made over 470 soundboards on Steinway and he shares his journey of building a pulse to tell soundboards apart. 

β€œThe more mass there is on the soundboard, the more sound as there is more impetus,” says Nick and shares how to build a balance between the string and the soundboard. 

Nick also shares his own evolution of the understanding of this subject matter and connects it to electronic engineering. He answers questions about steam, rebound, hammer strength, and more. Tune into this session to hear from Nick who has a repository of knowledge on not just soundboard and rebuilding, but also about successfully navigating the career of being a piano technician. 

Here’s a little bit about our guest Nick Gravagne:

Nick combines a formal engineering background with over 40 years of hands-on experience in piano design, manufacturing, and rebuilding. He has authored numerous articles for the piano trade and has been a featured instructor at piano technical seminars all over the U.S. His business currently revolves around rebuilding and manufacturing custom soundboards for the piano rebuilding trade. 

π‰πŽπˆπ 𝐔𝐒 π…πŽπ‘ πŒπŽπ‘π„ 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 π‚πŽππ“π„ππ“β—β—

Browse more masterclasses and lectures from Piano Tuning Pros here: https://www.pianotechniciansmasterclass.com/

Piano Tech Radio Hour is brought to you by Piano Technicians Master. We provide cutting-edge piano technology instruction from piano industry masters without leaving your home, featuring monthly subscriptions, conventions, single live streaming, and recorded masterclasses. Learn advanced skills:
  • How to tune pianos.
  • How to repair pianos.
  • How to rebuild pianos.
  • How to tune concert pianos for the finest performers in the world.

Make sure to get in on our latest masterclass covering Action Geometry with Dean Reyburn. Join us Thursday April 18 at 3pm Pacific or 6pm Eastern Time. Visit https://bit.ly/pianoaction to register!

Creators and Guests

David Andersen
Host
David Andersen
David Andersen, owner of David Andersen pianos in Los Angeles has been a professional musician, recording artist, and piano technician/consultant for nearly four decades. He has overseen the restoration and maintenance of hundreds of Steinway and Mason & Hamlin pianos during that time. Beginning in 1975 he apprenticed for two and a half years under Jack Cofer in Atlanta, Georgia; during the 1980s he studied at Steinway facilities both in New York and London.
Eathan Janney
Host
Eathan Janney
Eathan has 20 years of experience as a piano technician. He studied with Dave Miller, the staff piano technician for the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, New Jersey. Dave Carpenter, the inventor of the Verituner electronic tuning device, provided mentorship for Eathan in Chicago. Eathan also worked with Ken Eschete and Bill Schwarts, the staff piano technicians at Northwestern University in Chicago. In 2009, he founded Floating Piano Factory of New York, a company that allows piano technicians to move from Apprentice to Craftsman level while offering value pricing to clients as technicians progress toward mastery. In 2017 he founded Piano Technicians Masterclasses, an online project designed to offer cutting-edge instruction from piano industry masters to anyone on the globe with an internet connection.
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