Just wondering what people's practice spaces look like. I'll start off. I have a Bosendorfer 214CS, Dr. Beat as my metronome, foam padding inside the piano to lessen then volume, 2 broken strings, and a horribly out of tune G in the top octave

Heres mine... I went digital with the little netbook ($180), page turning pedals ($40), lcd panel ($160), and pen pad for writing fingerings and circling stuff ($50). Don't use those books at all anymore!

If I need a metronome my iPhone has a free metronome app that looks just like the old timey ones!

Wow, Zooplibob, I like your digital setup. How thin is the LCD screen and how big is it? What make?

Thanks jazzyprof. Price has dropped to $129 now:
http://www.frys.com/product/5690631#detailed

Its AOC 22" monitor. The thickness is 1.5" except in the middle where it sticks out to 2.5" inches. It fits perfectly snug against the lip of the music stand! 22" is the minimum size if you want to display two 8.5"x11" sheets side by side.

haha that's badass -- I always thought how would one put together an entire digital setup but I need my physical pages and to make annotations.

Super cool Zoop!

Yup, right now big touch screen LCDs are too expensive... but who knows after the iPad they may all get really cheap!

No picture but here's description. My Mason BB is in my 12' by 18' living room. The only other thing in the room is a coffee table, although I could fit a little more. I don't open the blinds because of the southern sun exposure, but if I did there would be a panoramic view in three directions of Manhattan from the 29th floor. After living there for 37 years(34 before my BB)the view means very little to me.

Sounds amazing pianoloverus. Sure you cant open the blinds and take a few pics for us to see?

Fuzzy8balls, why the mirror?

Sorry, I have no camera, cellphone or otherwise. Plus I don't even know how to post a picture. Just a lot of buildings, a big green thing(Central Park), and some water(Hudson River and Central Park reservoir).

When my new piano is delivered, I shall take a picture of my practice area. Although I daresay it won't be nearly as impressive as your setup Zooplibob. What piano is that?

Here's my beautiful boy. I waited 45 years for him! The room is unusually neat, (meaning it's only slightly messy).

That must really stink. (sarcasm/off).

Buy a camera. We want to see.

i actually very much enjoy the natural forces of entropy taking place around the piano. Usually means I'm too focused on practicing, resulting in being too tired to clean things up.

Oh my, i miss the city. Though I was in the Soho area but nonetheless. Sounds like you're located in the Upper West Side.

Messy? We would eat off of the floor in that room!

Hah. Usually the floor is covered with music and the sides of the music desk are stacked high with scores, and one of the dogs has attacked the plant and left shreds of it all over the floor.I just happened to clean it up a few days ago. Also, you can't see the dust in the picture!

Wow, such beautiful pianos. I'm so jealous. I'm not going to post mine because it looks too pitiful compared to these.

gooddog, you think you're messy?? Check out my teacher's studio, where I practice most of the time:


[img]http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/ind...&albumID=147274&imageID=24307271[/img]

[img:left]http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/ind...&albumID=147274&imageID=24307272[/img]

Thankfully it looks a LITTLE better now. The only thing that's better, actually, is all the stuff on top of the grands - they're all gone now. The rest is the same!

Your teacher actually puts coffee cups on the piano?

Woops, that was me. Bad habit, I know..

No coffee here, but as for the mess... I am too embarrassed to even show a photo...

nothing like spilling coffee on a Steinway to start off the day~

Kind of like how my friend vomited in my car. haha

My Estonia190






Regards,

This room was built so we could finally have a real piano.

It's not as big as it looks: the wide-angle lens makes it look that way (it's above a 1.5-car garage). Can't say it always looks this neat, either. These were taken right after the piano was delivered. I've also been known to put a coffee cup on the piano...

Larry B :

Stunning room for a stunning piano! What vintage is your "B"?

Regards,

Wow, I've really enjoyed looking at these pictures. Bring on more! To save face, I think I'll pass on posting pics of my Yamaha upright, which has acted as a perch for many drinks -alcoholic/non-alcoholic- over the years. It's a great practise instrument, though...

