How a piano is made-pretty amazing

[MuniAddict]

There's a lot more to making a great piano than you think:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdFejZgOHDA

[spazdude222]

There's a lot more to making a great piano than you think:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdFejZgOHDA
See, I disagree... that's exactly what I thought it took to make a great piano.;)

[kington99]

Thanks for sharing, none of it was terribly suprising but still quite interesting. Shame they didn't show the casting of the iron plate, with such a complex shape it would have been intersting to see what moulding process they were using.

[UnicycleJuggler]

I quite liked this How It's Made --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0DbcUUO-hI

[Borgschulze]

I quite liked this How It's Made --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0DbcUUO-hI

I thought this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGyoMuE4gDQ&feature=related) one was far more interesting.

[Ducttape]

the only how it's made I could stand to watch was the one Terry linked... because the voice over people just made it weird.... I like the voice over guy in Terry's video better... why do they have to change the voice over person all the time?




Sorry... I dunno what it is but it has to be a certain way (the way I've been seeing it forever) in order for me to pay any attention to it...

[Jerrick]

Madison, ahve you ever watch the Red Green show?

If not, youd love it.

Theres also a how they make ducttape segment on youtube with on of the guys form the show in it. =p

[Goats_On_Unicycles]

The Red Green movie is called Ducttape Forever.

[BluntRM]

I saw this show in Toronto after the Lifestyles 24hour race last year. Apparently there's a different narrator for the Canadian version.

Either way, does anyone think the piano will ever be outmoded by its digital counterparts? The labor is incredibly intensive for a product that's matched on a lesser scale by digital keyboards. I mean what happens when it's cheaper to produce an authentic sounding keyboard than an authentic piano.

[Ducttape]

Madison, ahve you ever watch the Red Green show?

If not, youd love it.

Theres also a how they make ducttape segment on youtube with on of the guys form the show in it. =p
I used to watch that show all the time but now I never know when it's on or even if it's on anymore. Anyway... back on topic How it's Made is a cool show, I just don't like when they change narrators...

[ivan]

I saw this show in Toronto after the Lifestyles 24hour race last year. Apparently there's a different narrator for the Canadian version.

Either way, does anyone think the piano will ever be outmoded by its digital counterparts? The labor is incredibly intensive for a product that's matched on a lesser scale by digital keyboards. I mean what happens when it's cheaper to produce an authentic sounding keyboard than an authentic piano.
Probably, people will go with the digital. However, so far, I don't think anyone has produced an authentic sounding live electric piano. They all lack something that a real piano has.

[MuniAddict]

I saw this show in Toronto after the Lifestyles 24hour race last year. Apparently there's a different narrator for the Canadian version.

Either way, does anyone think the piano will ever be outmoded by its digital counterparts? The labor is incredibly intensive for a product that's matched on a lesser scale by digital keyboards. I mean what happens when it's cheaper to produce an authentic sounding keyboard than an authentic piano.Even the most advanced electronic keyboard can't match the endless tonal colors, dynamic gradations, touch, character, and *sole* of an acoustic piano. You could also ask why haven't ALL digital intstruments supplanted the real thing; guitar, violin, woodwinds, brass, etc. Digital music still "samples" the real sound so it's like making a very good, but ultimiately inferior copy of the Mona Lisa.

If digital pianos are so great, why don't we see them on the concert stage with traditional orchestra? Great concert pianists wouldn't be caught dead with anything but a real piano-there just isn't any substitute.

Btw, today there are more pianos manufactured than at any time in history! Yamaha alone makes more than 200,000 *new* acoustic pianos each year!

[ivan]

Yamaha alone makes more than 200,000 *new* acoustic pianos each year!
What does this *new* mean?

[MuniAddict]

What does this *new* mean?Lol, yeah I guess nobody's building "used" pianos!:p Well, I was just trying to emphasize that there is no sign that piano building will die out any time soon.

[augustdreamt]

Either way, does anyone think the piano will ever be outmoded by its digital counterparts?

No way. The acoustic piano elitists (like myself) would never let that happen.

[Goats_On_Unicycles]

I've played GEM pianos and they're almost like a regular acoustic piano but they just don't have that something that a REAL piano has.

[BluntRM]

Hey, if you want to look like a caveman banging out noises on your mammoth tooth pianos, by all means; I'm just saying Chopin's cloned head will most likely be attached to a robot body playing some sort of synthesizer in the near to far future.

