On stage with a piano technician feat. Neema Pazargad

I can't attend as I will be on campus teaching, however... my technician has been trying to fix a creaking sustain pedal on my 1965 Baldwin L. We are to the point where he suggested ordering a new spring. He definitely tempered the creaking (wood on wood with a bit of metal). It drives me insane. It's the ONLY thing I do not like about my piano. My previous tech couldn't beat it into submission. This tech is young and really trying... fantastic at just about everything. He's been back 3 times since June to try to temper the creaky sound.  Both said Baldwin trap work is designed differently and often temperamental. Any advice on what else he might look for? Other than that my piano is amazing. The una cord and sostenuto work just fine with no creaking. Just the sustain...   If you are able to address this in the livestream, great!! :-) Even if it is to touch on why Baldwins are different! Thanks!

Hello, Neema! We are fairly new piano owners (our piano arrived in February of this year), so I'd love to learn basic best-practices of piano care. We live in a remote area, on an island which is more than one hour from the mainland by ferry, so we do not have ready/easy access to a technician.  My son plays several hours each day, and now I am learning, too, so the piano easily sees 3-4 hours of use each day. We are in the Pacific NorthWest, so while our weather does not have too many extremes, it does get dry in the winter (gas heat) and humid in the summer (can't control summer temps inside, so it sometimes gets pretty warm). I keep track of temp/humidity in the piano room - at what humidity level should I use the room humidifier, and when should I plug in the de-humidifier which is installed on the piano (piano came from Florida)? Any information you can provide to help us care properly for the instrument would be most appreciated. Thank you!

This was completely fascinating! It was delightful to learn that Neema was involved in the selection of both pianos - the Hamburg and the Fazioli. Superb. I thoroughly enjoyed the "experiment" phase where you, Dominic, and Neema played the pianos so we could hear the differences.

These fine details and all the work that goes on behind the scenes to produce such glorious instruments is wondrous to behold. I am grateful for all of this information - delivered in such a professional, gracious and beautiful way. Thank you, Neema!

Excellent camera and audio work, Dominic. Thank you!

Thank you to everyone for the interesting and helpful questions that Neema expertly answered, too!