Re: What about that Heintzman?

Correction, it's made in china.

The marriam music European room

Probably not the exact room name, this is the entrance hall to where they store all of their european, hand-made pianos. Vogel, bechstein, bosendorfer are all here. To the right of this picture (not shown) stands a 9' concert grand by Bosendorfer. Other concert grand pianos are in the back. Lucky for me, it wasn't busy that day and I was able to try many of these out-of-my-price-range pianos.

What about that Heintzman?

I'm starting to rethik the whole piano purchaswe and go with the Heintzman. After watching note by note, I like the idea that I'm supporting a local business, even though the piano's are made in Indonesia by machine. I'll have to go back and get another session on one, but supporting a local business is starting to sound good to me.

Note by Note

Just saw Note by Note, a 2007 documentary showing how Steinway Model D Concert Grand (#L1037) was made and the people who make them.  I typically enjoy watching documentaries but found that this one didn't recreate the same feeling of choosing the right piano.  Following a family purchasing their first Steinway grand, talking with professional pianists like Lang Lang and Harry Connick Jr. were good conversations, but it was too quick and easily forgotten.  Instead, this movie is more about the pride of owning a Steinway Grand than it is teaching you what to look for in a grand piano.  This isn't a 'how it's made' type of documentary that you'd find on the Discovery Channel, instead it's a general walkthrough of the process.  What could have been better is finding out where L1037 went and then talking to the new owners about their instrument instead of finishing up in the showroom as its resting place. 

 

Overall, an interesting film about the people who make Steinways and an eye opener of the different specialties needed to hand build a grand piano.  Certainly the people who make these pianos take pride in their work as they all talk with passion regarding the finished product.  Worth watching for those looking to buy a grand piano, especially those looking into the Steinway brand.

Steinway model M

Here's a model M built in the 1920's. I learned today that there's a different sound to these early 1900 pianos compared to today's sound. What I found most ointeresting though is that the black keys felt higher placed (physically, not tone) than other brands in the showroom (yamaha, kawai, bechstein). The other steinways were the same. When I get to play some more, I'll report back about if this is an oddity or normality.

Unmistakeably Bosendorfer.

The famous bass keys on Bosendorfer grand pianos. How useful is it really? The notes are already so low that it's hard to tell the key it's playing.

Story and Clark digital systems

See that digital device on the bottom? Many of the newer story and clark grand pianos comes with it installed. Similar to the Yamaha piano disc, this unit has many of the same features, most noteably the ability to record your songs!

I think that's a really interesting option to play the piano and then have it repeat. Since it's near halloween, it's eerie to think that it can play back recordings of deceased people should they have recorded themselves while they were alive. Kinda creepy.

Still though, I remember yamaha coming out with this and thinking how awesome it was to have it on board. The best part is that the unit from story and clark is very reasonably priced as opposed to yamaha's 10G's for unit and installation.