I used to have two pianos in there. The room was rather crowded at that point.

The ceiling is 17' at the peak and all wood. The room definitely has a very lively sound quality.

Here's the room before I sold the Kawai:

I agree! Kinda voyeuristic, isn't it... You don't need to post a picture now - I can visualise it perfectly!

Bruce, what size is the rug you have underneath your piano? I'm thinking of putting a small oriental style rug there to replace the small rug I have.

Deborah :

It's 4 ft. by 6 ft. It fits perfectly under the piano.

I need to replace one of my pictures with one with the lid on full stick. I'll do that later today.

Edit : replaced both my pics on page 1 of this thread.

Bruce

Here's mine. It's nowhere near the hi-falutin' piano some of you folks have, but I'm an adult beginner, it's my first "real" piano, and I LOVE it.

I've been reading Russ Roberts' thread about naming his piano ("Welcoming Clara" on the Piano Forum), and I'm thinking she needs a name. Any suggestions?

[img:left][/img]

Your living looks bigger than my entire two bedroom apartment? Do you know the dimensions of the room?

Bruce, is that where you teach?

LarryB, is that sofa as comfy as it looks?

Yes; the living room is 15-1/2 ft. by 28 ft. It took me two months and over 100 viewings to find a townhouse with a living room appropriately sized for my piano.

Regards,

-Frycek :

I don't teach; I'm just a struggling, happy-as-a-clam adult student, as are many here.

Regards,

We moved into a new house about 2 1/2 years ago. I designed it. The actual area that contains the piano is mostly carpeted, but the area under the bench is hardwood for ease of adjusting the bench. The room is about 13' x 23' x 18'. Additionally the house design is very open so the effective volume is much larger.

Tha piano is a 1905 Steinway "A", restored in 2008. It seems to be the perfect pariring of room and instrument. We can comfortably seat 30 for performances (We've sueezed in 50).

That's my wife practicing for a performance Sunday. Now I've got to go and practice as well - I'll be performing the Bach C minor P&F from WTC book 1.

Looks like the photo didn't appear. I'll work on it. Well, if you click on the link you'll see it.

Man oh man! Such beautiful pianos in such beautiful rooms!

I dont want to post mine! Pianos seem out of place in our home. The Baldwin is in the family/TV room. Its big, carpet on part of it, and the piano is on pergo. A 52'' plasma near the piano, brown leather couches with brown fabric cushions. It has partially vaulted ceilings.

Its the kind of room you would find a smart black kawai, or yamaha upright, not a 1922 baldwin!

The 1905 Story and clark is in the smaller living room/ front entry room. its a carpeted room. An old ugly (dont tell my mom) flower print couch, 2 blue wing back chairs. Rooms painted a very light blue. Its not as out of place as the baldwin it seems!

Wow, I don't think I'll ever be posting a pic of my practice space. My Technics digital is in my bedroom (in the closet). The edge of the bed is my bench. I need to win the lottery.

Ha. You should have seen when I had the casio WK8000 keyboard. It fit perfectly in the double door closet in my room, so I just stuck it in there. Clothes and stuff hanging over it, having to take stuff out to play it!

That's exactly how mine is except I leave most of my clothes hanging in a laundry room downstairs. It's not a pretty sight.

I'm not sure how to post a picture here. More to the point, I don't know how!



Forefront: Horugel 5' 10"
Middle: Estonia 9'
Furthest: Mason & Hamlin BB

We're a lot more utilitarian than quite a few of the photos but being organized trumps fashion for me--at least while we're active students.

Whats the quote one your wall?

I have this big sticker thing that I got for my birthday, that my grandma had custom made. It goes on a wall. Cant think of what it says! But its something music related....

And of course, thats a beautiful piano.

Hi Brandon W T.
It says :

"Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast, to soften rocks, or bend the knotted oak".

It's a quote by William Congreve.
I hoped it would rub off on my son ,but he's still very much like something straight out of "Where the Wild Things Are". Such is the life of an 8 year old.

Thanks about the piano.

IIRC from Larry's threads about replacing his older Baldwin, it's a 1999.

