Showing posts with label baby grand piano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby grand piano. Show all posts

Monday 30 December 2013

A Good Piano

A good piano, wherever it is, appears to have an open invitation to any passing pianist to sit and play. Piano manufacturers like a Steinway, Bluthner, Bechstein, Fazioli, Bosendorfer etc. all have established reputations to maintain, and they continue to produce highly respected pianos which are greatly treasured by their owners! 

The search for a good piano usually eliminates the lesser-known, relatively inexpensive pianos. But many very fine pianos have faithfully served their owners and given hours and hours of music-making pleasure to all who appreciate piano music even though the name on the front may not be widely known.   

It is a mistake for pianists with more modest means, to think that buying a really good piano has to cost a fortune. For the more fortunate, no price is too much to pay for a particular piano. For most, the best piano available for a given cost will have to do. Interestingly, expensive does not guarantee 'good' and a low price does not always mean wasted money. There are so many variables with pianos that dogmatic generalisations are unhelpful. Seek advice where possible.

Popular opinion seems to prefer a grand piano over an upright piano. As a general rule however, a good upright piano is better than an average grand piano. A baby grand piano is chosen as much for its elegant looks as for its value as a piano. If you are wanting to spend a fixed amount of money on a baby grand OR an upright piano, almost certainly, the upright will be a better piano than the grand.

In days of old, to categorise grand pianos, odd names were used e.g. boudoir grands, semi-grands, cottage grands and mini grands. All had clear meanings when these pianos were sold originally, but today manufacturers generally distinguish their grand pianos by giving their size. The exceptions might be the terms Baby Grand and Concert Grand.

The very best pianos will always be expensive to buy. Most people manage to come to terms with the best piano they can afford. Dreams of one day buying a Steinway or something similar is a very worthy aspiration! Dreams - even dreams about pianos, come true!  
©  
Pianology

Saturday 16 November 2013

Top Piano Manufacturers

The top piano manufacturers like Steinway, Bluthner, Bechstein, Fazioli and Bosendorfer have established their well-deserved reputations by continually building great pianos. They use the best materials and production methods available and go about the business of building a piano using the unique traditions handed down by their founders as the basis for their pianos. The finished product is an inspiration for any pianist!

In any year, a manufacturer can produce thousands of the same model of piano, but no two of them are exactly alike. A particularly good piano will command a lot of interest and mysteriously, pianists will select it from among others to use for a recital or recording. 

There are plenty of superb pianos makers that would not be listed in the Super-League of Piano Manufacturers, but whose pianos are superbly put together and reward their owners with faithful and ruggedly reliable service year after year.  

In days of old, piano makers used to categorise the various sizes of a grand piano by giving names to the different size-groups, e.g. boudoir grands, semi-grands and cottage grands mini grands. All these charming names, seem to have had precise meanings when the pianos were sold originally, but now, these meanings are not so clear and certainly, the top manufacturers ordinarily categorise grand pianos by size.

The pianos from the top manufacturers will always be expensive to buy, and will need plenty of tuning to keep them sounding good. Most people manage to come to terms with the best of what their own piano can give. But, dreams of one day buying a Steinway or something similar is not so out of place. Ah! One day... 

© Steve Burden 

Sunday 17 June 2012

Prestige, Priorities and Pianos.

Imagine: a posh, exclusive hotel - the perfect setting for just about any kind of event - with extensive and flawlessly kept grounds, an award winning restaurant, golf courses, conference facilities... and a piano! 

In a corner of the dining room is a double-overstrung Ibach baby grand piano. It is not ancient, but if there were an 'MOT' Test for pianos, this one would fail. It needs re-stringing and a lot of careful rebuilding work before it could once again give worthy credit to the Ibach name.

In spite of its condition the piano plays fairly well, and though tuned rather infrequently, when it is tuned the tone proves the old rule that a 'quality' piano can sound good and play acceptably, even when it is in a bad state of repair. 

I was told that, at quite a considerable cost, the lid had recently been re-polished! Sure enough, the lid was beautifully French polished and looked as good as new. But am I alone in thinking the money was spent on the wrong part of the piano?

The guests pay good money to sit and eat in the 'award-winning' restaurant. Whether the top of the piano looks nice, is of no consequence to someone who cringes at the unharmonious sounds coming from the piano! I know I fuss about these things but a top restaurant is about good food - the clean plates and cutlery are taken for granted. Pianos made to look nice without a thought of what they sound like, is the same as serving poor food on clean plates.  

In such an exclusive hotel, where the best of everything is on offer, it is sad that a tired, old piano is considered good enough to entertain the guests as they enjoy award-winning food in such prestigious surroundings. 

Ah well, they might have got the piano wrong but at least they got the super-luxurious paper towels in the toilets right! 

To achieve an air of real class and prestige, surely the choice of piano ought to be a  little higher on the priority list!
© Steve Burden

Monday 28 May 2012

A Strange Fondness for Old Pianos

There is a strange fondness for old pianos among many who set out to buy an inexpensive piano for that corner spot in the front room. The thinking seems to assume that if it is old, whatever the maker's name on the front, it has to be a good piano. 

Old pianos do have a charm about them, their looks, proportions, the ivory keys (if present and in good condition) will give out a sense of nostalgia - and you might even hear a whisper in your ear saying, "This is how pianos were made in the golden age!" 

But 80 years on, many of the original qualities have drained away - slipped like sand through the hourglass of time. What remains is something in need of massive investment or replacement.

Of course, there are exceptions. It is remarkable when you come across a piano 100 years old or more, which has been miraculously preserved - perhaps because it has only ever been played by the tuner who calls every now and then. Examples of pianos with no wear and tear are extremely rare and, when met with, have the air of sad neglect or at least, the vibe of a life not lived. Likely to be valued more as a treasured family heirloom than a musical instrument.

Major rebuilding work on a piano is hugely expensive. Unless the piano is one of the very top makes, the repairs will cost far more than the piano will ever be worth. 

If you need a reliable piano - able to function properly and stand in tune, do not buy an older piano, even if it is pretty! Buying cheap - only to find you have to spend serious money to bring it into reasonable playing order is just an embarrassing waste of money!

Some technicians love older pianos but as a rule, I always think old pianos can never perform as well as a piano half its age. 

When buying a piano, try to get some advice and buy the youngest, most up-together piano you can find. Please do not be hoodwinked by the 'strange fondness for old pianos!'


The Piano World

©