Things I find interesting
To date, we've collected 36,627 lbs. of scrap metal, (that's over 18 tons!) from junk pianos, recycled it, and saved that from going into a landfill. No wonder I'm always in pain. (This picture represents only 5,000 lbs)
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During World War II,
Steinway & Sons air-dropped pianos with large parachutes and complete tuning
instructions into the battle for the American troops. Called the Victory
Vertical or G.I. Steinway, the pianos were to provide a bit of relaxation/morale
booster. The pianos came in olive, blue, and gray drab.
By the end of the war, Steinway & Sons had provided about 5,000 pianos to the
U.S. military around the world. They had 4 sons and a few cousins who served.
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Well, after sitting in my shop for 2 years, I had to decide to rebuild it or get rid of it. I decided to get rid of it. The last one I rebuilt and sold only brought in a small profit. Now pianos are not selling at all, so I would have put countless hours into this one and most likely make pennies on it if I could sell it at all. So I broke the harp up into manageable pieces and cut the piano in half to get it up the stairs and into my truck. I was thinking of my Dad when doing this because he would have lost his mind seeing what I was doing to this piano. Sorry Dad. The market just isn't good for selling pianos any longer.
I will still rebuild a piano for a customer that hires me to do so but no longer will I rebuild and sell another one. Sad day.
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I tuned a 1908 Baldwin Upright today. 111 years old!! I usually do not tune old uprights because they are most always dried out old junk. But as I always say, there are exceptions to every rule and this was one of them. Really nice sounding piano, tight tuning pins, and no cracks in the bridges or soundboard. Almost unheard of. Very fine craftsmanship.
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I've tuned hundreds of Yamaha pianos. This was my first Suzuki. Maybe Harley should start making pianos. Probably would just sound like potato, potato, potato!!
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Piano keys were originally made from ivory, thus the origin of the phrase, “tickle the ivories.” This lasted until the 1950s, when the elephants banned together and said enough is enough! At least I think that is what happened. Since then, piano keys have been made from plastic.
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I spotted this VERY rare Albino piano in our yard today.
Probably looking for a tuner.
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You can't make this stuff up. Well you can, but I didn't. Freddie Mercury used a piano as the headboard of his bed. The double-jointed Mercury would awake with inspiration, reach up and back behind his head and play what he'd heard in his dreams. This was how Bohemian Rhapsody began.
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This may be unnoticeable to some pianists, but, the action on a grand piano is faster than the one on an upright, allowing you to play much faster. This is because a grand piano has a repetition lever, allowing the musician to repeat the notes when the key is only half way up. On an upright (spinet, console or studio), the action requires the key to go all the way up to reset it. So everyone should own a grand piano!! Nah, that's ok. I tune them all.
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The piano is known as the “King of the Instruments” because its range goes from the lowest note that you can play on a double-bassoon to the highest note that you can play on a piccolo. This single instrument covers a full orchestral range! Apparently I have protected my hearing well enough all these years because I still can tune each note from lowest A to highest C. Ok, going to listen to some Metallica on low volume.
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The Beatles used some acoustic pianos in their recordings. Depending on the sound they wanted, they used a Steinway Vertegrand (meaning vertical grand because of the long string length), a Baldwin Grand, a Bluthner Grand, and a Bechstein Concert Grand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinway_Vertegrand
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_Piano_Company
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bl%C3%BCthner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Bechstein
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The piano is considered to be a member of the percussion family because it only makes a sound when the hammers hit the strings. If you're a piano player, bet you didn't know you are a percussionist. I refer to it as a string instrument because I tighten and loosen strings all day to make each instrument sound its best.
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14 1/2 minutes of pure music listening pleasure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsOUcikyGRk
Valentina Lisitsa - Beethoven's Monlight Sonata Op.27 No.2 Mov.1,2,3
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Just received a phone call.
Customer: Hi, this is Mrs. Smith and I would like to cancel our 2:00 appointment
for tomorrow.
Me: Oh. Ok. Did you forget about a dentist appointment or something?
Customer: No. It’s just going to be too cold out.
Me: Um, I believe I’m coming to you. You’re not bringing the piano to me are
you?
Customer: Silence.
Me: Mrs. Smith?
Customer: Oh……….ya……..ok. See you tomorrow.
Guess she was thinking of my safety but then she should have said “You don’t
have to come tomorrow if you don’t want to because of the cold.” Then I would
have thanked her and told her “Not to worry. I’ll be there.” So to my customers,
thank you so much but do not cancel on me due to severe weather. I’ll do that if
I feel I can’t make it. Pretty sure all service people feel this way. Appreciate
the thought though. Stay warm out there.
