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Hi all,

We just produced a simple video on the design and making of the Cunningham Piano. I would love opinions.

We really wanted to stay simple but still give solid information to amateurs and professionals alike.

Is it too long? Not long enough? Not detailed enough? Too detailed?



I am looking forward to your feedback. Thank you in advance.

I can't offer much comment about the video except that I liked it and it's clearly presented. I do think you chose an excellent piece of music(what was it?)that could appeal to many different musical tastes.

Am I correct in thinking the Cunningham pianos from a while ago were Hailuns with adjustments and refinements added later but the new Cunningham is really a whole new piano design built in the Hailun factory?

The deal killers are in bold:

It doesn't make me want to buy the cunningham or even to know more about it. The pacing is off. Too much times is spent on the text cards that too often state what's obvious. Poor photo quality. Music's too sleepy. Almost all the shots are from the same medium range and it doesn't do anything to differentiate The Cunningham from Hailun, Feurich, Hoffman, Ritmuller etc.

As a straight how it's made video it's outclassed by many other videos not even not even taking into consideration the slick steinway movie.

BTW, are you telling us that Ningbo needed to be taught how to install a soundboard? That they've been doing it wrong all these years until you clever guys showed up to correct them?

sorry for the bluntness,

Kurt

Hi Rich,
I loved the production. Not too "in the weeds" but not excessively "dumbed down" either. Length was just right too. Excellent job! Can I ask if that is actually a Cunningham being played for the background music? If so, what size?

Hi Rich,

Very well done! I'll tell you what it made me want to do....If I were in the market for a grand, I would have gone to your shop to hear one live. Btw, if that is one of your pianos in the recording, then that is another positive in this well-made video! I wish you the best with the sales!

Hi Rich,

I liked it very much.

I assume this is for use on the store website. Just the fact that it is available to the potential customer is a great benefit, and it really points out that Cunningham is different from all of the others. We might incorrectly use the term "store stencil," but a buyer would not know that terminology and this illustrates that there is the "extra" that sets it apart from the pack, that it is not a stencil. That should help alleviate the continuing problem, which Steinway has, with many believing that the Boston is nothing more than a Kawai stencil.

As others have pointed out, I am wondering if the background music is on a Cunningham. It would be so easy to add a "Performed On" credit at the very end when the pianist and music are credited.

The other thing I wondered about is the identity of very final portrait of the man sitting at the piano. Important info in this instance. My same comment would apply to the exterior photo of the group standing with the new plate. If they are important enough to feature them, we need to know who they are.

Great Job!

The video reminded me of this:

Since you asked; if I were a salesman of your brand, I would not show the film. I would let them think how it was built and not show how it was. Even Samick makes a better quality demo in their factory tour than yours does.

I enjoyed it. It would be nice to know what is the piece of music that is played.

Suggestion: When the words appear, sometimes they come in from left and right and merge, sometimes in some other fashion, and on and on.

However, that approach is very dated (1985 computer "coolness",) and disconcerting today. I would just have the word cards appear in one way, straight on, in a continuous style throughout.

And yes to the name/importance of the guy sitting at the end.

Better than some, but I thought some photos didn't show what was meant to be portrayed.

For instance "the bass strings are made ... one at a time" - the photo doesn't seem to portray anything in particular. And the final shot of a customer sitting, leaning on a piano looking bored - took away any excitement that may have built up.

I thought the music was OK - it had a range of the piano covered, but didn't demonstrate the dynamic range - I would have thought something brighter and livelier would suit better.

I watched it twice. IMHO it came up short on several counts. First, the still pictures often did not seem to be particularly enlightening or directly related to the attached script. Second, the shots were, in fact, all stills. It would be nice to see the inner rim being actually made (and the outer rim, too). Third, the pictures of the people were not informative and did not augment the text.

The background music was pleasant and relaxing but did not add anything. The sound of a host explaining the pictures (or movies) over the background music would be preferable to me.

In general, it lacked substance, detail, coherence and dynamism.

Therefore, at the risk of being presumptuous, (1) add movement to the pictures (movies rather than stills), (2) replace the pictures of people with something more related to the text and to the construction of a piano, (3) add more detail to each step, (4) review more of the steps in making a piano and (5) add something that might suggest that there is a reason to buy a Cunningham rather than a Ritmueller or Hailun.