I'm usually good at this stuff, but I'm lost here. How do I post a picture of the mess that is our living room?

Take an electronic picture of your piano. Save it on your computer. Go here and fill in the information to upload the picture:

http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/fileuploader2.html

PW will send a link to your email. Copy the link. When you are typing a reply here in the forum, go to Full Reply Screen. Hit the insert picture icon and insert the link you received via email.

Here are Monica K's helpful instructions!

1.) First step, and this is critical, resize your photos to about 450-600 pixels. You accomplish this through photoshop or some other photo editing software. My father in law did this part of the process for me so I can't help you any more than that, but I do gather that it's very important to do the resizing BEFORE you upload the photos.

2.) Then go to the PianoWorld uploading site:

http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/fileuploader2.html

This is going to give you a screen where you enter your login name, e-mail address, and then you browse for the location of your photo on your computer which you then attach. There will also be a box that says "file information". I have no idea what they really want there, but I just made up a title like 'first picture of new piano." Then you click submit. That is going to bring you to a new screen that will ask you to search for your name among submitters. This is the most confusing part of the process, because that part of the web site is not working and you will not find your name there. Just ignore it, and instead go back to the main file uploader site and repeat the process for each of your remaining photos.

3.) Within a few minutes, you should receive an e-mail from PianoWorld giving you the URL for your newly uploaded photos. You'll get one e-mail per photo. You will need to copy and paste these URLs into your message.

4.) To do that, go back to the thread where you want to post your photo. Click on the "full reply" box. This will bring up all the options you need. Write whatever text you want, and when you're ready to include the photo, click on the little blue-shaded box below called "image" (under the column 'instant UBB code'). That will pull up a little box in your message where you can paste the URL for your first photo. And then just repeat as necessary. But it is CRUCIAL to click that little "image" box; otherwise, all that goes in is the URL itself, not the photo in all its glory.

I haven't posted a photo since the new board format, so I hope these instructions still work!

Snap, Deborah!

Hey, your instructions were much better than mine!

Can’t resist having a whack at affluent Yanks sporting their spotless Grands ("could eat off the floor!!") ... which can be a dead giveaway of a limited repertoire.

At my end, I’m at my Grotrian Steinweg throughout the day ... the nett result is not the tidiest of settings as seen below ... note the gadget at the ready for tweaking any note which might need grooming.



But the joy of the setting is the "Swiss-chalet-like " outlook over a garden filled with indigenous trees providing a paradise for 62 different species of birds.

But while, we’re all luxuriating on our wealthy pads ... give a thought to the other end of our SA lifestyle ... here’s a recent snapshot of how my dear domestic Betty lives (amongst 3 million blacks) in the Soshanguve Township (30 kms north of Pretoria) ...
[img:left]https://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/BettyatJoyce'sdoor.jpg[/img]

note the makeshift structure with corrugated iron roof ... with car tyre hold-down ... and impossible to occupy during the day (45 degrees C) ... a case of bare survival (as with the whole neighbourhood) by an out-of-work grandmother with 2 daughters and 2 granddaughters ... for what it’s worth I’m presently completing drawings to build a 6.5m x 4.8m room ... to reverse the stigma of hopelessness (however cheerful) and restore a sense of human dignity.

Any time one of you chaps wants to sell off one of your Grands to help pay for this project ... please visit us and see what your dollars do to uplift the human spirit.

WOW!!! All these pictures made my mouth water!:)
It's a very nice idea for a topic in this forum.

This is so great to have one's own place and a good instrument for practicing in good concentration, comfort and piece. Having a good grand piano in a comfortable piacefull practice room of your own, this what any conservatory student is seeing in his sweetest dreams! ..

I am planning to buy my first own grand piano these days, and I am very excited about it. I hope one day I will, too, have a private practice studio with a small graden outside:)

Good luck to everybody here!!

-Frycek, I really like your piano room. It looks very warm and and cozy, much as I imagined it.

The digital in my bedroom isn't much to look at, but sometimes when I sit down at it I'm transported to nicer places.