[MuniAddict]

Hey, if you want to look like a caveman banging out noises on your mammoth tooth pianos, by all means; I'm just saying Chopin's cloned head will most likely be attached to a robot body playing some sort of synthesizer in the near to far future.Yeah, I'm sure *this* will soon replace the traditional concert grand lol!:rolleyes: Then all we need is to replace the traditional human audience with automotrons to do the listening for us..because I sure wouldn't want to hear it! :)

Then we'll need to replace the artist canvas with a modern update of the etch-a-sketch! Of course, CGI is quickly replacing human actors, which, in some cases isn't a bad idea!:p

[orbis]

nice electricish grandish Piano thingyish

[MuniAddict]

I like mine better: Yamaha G1. Made in Japan. I restrung it, installed new hammers, had the case restored. Beautiful instrument!

[Divebomber]

Eh....Moogs are better. :p

[Buddy]

Madison, ahve you ever watch the Red Green show?

If not, youd love it.

Theres also a how they make ducttape segment on youtube with on of the guys form the show in it. =p

That was (is?) a great show. The movie was pretty good too. :D

[Borgschulze]

Eh....Moogs are better. :p
Sunn O))) (http://fc03.deviantart.com/fs6/i/2005/014/2/1/moog_by_no_morals.jpg) uses a Moog keyboard, not that you would ever know it when listening to their music.

[GILD]

I'm just saying Chopin's cloned head will most likely be attached to a robot body playing some sort of synthesizer in the near to far future.
No!
Not Chopin!!?!

The horror, the horror...

[BluntRM]

No!
Not Chopin!!?!

The horror, the horror...

Well, we're really only talking about step 37 in the 203 steps towards creating robot overlords.

Here, step 36- Chopin's robot body:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww

[Goats_On_Unicycles]

Didn't somebody make a machine that plays the sax and sounds EGGZAKLTY like John Coltrane? And it, like, plays Giant Steps and shit like that...

[ivan]

There's Crazy J - a g (http://www.me.gatech.edu/mechatronics_lab/Projects/Fall00/group3/contents.htm)uitar playing robot. Sounds quite nice with a pick.

[BluntRM]

"Come with me if you want to live"
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z214/BluntRM/Chopin.jpg?t=1206647576

[BluntRM]

There's Crazy J - a g (http://www.me.gatech.edu/mechatronics_lab/Projects/Fall00/group3/contents.htm)uitar playing robot. Sounds quite nice with a pick.

I liked flight of the bumblebee. If it had feet it would be unstoppable.

[pedrotejada]

Coool... I Liked it :D

I worked in a Luthier making Guitars... And Pedals... And repairing Guitars, Basses, Keyboards, Synths... My Last project was wood body for my harmonica...

But the piano making process is pretty bigger and complex than Guitars! :eek:

I will buy a Synth soon... I like pianos... But Moog Sounds are sooo Cool :D

[MuniAddict]

Coool... I Liked it :D

But the piano making process is pretty bigger and complex than Guitars! :eek:

:DSome little known facts about pianos:

The typical concert grand piano retains enough total string tension to lift about EIGHT hummers off the ground at once; roughly 70,000 pounds! Even the smallest spinet retains about 16,000 pounds of string tension!

Most pianos have roughly 230 strings, and the "action" has as many as 8,000 individulal parts, all playing a role in sending the hammers to the strings.

Average cost of having a guitar restrung: about $50
Average cost to have a piano restrung: $1,500-2,500!

A full 88-note piano encompases 7 1/3 octaves and covers the entire musical spectrum from lowest A to high C.

A piano in the home should be tuned a *minimum* of twice per year to insure reasonable stability.
A piano used on the concert stage ot in recording studios are tuned before each performance, which in many cases is at least ONCE per day!

[BluntRM]

The typical concert grand piano retains enough total string tension to lift about EIGHT hummers off the ground at once; roughly 70,000 pounds! Even the smallest spinet retains about 16,000 pounds of string tension!



What's the worst piano related accident you've ever seen?

[MuniAddict]

What's the worst piano related accident you've ever seen?well, nothing that bad really and I've been at it now for 9 years and tuned thousands of pianos. I guess the worst thibng I've seen is just really bad mouse infestation when taking a piano apart for cleaning.:eek:I'm sure the people who *move* pianos would have some stories to tell..like dropping one down a flight of stairs or whatever.

[BluntRM]

"Dropping £45,000 piano 'was the worst thing that's ever happened to me" (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=447706&in_page_id=1770)

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/04_01/pianoIRVNG1004_468x324.jpg

[MuniAddict]

"Dropping £45,000 piano 'was the worst thing that's ever happened to me" (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=447706&in_page_id=1770)

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/04_01/pianoIRVNG1004_468x324.jpgDamn! There's another bancruptcy!The guy with his hands on his head is like: "Go ahead and arrest me now...I'll never be able to pay for this!"