HOUSE AND GARDEN 
288 
November, 
1914 
changes are too sudden or violent. One instance 
of the influence of temperature changes may be 
noted in every piano, no matter how carefully 
its position has been considered. In spring, 
when artificial heat is shut off, and in the au¬ 
tumn, when it is started again, the piano evi¬ 
dences a need of tuning. If the temperature or 
amount of moisture in the air were always ap¬ 
proximately the same, the need of tuning would 
not become so suddenly obvious. 
It can be readily seen, therefore, how in¬ 
jurious sudden violent changes must be, and any 
instrument so placed that it is subject to changes 
of that nature is unquestionably in a wrong posi¬ 
tion. Besides the mischief wrought by too sud¬ 
den expansion or contraction there is the dam¬ 
age from dampness or extreme dryness to be 
guarded against. Excessive dampness will rust 
the strings and cause the wooden hammer con¬ 
nections and supports to swell, making the keys 
stick and the action sluggish. On the other 
hand, extreme dryness, such as that produced by 
too close proximity to a steam radiator, will 
occasion undue contraction and impair the glue, 
and as a result the sounding-board sometimes 
cracks. All these dangers by which pianos are 
beset are so well known to pianists that it seems 
as though they ought to be self-evident to any 
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While the instrument is here removed from the heat of the fireplace, its position against the wall is 
bad for acoustic effect 
There is a positively right and a wholly wrong way to place a piano in a room. 
decoration all enter into the problem 
intelligent person and that there should be no need of mentioning 
them. As a matter of fact, however, so many people appear to 
be oblivious of them and to forget that a piano is a nicely adjusted 
and sensitive piece of mechanism and not an ordinary piece of 
cabinet work, that specific reference has been made. 
The prudent person forewarned should therefore be fore¬ 
armed, and, knowing the things to be avoided, will endeavor so to 
place a piano that the requirements for keeping it in good condi¬ 
tion may be met. To begin 
with, the room in which a 
piano stands will be kept as 
nearly as may be at an even 
temperature. Do not place an 
instrument close beside or over 
a register or near a radiator. 
Be careful, also, if the piano is 
in a room on the ground floor, 
to avoid placing it directly 
above the heating plant in the 
cellar, for that portion of the 
room is apt to become unduly 
warm and dry. If, for any rea¬ 
son, it is not possible to avoid 
such a position, the under side 
of the floor should be protected 
by a sheathing of asbestos 
board or paper fastened to the 
rafters. 
Do not, on the other hand, 
place a piano immediately next 
a window, for there the changes 
in temperature and atmospheric 
conditions will be more sudden 
and pronounced than anywhere 
else. Another disadvantage in 
Factors of temperature, light, sound and haying a piano close beside 
either a window or a heater is 
that one part of the instrument will be either colder or hotter 
than the other, and this unevenness will be disastrous to keep¬ 
ing it in tune and to its general physical well-being. It is also 
unwise, if one can avoid doing so, to place a piano against an 
outside wall, which always reflects external weather conditions 
much more noticeably than does a partition wall. 
From what has just been said, it is plain to be seen that the 
ideal position for a piano will ensure an equable temperature 