The picture was taken in January when I first bought it and got it set up. Though the only difference now is that there are 2 pedals connected to it instead of just 1, and there's usually a messy unorganized bunch of sheet music on the stand.

Here's my old piano, in the same room, just on the opposite wall from the new one:

I need to put an "Out of Order" sign on it, lol. Anyways, these pictures were taken at night with the lights on. I'll have to get new ones during the day with the curtains open sometime, I much prefer the natural light!

Edit:
Just saw your piano room btb, also looks quite cozy! I really like the big windows there and the way the sun shines in.

Everyone else's photos are very impressive as well, I just don't know if I'd be comfortable in most of those immaculate rooms, I'd feel a little out of place (like in a showroom or museum), though they really are beautiful and something to be proud of. I guess I'm just a fan of the homey atmosphere (not mine, -Frycek's! Mine currently is just the "bland" atmosphere, hehe).

Piano for music
























Silent Virgil Practice Clavier for practice

























Frycek, I like your room very much too. I'm sure I could do some good improvisation in that room.

Thank you. It's a combination of having an old fixer up of a house, ebay, a lifetime of small time antique dealing and collecting and having an old family that never threw anything away. That room was the original master bedroom and has five doors in it - The logic of that defies me too -and it was a nightmare to decorate. My "old piano," my square grand is at the opposite end of the room. For orientation, I was leaning against it when I took the picture of the Dolly, the baby grand, the "new" 1937 model Kurtzmann. They share a bench. The big cat, the maneki neko, was an ebay find and came from a defunct restaurant in San Francisco. The stage trunk is covered with horsehide and dates from about 1830. It weighs a ton.

Seems like I forgot a critical backslash and now I don't know how to edit the original post.

Chez Varcon:

Thanks, Frycek, but now it's there three times! I finally got it right but I appreciate your help. Now to remove superfluous ones.

Well, now we got it up. In spades.

Yep==-Thanks!

OK, so at last here's my photo, Thanks to currawong for passing along Monika's instructions, which I couldn't find. See my previous post for details.

Incidentally, the photo on the fireplace mantle was from our 50th wedding anniversary party. The piano was our gift to one-another for the occasion.

Can I share too? That's my Yamaha UX1. We took this photo to show off the floorcloth that my wife painted for me for our 30th wedding anniversary. She also painted the little spinet harpsichord. We move the chairs around when we play ensembles. I store music (some of it, anyway) in the huntboard (it's a former dining room).

Sam

Charming, Sam. Especially your wife's painting. Isn't it amazing how many rooms become a former something when a piano mores in?

This thread is just fun and a half. As btb points out, there are some affluent -but classy, I must add- Yanks here. Love the pictures.

And now that the uprights are starting to make their appearance, I will be uploading a pic of mine. Can't get around to it till tomorrow, so keep the thread active!

omg Varcon, do you play all three grands? Do you have a favorite? How big is the room?

OK - here's where I spend about 30 hours a week these days.



As you can see, I need to work out a better solution than stacking all the things on which I'm working on an otherwise unused piano bench.

The thing on the wall that looks like it's covered with aluminum foil is an air return for the HVAC system. It's actually covered with a sound dampening material so that there are no buzzes or other resonances. Functional but not very elegant.

The black rectangular shape under the piano is the Damp Chaser humidification piece.

I store about 3/4 of my sheet music in hanging folders in the lateral file you see on the left.

Not pictured, at the other end of the room is my digital recording gear - fast pc, Presonus Firepod, some monitors.

The room was a one car garage, then became the sales office in what was one of the "model" homes for the development (that's estate to some folks), and eventually, my studio. Instead of the usual 8' ceiling, they left it open to the rafters, so it has what we call a "cathedral" ceiling. In any case, the acoustics are good, and I've made recordings here with opera singers at full blast successfully.

When everything is in proper working order, the Weber sounds a heck of a lot like a Bechstein of similar size (208 cm).

All in all, it is a very pleasant space in which to work, particularly on a day like the one in this picture. The view out the window is to the rear of our property, about 150' to the fence line, and there's always something interesting on which to focus when I look away from the sheet music or the keyboard.

So, which is your favorite?

