Planning Part I: Player Action

Aye-aye-aye — where does the time go?

Since the last post, the end of summer flew by, the leaves fell, then it was some white precipitation…2016 has snuck up on me!
So after falling off the blog wagon, time to get back on!

As mentioned in the previous post, I need to get a few planning things down on paper to plan the execution of this job. My list so far includes:

  • Tubing diagram
  • Block diagram overview
  • Checklist of tasks (customized)

Each of these items serve a different yet equally important role. Like the human body has different vital systems (e.g. skeletal, neural, muscular) which play cooperative roles, so too the piano has various systems which act in concert, to make the magic happen.

The tubing diagram is necessary in order to firstly understand where the air flow is going and how the system works, and also to document where all the elements connect to one another. As all the existing tubing will be removed and replaced, it should be obvious why it is vital to keep track of the 100+ tube runs in the action. After a couple of drafts, I came up with the following document, with some guidance and input from John Tuttle of player-care.com (thanks John!)

Willis pianola tubing diagram V2

To better get a handle on the “big picture” of this player action rebuild, and understand it as a sum of the various parts, a block diagram will be helpful. It is a more “at a glance” view of the project, although all of these elements will eventually need to be independently examined and evaluated. More on that in a moment.

I believe this simple block diagram will assist to trace out the relationship between the components and compartmentalize them into smaller projects. Here’s what I came up with:

Pianola block diagram

I was originally going to put some effort into creating this diagram, but I don’t really see the value in making something fancy — it’s just a quick and rough visual cue. So by reducing the player action to a series of pieces, it makes the process seem less daunting — at least that is the idea!

Finally I adapted a master checklist, which applies to the whole piano. This is the opposite of the big picture; rather this is the nitty gritty details which all have to be done before the piano will perform as it should. I have customized this list, but it is modeled after the one Art Reblitz uses, listed in his book.

Player piano restoration checklist

I will continue in more detail in further posts – cross-referencing the above documents as we go along – but for now, let’s ruminate on that for a bit!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *