Damping of string motion, a significant parameter for sound quality
Klaus Wogram · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1999
To improve the sound quality of pianos and upright pianos the piano maker mostly plans a change of the construction of the backs and the soundboard with its ribs, bridges, and back posts. Unfortunately he often disregards that all these efforts cannot be successful if the damping of the strings is insufficient. Its influence on the sound quality can be very much stronger than that of the soundboard. Guided by some examples, the importance of the dampers, their construction, their mass, and their position will be discussed. In addition the reduction of sound quality due to an insufficient damping of the not-speaking part of a string will be demonstrated.