I don't know about having many photographs or small things on top
of the piano, other than that some smaller items may cause annoying
buzzing sounds on certain notes, and that this could be somewhat
difficult to track down for those of us who haven't stereoscopic
hearing at the same skill-level as absolute hearing!

One item on top of my piano caused some annoying buzzing, and I didn't
discover where it came from for many weeks!

For one period of some months and weeks, my most favorable rolls were
piled up on top of the piano.  Well, I admit it, because I was just too
lazy to put them back in the cupboard where they belong.  :-)

One other reason was that some of the rolls really have poor boxes that
aren't withstanding the handling any more when the rolls are put back
into the piles of rolls in the cupboard; this was a poor excuse.  From
where can I buy new black boxes, like most recut rolls and Artcraft
rolls come in?

(I have also been thinking of a project where I scan and correct old
labels, by ripping of the ratty end of the poor box, and then print it
on a new label on a new box; would this would be a great idea, or...?)

But the most important thing I discovered was that I felt the piano
really had a dull sound, like it had when I got it in unrestored
condition.  As soon as I cleaned up, and removed all the rolls on the
top of the piano (15-20 of them), the sound was as bright and crisp as
when the piano came back from repinning and restringing.

So -- for some reason, those paper roll piles on top of a player really
worsen the sound quality of the piano, so that's why I do not recommend
keeping any rolls on top of the piano.  Perhaps protective felt or
clothing that is somewhat thick also makes the sound dull too.

Thomas Henden
Oslo, Norway