2022 our 25th year online!

Welcome to the Piano World Piano Forums
Over 3 million posts about pianos, digital pianos, and all types of keyboard instruments.
Over 100,000 members from around the world.
Join the World's Largest Community of Piano Lovers (it's free)
It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

SEARCH
Piano Forums & Piano World
(ad)
Who's Online Now
27 members (clothearednincompo, crab89, JohnCW, Georg Z., David B, Fried Chicken, AlkansBookcase, 7 invisible), 1,169 guests, and 295 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Hop To
Page 1 of 2 1 2
#2581652 10/25/16 05:24 PM
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 231
M
Full Member
OP Offline
Full Member
M
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 231
I am saddened to report that Grandpianoman passed away on 10/18/2016 after a courageous fight with cancer. He was only 66. I never had the opportunity to meet him in person, but we enjoyed many years of correspondence and phone conversations discussing our mutual interest in player pianos, reproducing rolls, etc. He was not only a world-class performer in his professional life but also a generous and gracious piano enthusiast, as many of you know from his prolific posting history here on PW. He will be missed.

Joined: May 2001
Posts: 6,574
Piano World Founder - Piano Tuner - Pianist
6000 Post Club Member
Offline
Piano World Founder - Piano Tuner - Pianist
6000 Post Club Member
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 6,574
I'm sorry to hear this Mark, but thank you for posting it for us.
I'm always saddened when we lose a member.

I do remember reading some of his posts.
66 is way to young, says the guy who turns 65 next month.

My condolences to his family and friends.


Frank B.
Piano World

Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 4,831
P
4000 Post Club Member
Offline
4000 Post Club Member
P
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 4,831
I will miss Grandpianoman. I always enjoyed his enthusiasm for his instruments, the temperaments he chose, and his posting of so many wonderful historical performances of great music.

Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 307
H
Full Member
Offline
Full Member
H
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 307
Sad news indeed.


"Respond intelligently, even to unintelligent treatment."
-Lao Tzu
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 9,793

Platinum Supporter until December 31, 2022
9000 Post Club Member
Online Content

Platinum Supporter until December 31, 2022
9000 Post Club Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 9,793
Very sad news. RIP, Grandpianoman.


Search US techs by Zip Code
“If it sounds good, it IS good.” ― Duke Ellington!

Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,685
G
2000 Post Club Member
Offline
2000 Post Club Member
G
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,685
Thx for the update Mark, he will be missed.


x-rpt
retired ptg member
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,758
2000 Post Club Member
Offline
2000 Post Club Member
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,758
Sad to read this. He will be missed.

Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 6,714
E
6000 Post Club Member
Offline
6000 Post Club Member
E
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 6,714
He was appreciated. He will be missed.
And he was a "Player" piano enthusiast!


In a seemingly infinite universe-infinite human creativity is-seemingly possible.
According to NASA, 93% of the earth like planets possible in the known universe have yet to be formed.
Contact: toneman1@me.com
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 215
H
Full Member
Offline
Full Member
H
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 215
Very sad to hear this. Grandpianoman inspired me to start tuning my own grand. All the condolences to his family.

Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 270
Full Member
Offline
Full Member
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 270
Very sad to hear that Mark.

I very much enjoyed reading and listening to Grandpianoman's posts and recordings on his dual Ampico and original Live Performance LX equipped M&H BB. I found much of the postings he was involved in very educational, and PianoWorld has lost a true enthusiast and gentleman.


Jason Solomonides
Mason & Hamlin 7' BB 93623
Yamaha 6'1" C3 (w/WNG) D3010008
My Piano Recordings:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkP65I5BsNipAaT6BbTL-A7ibPdOv0DEZ
Mason & Hamlin Artist
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,764
1000 Post Club Member
Offline
1000 Post Club Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,764
How very sad. I'll miss him, too.


Joe Gumbosky
Piano Tuning & Repair
www.morethanpianos.com
(semi-retired)

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -Marcus Aurelius
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 158
K
Full Member
Offline
Full Member
K
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 158
Really sad news. The work and the passion he put on the piano preparation and recordings are a statement of his love for music. He showed to many of us the potential for a great tone that a M&H BB has.

Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 2,082

Silver Supporter until December 19, 2014
2000 Post Club Member
Offline

Silver Supporter until December 19, 2014
2000 Post Club Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 2,082
Our condolences to the family.


Bob W.
Piano Technician (Retired since 2006)
Conway, Arkansas
www.pianotechno.blogspot.com
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 3,269
3000 Post Club Member
Offline
3000 Post Club Member
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 3,269
This is sad news. I enjoyed his contributions and the many recordings he shared here.

Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 717
P
500 Post Club Member
Offline
500 Post Club Member
P
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 717
I was shocked to read this sad news last night. I've greatly enjoyed Grandpianoman's postings, particularly his recordings, during my time on PW. I was really looking forward to hear how is Steinway A player piano restoration was going to turn out. Very very sad news indeed.

Paul.

Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 183
D
Full Member
Offline
Full Member
D
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 183
I wonder if someone can provide a link to his obituary.


