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.

Diapson 6' grand piano

This Diapson (pronounced: Die-ap-son) from Korea was a special gem that I found at piano and keyboard centre in richmond hill. It's a beautifully sounding piano and listed for $10500. The piano has a full bottom tone that plays well for songs that command bass notes like the toccatta in D. However, the low frequencies sometimes get too muddy for a discerning ear. In particular, quick moving pieces can tend to get lost within the sound.

Reaction felt good. Keys popped up after being pressed, weighting on the keys were balanced and the piano played reasonably well considering it hadn't been tuned or reconditioned since it was shipped.

Out of many Yamaha's and Kawai's I played here, this one sang to me. For some reason, I think I'm playing better on poorer, duller sounding piano's than the brighter and newer pianos that steinway or yamaha makes. Not to say that this piano was too dull or it sounded bad (the apollo in the store was the worst I've heard. Did someone throw a towel inside that cabinet?) It just had a different character and sound about it that was unlike many of the others I've played.

Would I buy this one? I wouldn't because of the muddiness that some chords make when stringing them together, this piano wouldn't be a contender.

Reitmuller GP183R

I went on the ritmuller website (ritmullerusa.com) to check up on the piano I just played earlier today and I think I got it wrong. It's supposed to the the GP183R.

Steinways used to have no logo?

I've been told that this Steinway (I forgot the date, it's a 1920's model) used to come with no logos on it. Clearly there are Steinway emblems casted onto the iron plate, but on the cover, there's no label. The Piano and Keyboard shop I was at today is wondering if they should keep the tradition of placing no logo to keep it authentic (it came without a logo) or just go and put one on there.

If they went with a logo, it'd just be a sticker.

Ritmuller. GH188R

This is a 6'2" piano by Ritmuller, owned by Pearl River, which is a Chinese brand. It feels pretty good, fast action and warm. Larry Fine talks about this piano in his piano buys guide (pianobuyer.com) and is rated the best among the Chinese brands. This piano can be found at Piano and Keyboard on East Beaver Creek in Richmond Hill.

This piano line is brand new and just debuted in 2009 as a higher end piano for the Pearl River company. This particular piano retails for about 17G's.

I like how this piano felt. Responsive and able to play p and f without problems. It's tone is a tad on the brighter side, but still better than the Pramberger which is still my least favourite piano that I've played so far. The keys itself feel sturdy, and I've been told it has a renner action. I think almost every piano has been installed with Renner that I'm beginning to wonder if it's even necessary to write or note this fact.

The last chinese piano that I played was the young chang and compared to it, the Reitmuller far surpasses it's tone and features just by sound and touch alone.

I do like this piano, but I don't feel that it sings to me much the way a yamaha C3 does or the Kawai RX-2.

I'll be going back to take some videos in the store to check it out.

I'll pass on the Apollo

I hope that this piano is just not voiced or tuned properly because it sounds dull and beat up. I'd rather play a midi keyboard than this.

About to play a Rieger-Kloss

I'm at a piano store in richmond hill (pianokeyboard.com) who is the authorized distributor of Reiger-Kloss.

Right now I'm sitting behind a model 122 Chip upright and the store clerk is going to check on the grands.

A note about Fazioli.

I've played on this piano once, and it was only for a moment before the salesman came over to talk.

I can't yet tell if the $137G pricetag is worth the money, but after todays experience playing about 4-5 different piano manufacturers, I have a better reference about this piano's feel.

From the top of my head, this piano resonates it's sound unlike other pianos which I felt only plays it's sound. There's a huge difference when the woods and chamber resonates than hearing a string being plucked. Don't get me wrong, I like the sound of other grand pianos of its size and pricetag, but, there's a difference when one resonates its sound. The piano literally vibrates and makes you feel like it's in a bigger room!

I'll be sure to go back to try this out and let you know.

Heintzman grand piano

I'm writing this while I'm in the car after visiting Robert Lowery's pianos on Eglinton in Toronto. There is a HUGE selection here and I'll have to go back and write again because there are lots to talk about.

First, this piano feels rough. It's a bright sounding piano, but not as bright as say a story and clark. What's interesting is that this piano company is a toronto company (made in china). The salesman, barrie, called it the steinway of canada :P.

About the reaction and feel: the keys felt very clean, the same kind of squeaky clean you get from a washed glass from the dishwasher. Pressing down on the piano felt very precise and accurate. Overall good reaction and better feel than yesterdays Pramberger piano.

