For all of you who love and appreciate piano music, you will want to watch Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037. It will be airing on PBS beginning this Monday. You can check your local listings at: http://www.pbs.org/notebynote/airdates.html. This 1 hour program describes the making of a Steinway concert grand from the selection of the wood for the cabinet and sound board to the finished product found in homes and concert halls throughout the world. Did you know that a Steinway grand is made up of 12,000 parts, takes 12 months to manufacture, and involves countless hours of work by 450 craftsmen to complete the finished product.
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of a personal tour of the Steinway factory when one of my adult students was in the process of selecting a Steinway B model for his home. The Steinway B is just under 7 feet long. My student drove us to the original Steinway factory in Astoria, Queens, New York on a quiet morning. We were given a personal tour of the factory by the sales manager and saw pianos in various stages of production. We even saw where the original coal fired furnace was. The building dates from the 1890s. Of course everything is modernized today. We tried a few of the pianos that were still in the factory, and then the sales manager drove us across the bridge to Manhattan where I helped my student choose a beautiful Steinway B for his home.
For more about the program visit: http://notebynotethemovie.com/.
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15 comments:
This is an incredible documentary. It really makes you want to fly to New York and tour the Steinway Factory as soon as possible. A Must See!!!
They do arrange tours. One of my adult students was purchasing a Steinway B and had me come along to try out the pianos. I think that it might have been one of those Monday holidays, so we pretty much had the factory to ourselves, and we got a nice private tour of the factory. Very interesting. I'm fortunate to live less than an hour from the Long Island City factory.
What does a piano like that cost?
Two of my adult piano students purchased brand new Steinway B models for about $50,000. It was with the second student who was not that advanced at the time that I got the factory tour. The B model is 6' 10 1/2". I perfected my skills as a teenager on a rebuilt Steinway B model that had a very sweet tone that my parents owned. You might be able to find good used or rebuilt models.
The model described in the program is a 9 foot concert grand, the D model. These may run close to $100,000 brand new.
Really eye opening to see how much goes into making such a beautiful instrument.
Thanks for posting this.
(shocked) It really cost that much? well... It's worthy by just looking that one is really pretty much expensive huh.
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.., this is a helpful review... thank you so much for informing us... i want to try this... but this is really expensive i must say...
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I agree with piano dan! Awesome documentary!
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Hmmm one can only wonder how much such a piano would cost?
I agree. "The Making of Steinway L1037" is a fabulous documentary. For those who missed the broadcast, the video is available on Amazon and other sources. Here's the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Note-Making-Steinway-L1037/dp/B001P8M9FK
The DVD is on my bookshelf and has been watched often. I'm a piano technician, and though its not really a technical presentation, I pick up interesting techniques when watching it, and on the first watching I learned a lot of the Steinway process, that I was previously in the dark about.
I loved this documentary. I've always had a fascination with the design and construction of piano. Not only do I play, but I've also tried my hand at rebuilding a piano myself. It has been a rewarding project.
This is a nice documentary. I suddenly want to go to those places! Great!
your blog is so interesting i've really enjoyed it.
I was fortunate enough to have dinner with Ben Niles not long after the movie came out. I was most impressed by his humility and his uncanny ability to caputre the emotion of a family receiving their first Steinway.
What a beautiful film. Everyone should see it.
Any chance of a new post sometime soon? I've enjoyed reading so far!
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