An Easy Way to Regulate a Piano!
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The regulation triangle is a simple way to visualize, using simple musical ideas, how the three settings of the triangle - blow distance, key dip, and let off - work together to get the best "feel".
There are no correct settings for these. Many technicians think there are and buy books with the "correct" settings for each piano. The problem is that these settings often don't work due to compression and wear.
Also, because these settings work together to create the best feel, there are infinite ways they can be set to give the same "feel".
This page describes the regulation triangle concept, which allows you to set each of the three regualtion triangle settings to achieve an optimum feel.
The Basics
Regulating pianos is the process of adjusting the distances between the different parts of the piano action.
KEY DIP
We can adjust the distance that the key travels when you press it all the way down,
What is key dip
BLOW DISTANCE
We can change the distance that the hammer is from the string at rest,
LET OFF
We can change how close the hammer gets to the string when pressed very slowly.
STANDARD REGULATION SETTINGS
Key Dip: 3/8" (10 mm)
Blow Distance: 1 7/8" (48 mm)
Let Off: Upright 1/8" (3 mm), Grand 1/16" (1.5 mm)
The table above implies there are specific setting for these three elements but this is wrong to assume. These are just guidelines.
Due to different designs these settings will not work on all pianos.
Some technicians believe that all they need is a book that lists the specific settings for different pianos, and there are books out there with these settings, but due to wear and compression of felt, these settings also do not work on all pianos.
Finally, the assumption is that just because these settings are listed somewhere, these settings will make the piano "feel" good to play.
The mistake being made here, is that people are not aware of after-touch.
AFTER-TOUCH
After-touch is the distance the key continues to move after let-off.
Accepted settings for after-touch are approximately 40 to 60 thousandths of an inch (1 to 1.5 mm).
The key MUST continue to move after let-off for the pianist to feel that they have control of the hammer.
Playing a piano that does not have after-touch is like golfing on concrete or swinging a bat, hitting the ball, and then the bat hits a tree. Sure, you're hitting the ball, but it doesn't feel right.
For the proper feel, the key must have room to hit the string, and also have follow through; that is after-touch.
Accomplished pianists call after-touch the "second keyboard." They will intentionally play to the second keyboard or after it to produce different tonal qualities. Playing to the second keyboard where let-off occurs involves pressing the key down so it plays the note, but not actually hitting the key bed with the key.
After-touch is very important for feel, but the interesting and confusing thing is,
"We do not set after-touch directly"
After-touch is dependent on the three triangle settings. Change any one of those and you will change the after-touch.
So now you see why a piano can have all three settings by the book and the piano feels horrible to play; wrong after-touch.
HOW THE REGULATION TRIANGLE WORKS
The idea of the regulation triangle is simple.
We analyze the after-touch and based on whether it is too much or not enough after-touch, we change one or more of the settings.
This is basic. Most technicians understand this, but they have to learn to visualize how each of the settings affect each other physically.
WE USE MUSIC NOT PHYSICS
Trying to imagine how all the parts in the action affect each other can be very difficult and for some people, impossible.
With the regulation triangle, we don't use physics. We use musicality to know which way to adjust each of the settings to produce the best after-touch.
Each setting is imagined to have a preferred side. For example, blow distance is supposed to be 1 7/8" (48 mm) but what if it was more? We can imagine that we will have more power if the hammer had more distance to build up speed.
If blow distance was less, there would be less power. In fact, this is how the soft pedal works in the upright. The left pedal raises the hammers closer to the strings, reducing blow distance and power.
Using the regulation triangle we imagine similar musical qualities and how changes affect these musical qualities for the other two settings, let-off and key-dip.
DO THE DANCE
Based on the amount of after-touch we have, we will imagine ourselves doing the "Woo Hoo" happy dance, or the "Bummer" sad dance.
That is because based on the amount of after-touch present, we can get more musicality from the piano, or we may have to steal from one of more of the triangle settings to get the best after-touch.
Imagine doing the "Woo Hoo" dance. (This is a visualization technique, you do not have to actually do a dance. You can if you want to. 😅)
If you do the Woo Hoo dance, it means we can get more musicality from the action. We can improve one or more of the regulation triangle settings and the result will be instantaneous; better after-touch.
Similarly, if we analyze the after-touch and it causes us to do the "Bummer" dance, it means we have to rob from one or more of the regulation settings, reducing their musicality, but the result will again be immediate improvement to the after-touch.
CLARITY
There are two ideas you need to know to understand how powerful this technique is.
1) The actual change in musicality due to changing the settings is not always noticeable which means robbing from a setting might sound bad, but the actual effect on the playability of the piano is often unnoticeable, but imagining it allows us to quickly and easily know exactly what to do to improve the feel.
2) You can change the after-touch by changing one or more of the triangle settings. So which one or how many should you change?
Some settings are more sensitive than others. This allows us to know which settings to change that will improve after-touch while at the same time reducing any negative effects of more sensitive settings.
CONCLUSION
By regulating the piano to have the best speed, power, and expression, we can play each of these settings off each other so that the piano has the best feel, which makes the piano sound great and it also makes it fun to play!
There is a video course on the Regulation Triangle that you can purchase which shows you how to use these concepts to know exactly how to adjust each triangle setting to get the after-touch your piano needs.
There are also examples using common regulation problems we find in pianos every day. Problems like excessive let-off, excessive blow-distance, no after-touch, etc.
With the help of graphics and animations, this video course shows you exactly what to look for when regulating an upright or grand piano, so that the piano shows you the best settings for Let Off, Blow Distance, and Key Dip.
The video course also describes pre-regulation steps – steps that are needed to be done before you regulate.
Finally, this course gives you the power to tweak settings so that you can get more power or more speed, for example, and still have a great “feel”.
To purchase this video course click the button below.