Where this piano fell short was the tone. Too high for my tastes, and for a 6'1" piano, it didn't have the same fullness you expect from a piano of this size.

While not the best piano played for the price range that I'm looking for, if I had to spend about 15G's on a piano or less, this brand would be one that I'd strongly consider.

This was the only Heintzman played on today, I will be back to try it again for measure since it has good value. To date, the Kawai RX series still has my attention.

The Octave Music Centre

Went out to The Octave Music Centre in Kitchener on Victoria Street to check out what they have.  Upstairs on the second floor, I met Roger who introduced me to the Pramberger PS157.  This 5'3 grand piano sounded bright and felt sloppy compared to the Kawai RX-1 that I played over at Merriam Music last weekend.  I am happy to note that it was easy to notice the different tone in this piano compared to the Kawai because having a limited time to visit piano stores, playing the piano over a sales person talking, it can become a challenge remembering what a piano sounded like compared to the next. 

 

This piano was selling for about 11G's and there is a noticeable improvement of what a 20G piano feels and sounds like.  Playing the piano felt good, but the action on the keys were sloppy.  It just didn't respond as quickly as it should when playing through the scales.  Some of the keys were sluggish to bounce back after being struck making a piece slightly harder to play, but it was still a playable piano for a beginner student. 

 

I liked this particular model's finish, and esthetics.  A clean, dry polish made the piano look very formal.  While I prefer a glossy polish, a dry matte finish is also good. 

 

Because of the sluggish feel of the piano and the high tone, I'm going to pass on this one.  Roger recommended I visit the Guelph location to check out their Professional line (I think that's what it's called) and a reconditioned Steinway A (6'2") that was built in 1927.  I'll hope to make a trip down one of these days. and write about it.

 

Went to Marriam Music in Vaughan

On Saturday, I went out to check out the new Marriam Music store in Vaughan, located just east of the 400 on Rutherford.  I met Robin, representing Kawai Canada, who was very helpful.  Mariam Music carries many brands including Kawai (and Shigeru Kawai), Fazioli, C. Bechstein, Grotrain, Young Chang and Pollman.  Their website shows that there are other brands available but at the Vaughan location, only those above were present and the rest (like Baldwin) is over at the bigger branch in Oakville. 

Robin was showing me around the differences between a Yamaha grand (GC1) and a Kawai grand (GE30).  While I can't remember everything about the comparison, these few things stuck out the most that were favourable to the Kawai Grand Pianos:

• Kawai only makes pianos vs Yamaha who doesn't
• Kawai is also found in Roy Thompson Hall and Massey Hall (EX series)
• Better materials (most of the technical tour was showing me the different woods and screws/hardware that made up a Kawai piano vs the Yamaha. 
• The Yamaha grand piano was a 'good' instrument but it just didn't have the same craftsmanship.

"Craftmanship" on a machine made piano?  I find that a little bit hard to believe since the two pianos are about equal in terms of people's preferences.  Many people that I've spoken to in the past about purchasing a piano that's between Kawai and Yamaha love both of them and they'll both go on to tell you what makes their product better.  I digress, I'm looking forward to hearing more from the Yamaha dealer to tell me about the details about it's craftmanship to see if i can tell the difference. 

I spent about an hour and a half in the store playing between the GC30 and the RX1 which sounded and felt much better.  While it's the same size (5'5), the RX1 has a noticibly fuller tone and smoother response.  Pricing between the two was about $16000 vs 21000, a $5000 difference.  For the extra $5000, I'm leaning towards the RX series simply because I've justified keeping this piano for the rest of my life (or at least 20 years). 

A note about the Fazioli sitting in the corner:  This $125,000 piano was in the back corner right beside the dehumidifier.  It's a beautiful piano which looks very formal.  The styling on the piano seems a bit nicer compared to that of the Yamaha's and Kawai's that I've been seeing but then again i would expect much more about its appearance from a 125 thousand dollar piano.  Playing the piano wasn't as great an experience as I've read on the internet and it's probably because i'm not a concert pianist (far from it).  Instead, i'm a casual player looking to fulfill a life long dream of owning a grand piano.  The keys are very soft to touch and very repsonsive.  But it sounds as great as any other $50G piano that i've ever played?  Sorry for those hoping to get a good idea about what it felt like to play this beast, but, I thought that my blog post couldn't end without mentioning the Fazioli since it was prominently displayed in the store.

Next weekend I'll try to get to the Yamaha dealer to chat with him/her.