pianos

[truepenny]

My piano is going to be delivered tomorrow.

I cannot believe how geeked I am about this. I spent much of the weekend, when I should have been working on Chapter 14 (it hates me, and I'm beginning to suspect it may be Undead, as well), surfing the web looking at pictures of old grand pianos.¹ I learned rather a lot about Steinways, Bösendorfers², and Bechsteins, as well as Blüthners.

I discovered that I love old grand pianos. Not in the Gotta catch 'em all! Pokemon sense, but in terms of hopelessly admiring their beauty and being stunned with wonder that they exist and have survived and are still being played. I really did spend hours simply looking at pictures and reading descriptions and wanting to rescue these magnificent dowagers from the people who put CD players in them.

So here is my invitation to all y'all. If you love, or have loved, a grand piano, tell me about it. As much detail as you want. And if you can link to pictures, that's definitely a bonus.

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1. Apparently "antique" is a term applied only to pianos built before about 1850, when the current soundboard shape was developed. (The history and development of the piano grossly oversimplified for the sake of not having a footnote longer than the main post.)

2. One thing I learned is that Bösendorfers do not please my sense of visual aesthetics. Their sound quality may be fantastic, but my GOD those puppies* are ugly.

---
*Speaking of puppies, wicked_wish is trying to help one find a home. And he's not ugly at all, poor lamb.

Comments

[cmpriest.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the linkage ;-)

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

V. welcome!

That pupdog looks like a charmer. He deserves a better chance.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Squeee! Piano!!!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

My great-aunt has a baby grand in her living room, and I was allowed to plunk away on it with supervision even before I started lessons. I adored that piano for all it represented (my great-aunt was an ally in the wheedling for piano lessons) more than for its appearance, though it was a lovely glossy black.

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

My first piano (well, family piano) was an upright baby grand (so I'm told). I remember that the keys were very yellow and it was always going out of tune. I started piano lessons on it and when it appeared that I was going to keep up with them (mostly because my mother insisted that I do so), my grandmother bought us a new piano and the old upright went away.

When I was in high school, I spent a lot of time in the auditorium, between band, orchestra and chorus practices. There was (probably is) a beautiful grand piano there (sometimes it was on the stage, sometimes in the pit, but it was always there), but the keyboard cover was always kept locked. I think I only got to play it once -- what a gorgeous sound.

[larryhammer]

All my pianos have been uprights. I played a baby grand (Yamaha I think) in the student lounge for a while, but I never warmed to it. I didn't like the sound as much as my upright back home.

Yes, something of heresy, I know. But it was true.

---L.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

I don't like the way Yamahas sound. Any of them--grand, upright, console, doesn't matter.

Modern pianos, especially but far from exclusively the Japanese ones, have a very hard, bright sound that I find unpleasant. One of the reasons I love the Blüthner is that its voice is very warm and mellow.

[larryhammer]

I wish I could remember who made my upright, but it's in another state at the moment (and likely to remain there for several years). From the 1930s, IIRC, with a sunny tone I've always liked -- though painful to hear when even just a little bit out of tune, which happens easily when its humid.

[mmarques.livejournal.com]

Then you'd probably hate my "piano". A Yamaha digital piano, sampled from two different grand pianos. But I did get it when I lived in an apartment (so I could practice with headphones). And it never needs tuning.

[treetelling.livejournal.com]

My baby grand is an ancient Stroud I inherited from my mother. It was never top of the line, and it's lived a lot since. The ends of several keys are broken off where my brother hit it with a mop once, a few of the hammers are brand new because we had to replace them after one of the cats threw up in the piano (this has led to many affronted cats since, because now I toss them off the piano when I see them on top of it, while they try to remind me that they own the whole house) and our tuner has been making you-may-have-to-replace-this-someday-soon noises when he comes. I can't imagine ever wanting another one, though. It has the easiest action of any piano I have ever used, like playing a cloud. The rounded, well-worn sides of the keys don't hurt my fingers at all if I slip while doing a glissando. And I know I'm biased, but I'd compare the tone with many more expensive models - soft and sweet, with gorgeous blending on chords.
Best of luck with your piano - and no cat mistakes!