David Bauguess
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 1,651
1000 Post Club Member
Offline
1000 Post Club Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 1,651
I did not know him personally but he was still part of my life which is now more vacant than before. I'm shocked by the news and will miss him greatly.


Do or do not. There is no try.
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,028
B
4000 Post Club Member
Offline
4000 Post Club Member
B
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,028
This is indeed, very sad news! I had wondered why I had not heard from him in a while. He had invited me out to his home twice to tune the Mason & Hamlin RBB. I made a tuning file for him so he could reproduce the tuning at will. Patrick Wingren (ppppat) of Finland was along on the second trip and made some recordings.

GP had always kept his identity secret on here because he did not want Google picking up on snarky comments and mixing them up with his professional career. I wonder now if it would be proper to reveal who he was? If so, there are You Tube videos of him performing. They are amazing! I took a trip to San Francisco once just to see him perform.

I can say this: he didn't have much of a family left. I believe both of his parents were deceased long ago and his wife died of cancer several years ago. I believe he is only survived by a daughter. Whether she is married and there may be any grandchildren, I do not know.

While GP was a professional musician and did well in his career, he had never actually learned to play the piano but loved the instrument. That lead him to acquire the Mason & Hamlin RBB which he had fully restored. One of the bedrooms in his house was actually a library of piano rolls, stacked from floor to ceiling in many book cases.

He also had a parallel RX system installed that reproduced artists flawlessly. There was never any mechanical noise from the system. Even I, as a piano technician, forget that recordings made are not from a live pianist, they are so realistic. No clunky, jerky, player piano sound to them.

He also had one of those machines, I forget the name of them, that plays a large, metal round disc with holes in it. A giant music box, as it were. I think those may have actually preceded the player piano roll as the first digital technology. It was beautifully restored and he had many discs to play on it as well.

GP enjoyed having friends and neighbors over for dinner parties and to listen to music played on his piano. While he was also a good cook, he often had his next door neighbor do the cooking for such events so that he could be a good host.

GP joined this group essentially because whenever he wanted to play his piano, he wanted it freshly tuned. It was not that he couldn't afford to have a technician tune it whenever he wanted. It would have been that such a technician would have to actually live there and tune nearly every day that GP was home from one of his tours. So, GP wanted to learn to tune for himself and he did an exceptionally fine job of that. His unisons were the most perfect I have ever heard.

GP was also a testimony to the fact that non-equal temperaments can work on the modern piano for virtually all kinds of music. He had a very fine ear. He had to, in order to be able to do his work. He had become intrigued with all of the discussion there was about non-equal temperaments and invited me to his home to try them out. If there were ever anyone who might say, "That does not sound right", it would have been him. Instead, he embraced the sound and wanted it more often than not. He certainly knew what a key signature was and the value of it.

Here is a link to my Boxnet account (safe to click, no danger of malware or viruses) of Debussy's "Claire de Lune" played on his Mason & Hamlin RBB in a non-equal temperament. It was actually the first piece he tried. Written in 5 flats, it shouldn't actually work if all conjecture were really true but as GP discovered, it did work and it actually enhanced the sound.
It was actually GP who told me that Boxnet was a great place to store and to share files.

https://app.box.com/s/q7vosp2amts8b83kuy8t


Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison WI USA
www.billbremmer.com
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 1,651
1000 Post Club Member
Offline
1000 Post Club Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 1,651
Please Bill,

I would like to know who he was. Can you tell me in private? If that makes you uncomfortable than I understand and forget It.


Do or do not. There is no try.
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,028
B
4000 Post Club Member
Offline
4000 Post Club Member
B
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,028
There is something fishy about this. There are absolutely no obituaries or any other reports of his death. I asked the OP in a private message how he found out but got no response. I just called his phone. It rang several times but voice mail answered. I didn't leave a message but who dies and leaves his cell phone on for more than a week?


Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison WI USA
www.billbremmer.com
Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  Piano World, platuser 

Link Copied to Clipboard
What's Hot!!
Piano World Has Been Sold!
--------------------
Forums RULES, Terms of Service & HELP
(updated 06/06/2022)
---------------------
Posting Pictures on the Forums
(ad)
(ad)
New Topics - Multiple Forums
How Much to Sell For?
by TexasMom1 - 04/15/24 10:23 PM
Song lyrics have become simpler and more repetitive
by FrankCox - 04/15/24 07:42 PM
New bass strings sound tubby
by Emery Wang - 04/15/24 06:54 PM
Pianodisc PDS-128+ calibration
by Dalem01 - 04/15/24 04:50 PM
Forum Statistics
Forums43
Topics223,384
Posts3,349,164
Members111,630
Most Online15,252
Mar 21st, 2010

Our Piano Related Classified Ads
| Dealers | Tuners | Lessons | Movers | Restorations |

Advertise on Piano World
| Piano World | PianoSupplies.com | Advertise on Piano World |
| |Contact | Privacy | Legal | About Us | Site Map


Copyright © VerticalScope Inc. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this site may be reproduced without prior written permission
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community.