Thanks for the instructions. Let's try this:



As I posted previously, the room gets a lot of use!!

Jazzyprof! The room is about 22 by 20--sort of square--converted the garage to house the pianos. The M&H is the favorite but I practise on both the M&H and the Estonia. Rarely I play the Horugel but use it mainly for teaching so the students play it.
It's separated from the rest of the house so wouldn't bother others with practising. However, I live alone with Gabby, my Olde English Bulldogge, so not a problem.
Horowitzian: The M&H is my favorite! But I did move the Estonia out (very nice piano) for the program when I decided to play in public one more time. Seems to have all of the touted pluses--Roslau strings, Renner action and hammers, etc., and has the 'European' sound. It's really quite nice.

Well, all I can say is it looks nice! Speaks volumes about how good a 7' grand can be, that it is your favorite over the Estonia.

Thank you, H....! I had a time with the real estate agent who did not seem to understand that I wanted them side by side as you see them. In Beaufort I had a 23'X27' room with a tray(?) ceiling and virtually nothing else but a table and a sofa. Nice for recitals! Eventually a friend here in Mount Vernon told me of this house and it seemed to be good--4 1/2 acres and both houses on either side some distance away. So, as you can see, it is a working studio--not a showplace. No drapes/curtains intentionally and again only the piano benches and the sofa. Not as large and convenient as the room I had built in Beaufort, but it works!
The action of the M&H is a bit 'stiffer' than the action of the Estonia so technical work on the M&H develops the hands. Each piano has characteristics that make it desirable to play. The Horugel was a gift and not nearly equal to the other two but a very good teaching/studio instrument and, in its own way, a nice piano--new hammers too!

It sounds like a lovely property!

Thank you for sharing! I'm sure all three pianos are excellent. Do forgive my ignorance, but what is a Horugel? Is it a European stencil? Or something else? I really don't know.

Great to see other's digs.

I get to practice/play on mine and hers...Mine is an unmolested 1917 O, hers is the Blüthner 4 - very different animals, that is for sure.

Here's an accompanying audio clip from last night's warm-up on the O, mistakes and all! It is a joy to play and hear.

Op 43 No 1

Glen

This is one of the most interesting threads I've seen here. Thanks everyone for posting.

My piano won't be established for another couple months; I doubt the thread will run that long.


-Jason

H. . . .:

The Horugel was originally a German brand and highly respected. A friend bought this one (made in Korea from the design of the German original)and took lessons for a while. If you've read Ogden Nash's poem, 'The Seven Spiritual Ages of Mrs. Marmaduke Moore,'then my friend, in her choices of hobbies might come somewhat close to that description as she moved from singing, to pottery, to crocheting, to writing, etc., and her husband indulged all of her whims. Anyway, she called me one day to offer me the piano. All I had to pay was moving it! $68 was what it cost me to move it. I had a little work--regulation/tuning done, and that was it!
Beautiful piece of furniture and a nice basic piano. Lucky me!

Ralph

Thanks for the info! Sounds like a heck of a deal, for $68 plus some service. The wood grain is lovely.

I love the seat right in front of the window!

Yes--visitors are taken with the rosewood finish. It is a beautiful piece of furniture and a decent piano--with the new hammers the tone is very nice (Ronsen Wurzen)and Jerry regulated the action and it is a nice playing instrument. The bass is a bit 'thuddy' for me so I prefer the depth of the M&H and the Estonia. Some ask me what the difference is and so I play the M&H and then the Estonia and then the Horugel--same thing of course. Then they hear the difference--same person, same piece, three different instruments. I had two doctors--dentist and psychiatrist--who after hearing my M&H decided to get one tho one had a Steinway (psychiatrist) and the other went to various cities checking out brands and in Chicago he played a Steinway and M&H side by side. He chose the M&H. Anyway, the Horugel is a nice piano but not quite up to M&H or Estonia.

Ralph

Oh wow, I didn't know this thread would balloon to 8+ pages by now. I was busy at rehearsal with the orchestra yesterday and I didn't check this forum at all and much to my delight so many people posted wonderful pictures of their practice spaces (BruceD, yours is gorgeous).

