Movie about Steinway

[Tom Fischer]

Maybe somebody already posted this, or everybody who is interested has already seen this.
"Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037"
We watched this on Netflix today.
The movie is a documentary about making one 9' Steinway piano, that will sell for over $100K
The piano is L1037 which will take about one year to make.
For woodworkers, check out the bending scene. Amazing.
Talk about clamp heaven.
And they use a rope hoist to pull the ends around the form.

Half the documentary is about folks who do concerts, checking out all the Steinway pianos, choosing just one, based on the sound.
The piano is wood and metal. The metal doesn't vary much.
The wood is a natural product.
Can vary a lot.

Next time you pick up a piece of wood, just remember. It is unique.
Just sayin'

[David Wong]

I just watched this movie on Amazon (free with my "prime" membership). Incredible attention to detail. Thanks for sharing about the movie.

[Paul Wunder]

My wife and I also watched the movie today (thanks, Tom). What struck us was the pride of craftsmanship of the workers at Steinway Piano. Also, because of the specialized skills required they have apparently developed an "apprentice" system where the older, more experienced craftsman carry forward their skills by teaching the younger workers. Incredible attention to detail. Really worth a look

[Van Huskey]

It is in my instant Netflix queue. Thanks for sharing!

[David Kumm]

It is good to see Steinway surviving. Back in the 80's I became interested in Grand Pianos and spent years researching them- before the internet made things easier. Steinway at that time was in turmoil and the products so inconsistent that musicians recommended going to NY and picking one out by sound. The pre war Steinways were highly sought after as superior. Their keyboards were considered inferior to Renner and the casework hit and miss. Baldwin had just gone under and Asian pianos were capturing the market. I don't know the turn around story- I ended up with a Petrof- but am happy some things survive. Dave

[Van Huskey]

I ended up with a Petrof- Dave

A company that also makes furniture...

[Shawn Pixley]

I read the book "Piano" about K0862. Enjoyed it tremendously. I'll look up the movie.

[Ole Anderson]

I viewed the movie on Netflix last time a Creeker posted his comments on the movie, very interesting.

[Bruce Page]

I viewed the movie on Netflix last time a Creeker posted his comments on the movie, very interesting.

So did I. My wife thought I was a little weird but I enjoyed it. ;)

[Peter Quinn]

Thanks for the heads up Tom. I watched it last night, very interesting. I used to take the #7 train right past the factory every day going to work. Do they do factory tours? That would be an interesting place to poke around.

[Greg Portland]

There's also this segment from "How It's Made" featuring the Mason and Hamlin factory (another high-end piano maker) --> http://masonhamlin.com/factory/

Peter, Steinway does offer tours and they are one of the best factory tours in the country. ~3hrs and they cover all aspects of making the piano. The tour is free but you'll need to reserve a spot via info@steinway.com(IIRC they only have tours Monday and Tuesday). We did the tour when visiting NYC and it was great.

Edit: It appears the tours occur on Tuesdays @ 9am. Reservations are required.

[Jay Jolliffe]

I've watched it a few times. Great documentary....

[Van Huskey]

I watched it this morning. I kinda expected to see more machines but I did see a Tannawitz and SCM bandsaw so it was worth my time... The other cool machine was the one that cut the outside band flat on the top (very early in the movie). I didn't see any LN or Veritas hand planes and not a Blue Spruce or Japanese blue steel chisel in sight either.

[Frank Drew]

The human interest stuff was interesting but I'd like to see a whole movie dedicated to just the woodworking involved.

[John Coloccia]

I just watched it last night based on this thread. Interesting movie. I liked the non-woodworking stuff too, but then again I am a pianist so maybe I find it more interesting. It's interesting that different pianos have such different personalities. It's something that every pianist knows, but it's not something you normally talk about....not like guitars, anyway. Even with a company like Steinway, that's at the top of their game, there are just things you can't control. Even the action feels different from piano to piano. That's just a mechanism, so you'd think you can nail it, but you can't.

