Pianotech

  • 1.  A very tall piano

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-09-2019 14:46
      |   view attached
    A very tall piano from David Klavins
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_781ocupP7U&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0mapQq3XRtYsE1xAdjRCENER7e7JfcvxEg395Qq-tf2jm8y8Ql5SQ0Ecs


    ------------------------------
    Steven Rosenthal
    Honolulu HI
    808-521-7129
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: A very tall piano

    Posted 05-09-2019 15:28
    Quite interesting. I would like to hear those pianos in person. I did find the tone of the una corda piano to be pleasing. It's different. Soothing.

    About the other pianos:

    "Wait a minute, let me climb up to the second story so I can play my piano." ;)

    ------------------------------
    John Formsma, RPT
    New Albany MS
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: A very tall piano

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-09-2019 16:27
    That is an amazing YouTube. I really love both of the una cordas.

    ------------------------------
    Susan Kline
    Philomath, Oregon
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: A very tall piano

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-09-2019 16:43
    A neat concept, but not very marketable.  The guy must be independently wealthy to be able to afford to make them.  

    The concert grand is not exactly practical, either, for the concert stage.  Besides taking up a lot of vertical space, it's kind of hard to see the conductor from such a high vantage point.  And then I would hate to see Olga Kern climb up that ladder in one of her long flowing evening gowns.

    ------------------------------
    Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
    Mililani, HI 96789
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: A very tall piano

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-09-2019 21:56
    I can see a market for the una corda, smaller, lighter, cheaper, and very sweet sounding. Easier (and cheaper) to tune and no bad unisons.
    Perhaps the concert piano could be built into the hall the way pipe organs are. They use monitors to see the conductor in pit and offstage ensembles now. It has a player mechanism also so the player could play it remotely.
    It has the shortcoming of a vertical action and it must take something extra to damp the strings. Bichords all the way down to the bottom.
    I'd like to hear the tenor and bass. He didn't have to compromise on tension in the tenor section so it's probably more in line harmonically with the rest of the piano.
    Might be worth a trip to Hungary if one was in the neighborhood
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Klavins.

    ------------------------------
    Steven Rosenthal
    Honolulu HI
    808-521-7129
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: A very tall piano

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-09-2019 23:24
    If you look carefully at the action of his bigger una-corda piano you will see very skinny hammers and counterweights in the catchers. That is the way I do my custom high-performance vertical action except I use tapered, carbon fiber shanks. If you like the una-corda sound; just strip mute your piano 1-88!

    ------------------------------
    Edward McMorrow
    Edmonds WA
    425-299-3431
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: A very tall piano

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-10-2019 07:39
    Ed,

    Precisely how do you counterweight the catchers? Drill a hole through and add lead, or some other method?

    Pwg

    ------------------------------
    Peter Grey
    Stratham NH
    603-686-2395
    pianodoctor57@gmail.com
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: A very tall piano

    Posted 05-10-2019 14:47
    Perhaps the builder was just Hungary to hit some high notes :-)

    Thanks for sending the youtube site Steve! 

    Bob