The Making of a Steinway

The making of a Steinway piano is a time-honored process involving the hands of many skilled craftspeople over the course of almost a full year. Steinway & Sons pianos are built in just two factories worldwide - one in Astoria, NY and one in Hamburg, Germany.

http://youtu.be/jAInt7hIZlU This video is a fascinating look at the way a piano is built.

via The Presurfer

Sunset Piano Opus 2

Opus One: Mauro ffortissimo is a northern California artist and musician. In February 2013 he brought a grand piano to a bluff overlooking the Pacific and played during every sunset for two weeks. It struck a nerve, and thousands of people came. So did the media. By Valentines day, Sunset Piano was something of an international phenomena. When asked why he did it, Mauro said, "I wanted to play for the whales". Opus Two: In early July, Mauro is planning to deploy twelve pianos at select locations along the beautiful San Mateo coastline. He's inviting some incredible bay area musicians to join him in bringing attention to the fragile state of the world's oceans, as well as the near extinction of the "personal" piano. Piano manufacturing has dwindled, and the neglect of acoustic pianos has caused thousands of them to end up in landfills. The "Twelve Pianos" project will focus the spotlight on two species with uncertain futures. The pianos will remain for as long as they hold up to the Pacific coastal weather (we're thinking about 2 weeks) , or until the powers that be force their removal. This video was created to launch our Kickstarter campaign to fund the project as well as the documentary film about it, which is now in production. We hope you'll visit our Kickstarter page to learn more and to show your support for this unusual guerrilla art project: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1881876647/sunset-piano-opus-two-for-twelve-pianos Film by Dean Mermell www.storyfarm.tv

I stumbled upon a neat art installation/performance project this morning called "Sunset Piano Opus 2." Mauro Ffortissimo is the artist behind the project to place twelve pianos along the San Mateo coast in Northern California for public performing. Dean Mermell is filming a documentary about the event that should be finished by December 2013.

From their Kickstarter page:

In early July, Mauro is planning to deploy twelve pianos at select locations along the beautiful San Mateo coastline. Anyone can come and play a piano by the sea, anytime. He's inviting some incredible bay area musicians to join him in bringing attention to the fragile state of the world's oceans, as well as the near extinction of the "personal" piano. Piano manufacturing has dwindled, and the neglect of acoustic pianos has caused thousands of them to end up in landfills. The "Twelve Pianos" project will focus the spotlight on two species with uncertain futures.

It occurred to me that Ffortissimo and Mermell do not directly address the environmental impact that this project may have on the coastline. However, the chosen spots seem to be in places where the public is already welcome and they profess that they are, "committed to doing everything in a totally environmentally responsible manner and to leave no trace." It looks like a neat project - I wish I lived closer so that I could participate.

-via Laughing Squid

Flow My Tears

And now for something completely different. "Flow my tears" was John Dowland's most popular lute song. I hope early music specialists will forgive me - I've adapted it for piano, since I don't play the lute.

Flow my tears was John Dowland's most popular work. It was first published in 1600 in his collection of lute songs. I'm playing an adaptation for piano, but all the notes are those indicated in the original lute tablature.