[Tom Fischer]

Thanks for that input John. Good to know we have some real music people here.

Thought I would just add some interested trivia, the music aspect. Although not a music person, I think I am correct about the following.
The modern piano was designed/engineered for Ludwig van Beethoven. He changed the style, power and range of Keyboard music, early 19th century.
No one has come close to the complexity his compositions described.
The large piano manufacturers in London would give him their newest versions of pianos to try.
It was a revolution in music.
After his death, much of his music was rarely played, because few could do it.

Steinway (at the top of their game) no doubt has much respect for that man.
In today's business world, if you wanted to buy shares of the common stock of Steinway Company,
you would order it by its New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol "LVB", Ludwig van Beethoven.

[John Coloccia]

re: Beethoven

Beethoven lived towards the end of the 18th century. The piano as we know it dates back to the early 18th century at least...maybe even as far as turn of the century. The magic of the piano was the action. In a harpsichord, the string is plucked and you can't really get any dynamics out of it. In a clavichord, the string is struck, but the "hammer" is actually a piece of metal that defines the speaking length of the string, and thus it's pitch (essentially, the hammer acts like a guitar nut). It sounds an awful lot like a hammered dulcimer, actually. In a sense, it's a pretty cool instrument because now you have dynamics (hit harder or softer), and you can even get a little bit of vibrato by leaning into the string. You can also play games with attack and decay. It's quite an instrument, actually. The only keyboard like instrument that has similar expressive power is the ondes martenot. It's very very quiet, though, and typically not at all suitable for performance of any kind.

The piano has a completely different and ridiculously complex action where the hammer is literally tossed into the string, and immediately rebounds and allows the string to vibrate freely. If you've ever seen a drawing of some of the early piano actions, it's surprising to me that pianos gained any traction at all in the 1700s. It must have taken quite some time for those stodgy old harpsichord builders to learn how to construct this new fangled Rube Goldberg contraption, and quite a bit of prodding by their customers to even bother.

But believe it or not, that's how far back it dates. :) Beethoven and his contemporaries drove the design of the piano to the modern day, metal reinforced, bazillion string monster it's today. They were the rock stars of their time....they wanted everything louder. LOL.

re: LVB
Ha...I didn't know that.

[David Kumm]

John, for the few in the forum who care, talk a little about sympathetic resonance and the difference in tension between American and Euro, vs Asian pianos. Even a non talented accountant like me can tell the difference if I listen for it. For those here who like machinery, the piano is the ultimate blend of mechanics and art. Dave

[Bruce Kohl]

Tom - I had seen this documentary on Steinway before and it's really interesting. Steinway does some fantasic woodworking to produce their instruments. Thanks for reminding me so I can put it on the Netflix que to see it again.

About five years ago my wife inherited a Model B Steinway 7' grand from her uncle. It was built in 1900, and except for a few dents and scratches on the case is in perfect condition. Her uncle was a professional musician, and this was his personal piano. It has the huge ice cream cone carved legs, and weighs as much as a small car (or so it seems when you try to move it). Nobody in the house plays well enough to do credit to this fine instrument, so she's been thinking of selling it - not easy in this economy. Anyway, it's been nice to be able to observe the fine craftsmanship that went into building it up close.

[John Coloccia]

John, for the few in the forum who care, talk a little about sympathetic resonance and the difference in tension between American and Euro, vs Asian pianos. Even a non talented accountant like me can tell the difference if I listen for it. For those here who like machinery, the piano is the ultimate blend of mechanics and art. Dave

By "Asian" are you referring to upright pianos? Uprights are at a disadvantage because they typically must have shorter strings than grand pianos ("grand" piano as in "everything that's not an upright). There are baby grands, however, that are absolutely killed by larger, high quality uprights. Grands, however, have an inherent advantage in that the action on an upright is inherently limited and stiffened because the action is...well...upright :) The force has to make a 90 degree turn to get the hammer onto the string. Without getting too deep into it, that can really mess up the feel of the piano. Many uprights are cheaper pianos to begin with, and have cheaply made actions, which just compounds the problem. The actions are typically much stiffer than a nice grand piano, too.