When I visited your store and played a small Cunningham grand I was taken by the appearance, the touch and the sound (and the host). Figure out a way to work that in.

Give it another shot.

Dave Koenig

The music, and the pianist, are credited at the very end of the video. If you stop it too soon, you won't see them.

I watched the video. I have two questions:

1. Who is the target audience?
2. What is response you want to generate in the target audience?

Without knowing the background, I would call it a documentary that does not generate the emotional response you may want to generate in a prospective buyer. However, if it is for the purpose of educating and convincing distributors, perhaps it hits the right notes.

Is the music from Cinq Morceaux Op.10(the only listing I could find for Cing Morceaux)? I don't see any music from that set of pieces that matches what's being played on the video.

Rich-If I recall correctly you once gave a post with a list of some of the specific changes you made to Hailun when the Cunninghan was designed. Perhaps those should be included.

Thank you for all of the feedback. It is all valuable to me and lots of good points that improve future projects like this one.

A few things - the man at the piano at the end of the clip is Andre Watts. I didn't think he would need explanation, but if piano lovers don't recognize him, maybe I should add explanation.



PL,

Yes, it is the fourth mvmt. of Cinq Morceaux, Op.10, as played by Marc Andre Hamelin. I called him and got his permission to use the clip that I had. You might remember what Marc said about the New Cunningham Piano - "This is clearly a very good piano for the money."

Rich,

You lead a charmed life here. You know the old trick of the occasional private seller/newly-minted member who starts a thread asking for advice on how to go about selling the cherished family herloom and is looking for feedback on how to price it? Usually the opening post comes with pictures and a statement about just how excellent the beloved old turkey is. Of course the last thing the guy is looking for is market exposure....just like you.

You've got plover eating out of your hand here....the same plover who slams a Yamaha guy in Chicago for a naivie salute to Yamaha on its birthday. I guess he must be finished with his tally of how his side is ahead. So what else is new? The term 'double standard' almost seems inadequate to what passes for selfless promotion around here. I guess there's good reason why plovers often live in marshes pecking here and there in the mud till they come up with something or other to eat.

My advice? Just keep feeding that stuff about Watts and Hamelin saying the Cunningham is clearly a very good piano for the money. Members here are too slow on the draw to note the point at which selling replaces sharing. Oh, and if by chance you overlooked it in the video, you should slip in a mention of the house piano you placed in Sung's studio over at Curtis. If you don't have q promo clip, you can use some footage of the junket to NAMM the two of you made. Of course he was only there to get feedback...just like you.

As for the video, I didn't watch it. Other vendors here pay for their ads and I very rarely click on theirs. Can't see a reason to click on something that pretends to be what it isn't.

I thought the video was a good "intro" piece of work to peak interest in the piano. I know that quality production videos are a lot of work, or expensive if you hire someone. Steinway is the master at quality videos and marketing, so you can emulate them without spending the big bucks they would spend. They've already done the research, so you can copy their techniques. I would use a "better" photo of Watts, a closeup, and better photography in the individual shots, which I showed you when we met a couple weeks ago. The title generation was fine and the length was just right. I would have picked a different piece of music, possibly some Chopin, or Glinka's La Separation, would be nice, as an example.

It would be great to see and hear one played at the end of the video with a regular video of an actual playing.

Top quality photography that you can do yourself would pay, especially if you're making more than one of these, and it would pay to buy some better lighting equipment and camera/video bodies.

You're on the right track, but put in some more "eye candy" to make it appealing along with some actual playing soundtracks.

Neil
Yamaha C5

The glaring oversight for me is the fact that it doesn't mention Hailun. I think rather than conceal this fact it would be better to declare it proudly and describe what makes a Cunningham Hailun different from an ordinary Hailun. The video appears to deliberately mislead the viewer into thinking there is a dedicated Cunningham factory. Buyers are quick onto these things so I think it's a smarter move to get the jump on this and disclose everything about where the piano is built - including country, city and factory and then go on to describe the standards and details you insist on to make it a Cunningham piano.

Oh no - this is NOT our goal ando. Thank you for pointing that out. We are very clear about the provenance of the Cunningham on our website and in all of the articles that have been written on the project. Since this video (or an improved version based on input from PW) will go on our site, I simply didn't include that in this video, but it could be certainly added.

Thank you ando and again to all for the feedback.