The Sostenuto Pedal In 1874, William Steinway wrote in his diary (pictured above) that the sostenuto pedal was splendid. But there has never been said any words in the piano industry that are more divisive than “But does it have a middle pedal?” Why are these words divisive? Because the middle pedal on the piano is the least used and yet most focused on in the piano industry. I’ve often told the story about one of the greatest jazz pianists in my city…… Read More
Piano Sizes ~ What Should I Buy? What is it that is so different? That’s a bit of a loaded question because piano composition is the attention to a 1000 details… Read More
Casting Iron Piano Frames Every piano has one. It is the backbone to structural integrity. It’s also what gives a piano most of its weight. What is it? Commonly called the frame… Read More
The Ins and Outs of Piano Moving He would then quote what has become my favourite piano moving line, “Remember, fingers grow back, pianos do not”. Slightly horrified at the thought of having my fingers pinched… Read More
An Interview with Pianos Bolduc The job of the soundboard is to transform tone of the vibrating piano strings into audible waves which also color the tone.… Read More
The C. Bechstein Sphinx Grand Piano One of the teams involved in some of the more detailed aspects of carvings within the church were employed recently by Bechstein in a spectacular million dollar piano reproduction… Read More
Sauter Piano Made in Germany Sauter is one of the few companies that are truly 100% made in Germany. What does that mean? Traditionally, Germany has the highest grades of materials in the world. Sauter’s materials are locally sourced, their labour is local… Read More
Visiting Petrof Piano I started the tour in the milling room where they cut wood into usable lengths and sizes. Adjacent to that is their cabinet making shop. It brings a smile to my face when I… Read More
Steinway Fibonacci Grand Piano When it came time to celebrate Steinway’s 600,000th piano, the company turned to furniture/interior designer Frank Pollaro who also designed the limited edition “Rhapsody in Blue” for Steinway… Read More
Hailun Piano Factory ~ A First Glimpse It’s simply overwhelming the stature and size of the Hailun Piano Company. They manufacture roughly 38,000 pianos per year. Now if you do the math, that’s just over 3,150 pianos per month in 4.2 MILLION square feet of factory space.… Read More