Also, uprights almost universally (if not universally) do not properly implement the una corda pedal. On a grand, the una corda moves the entire action over so that the hammers only hit two strings giving a much softer and thinner sound (una corda originally only hit ONE string per note, but our modern pianos are packed too tightly to do that). The tone of the piano is rather dramatically changed...can be, anyway. It becomes subdued...almost muffled. On uprights, the hammers are moved closer to the strings, effectively making it more difficult to play loudly but doing nothing whatsoever to change the timbre of the instrument.

I've heard some uprights that sound really great...certainly the best uprights sound far and away better than cheap baby grands. The best actions on uprights are also better than the cheaper actions on baby grands (in my opinion, anyway).

I don't know if that's what you were asking. The only other thing I can think of is that Asian pianos are known for being brighter than their American, and certainly European counterparts. European pianos tend to be very dark. American pianos tend to be a bit brighter. Asian pianos (Yamaha and Kawai, for example) tend to be very bright. This is either good or bad. A lot of people like the brighter sound because they say it's more articulate. It's a matter of taste. Honestly, I don't know why they're brighter. Maybe they're just over braced...trade a bit of tone for structural stability. I know next to nothing about piano design, other than the fact that if it falls apart, somewhere in there is a harp that Harpo Marx can entertain you with for a while.

Just to bring it full circle, Steinways are known for having rather inconsistent tone. As you saw in the video, you can walk into a room full of Steinways, and each one really is quite different. I doubt anyone would buy $20,000 or more (sometimes MUCH more) piano without first playing it, so I see this as a good thing. I wouldn't want to order one sight unseen, though.

[Kevin Nathanson]

Thank you Tom for the recommendation.

As a woodworker, I was moved to see the care that they take with each instrument, and the incredibly skilled handwork that goes into the construction of each piano.

As a musician, it was great to hear how virtuosic musicians think about their instruments.

As a Steinway owner, it was fascinating to see where my piano came from.

And most importantly, my mother was a child prodigy and great concert pianist who was a Steinway artist. (It's her piano, given to her by the Steinway brothers, that will have a place of honor in our soon-to-be-built new house). The personal connection was the best of all.

More about her here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EQQnGHU3gk&feature=g-upl

Thanks again!

K

[Tom Fischer]

Wow, Kevin

That is something ... fine ... quite elegant.
Pretty much the only Beethoven Sonatas I ever listen to are from my Glenn Gould collection.
Your youtube link is fantastic.

Thanks for sharing.

[David Kumm]

John, you are correct in that Yamaha and Kawai are indeed brighter. My understanding is they are strung much tighter- scaled differently. The higher tension causes each string to operate more on it's own. Euro pianos use lower tension so as each note vibrates it effects the strings around it and the " sympathetic resenance" is what in part gives the darker sound. I talked to a piano builder once and although I didn't understand much of it there really was a blending of art and science. The electronic keyboard business has been rough on the traditional makers. Dave

[Don Morris]

I played the piano solo at HS graduation. I've watched the L1037 movie several times and enjoyed it each time. I also tuned the Grand Piano I owned. I was taught to tune it by a Piano restorer. I did a fair to poor job. But "I" did it. It takes years of experience learning how to handle the wood of the piano and the other parts: metal strings, felt of the hammars, etc. The person who "voices" the piano at the last stage, may use a small torch to affect the dryness of the wood action, thus lengthening or warping (I'm not sure exactly of this process) to get just the right tone desired. If the felt on the hammar is too hard it will be a harsh sound, too soft it will be mushy. Those experts are truly "experts" in the feel of the wood, sound, metal, etc. and it took them years to get to that point. L1037 sounds different than L1036 or L1038 and hopefully their techniques and skills are being passed on to the next generation of Steinway makers.

[John Coloccia]

John, you are correct in that Yamaha and Kawai are indeed brighter. My understanding is they are strung much tighter- scaled differently. The higher tension causes each string to operate more on it's own. Euro pianos use lower tension so as each note vibrates it effects the strings around it and the " sympathetic resenance" is what in part gives the darker sound. I talked to a piano builder once and although I didn't understand much of it there really was a blending of art and science. The electronic keyboard business has been rough on the traditional makers. Dave

That's very similar to what happens on guitars too. 7 string acoustics sound different than 6 string acoustics, even if you never play the 7th string. Just it's presence colors the entire range of the guitar. You can REALLY hear it on a piano, though, if you press the sustain pedal BEFORE hitting a big chord, for example. If you just hit the chord, it sound very clean. If you hit the pedal and THEN hit the chord (i.e. you lift ALL the dampers first) the character of the chord is dramatically different as everything else vibrates too. It's like playing in a cavern.

It's been so long since I've really played on a real piano. I don't own one anymore. I had an upright my whole life, but left it with my parents when I moved out after college, and they recently donated it. In retrospect, it had one of the nicer upright actions I'd ever played and I regret letting it go! I toy with the idea of bringing in a baby grand one day, but I really just don't have room for it. I toy with the idea of picking up an upright...heck, I can get them for free all day long on craigslist, but the compromise of action and timbre would always make me unhappy. I currently play a Roland "stage piano", which is a fancy way of saying "keyboard". It's action is up there with the finest grand pianos I've played, and it sounds like a million bucks. When I strike it rich and move into my big house with the big music room, I'll have a nice grand piano in there, though :)

[Ernie Miller]

I don't know if that's what you were asking. The only other thing I can think of is that Asian pianos are known for being brighter than their American, and certainly European counterparts. European pianos tend to be very dark. American pianos tend to be a bit brighter. Asian pianos (Yamaha and Kawai, for example) tend to be very bright. This is either good or bad. A lot of people like the brighter sound because they say it's more articulate. It's a matter of taste. Honestly, I don't know why they're brighter. Maybe they're just over braced...trade a bit of tone for structural stability. I know next to nothing about piano design, other than the fact that if it falls apart, somewhere in there is a harp that Harpo Marx can entertain you with for a while.



Years ago, in my piano technician days, our chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild was invited to a technical meeting in the Basement at Steinway Hall with Franz Mohr who was the head concert technician. The Basement is the room where they keep the concert grands that are used in concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center etc. The pianists would come to the Basement and pick the piano that they wanted to play for the concert. The one feature that almost all of these pianos shared was an almost unbelievable level of brightness. The hammers were filed down aggressively and very heavily lacquered, making them sound brighter than any piano you would ever find in a home situation. The tone was actually quite ugly and harsh sounding in that room, but in the concert hall they were magnificent. They need that level of brightness to be heard over a full orchestra and for the sound to project to the rear of the hall.

Steinway hammers are (or at least, used to be) cold pressed. The felt comes in long sheets and is bent around the small wooden core and glued in a large press. After the glue has cured, the individual hammers are sliced off of the sheet. Cold pressed hammers use no heat in the press, and the hammers produced require the use of a lacquer solvent to bring up the brightness level. Yamaha hammers are hot pressed and come out of the press quite hard - therefore being considerably brighter in tone. The job of the voicer is to manipulate the tone of the hammers by applying lacquer and then stabbing the hammer felt with needles which selectively softens certain areas of the felt. This process can take up to a full week on a concert grand piano. Obviously, the cheaper the piano the less voicing it receives. Some really inexpensive pianos get no voicing at all. On some pianos the felt is so hard that voicing needles can't even be inserted into the felt - making voicing impossible. You get what you pay for!