Surprised, no one else has a Bosendorfer?

(BTW thanks for the votes, I won the online portion, concerts are tonight, Sat, & Mon) www.sdco.org

This is practice room, Bedroom, etc...
It's basement apartment notice the low ceiling heights. Everything I need fits including the piano. This is my first real piano I bought two months ago. Pryor to this purchase, I suffered with digital keyboard for 7 years. The mover speculates its from the 1940's still, its tone is great and is in great shape for its age. It might be an old rebuilt not sure though. Cost me only 350 dollars and 375 to move it. Was in a baptist church all these years. The churchs music staff finally caved in to cultural trends and went digital piano in its stead. For me? I'm going the other way. If I ever pastor a church someday, while its ok to have a digital keyboard, I'll see to it that a real piano remains in the sanctuary too.

Depending on how you edit your preferences (under "My Stuff" go to "Edit Preferences"), this thread needn't be 8 pages long; on my computer, I'm on page three of this thread now.

I'm not surprised that there aren't other Bösendorfer users here; most of us don't have the kind of money that buying a Bösendorfer usually demands. However, I'm somewhat distressed to read that yours is out of tune and has broken strings. A piano like that really deserves to be kept in the best possible shape, don't you think?

Regards,

I have a Boesendorfer!



A Boesendorfer MUG, of course.

In seriousness, I took a picture of my practice area, too. My Hardman is in the front and the Rieger-Kloss can be seen in the back left. Unfortunately I don't have a proper camera so I took this using my laptop. It's a little staged, since I usually don't have the music desk on the piano, and I usually have a dust cover over the strings, often even when I play. I have the original bench but it's out of the picture since I've been having breakfast on it. Instead of using it I tend to carry a second bench that I have, from piano to piano.

The light is coming from a sliding glass patio door out of the picture. Unfortunately, my kitchen is just out of the picture to the left, so there is some chance of grease getting onto the bass strings over time.

BruceD, I practice on my piano 3 hours every day after work.

I break, on average, 1 string every 1.5 months and I'm seriously considering getting my piano tuned EVERY MONTH. The new replacement strings go out of tune in 1 week. Before I had it tuned every 3 months and my tuner's coming next Tuesday. Another $150/mo expense I gotta add to the books =\.

I seen some Steinways and they're comparable in cost.

pianogal37: I have a mirror to watch my hands so they don't do funny/awkward motions -- the hands must look beautiful and graceful like the music its playing

I, too, have a mirror next to the piano to check position/movements as the view from above isn't quite the same.

I have a mirror next to the piano because I'm very vain.

I find it concerning that your strings are breaking so often. How old are they? I think you should consider having your piano inspected and completely restrung. Are you using a tuner or a piano technician? You should go with the latter. New strings will stretch for quite a while so why not get it over with all at once?

Ah, so that explains it!



No mirrors in my music room. There are already enough reflective surfaces in there.

Yeah, strings shouldn't be breaking that often, even under heavy use. You should hire a competent tech to look things over.

I practice approximately 2-1/2 hours per day, and I've yet to break a string on any piano I've ever played. I have my piano tuned every three months, approximately. Why are your strings breaking with such regularity? Almost any decent piano in reasonably good condition should not have strings breaking regularly unless they are very old strings.

Regards,

I've never personally broken a piano string either (I have broken guitar strings).

No broken strings here either and mine are 70 years old.

One of my proudest moments as a performing musician was breaking a piano string.

What actually happens when you break a string during a performance? Do you just keep going or what? How does the audience react?

That's interesting. I have a very well respected piano technician tune my piano and fixed the broken strings several times. I think I broke several strings all within the same octave (higher register) and the high G string I broke twice.

I bought my Bosendorfer 214CS brand new in 2005.

I don't play harshly or bang on the keys as hard as I can -- I just work passages over and over again and sometimes I need to play them forte to fortissimo.

Maybe it's the humidity or weather in San Diego =\.

It was one of the very low strings, and the sound it made when it broke was surprising and odd, but I simply substituted the octave higher for that note in any other subsequent appearance.

But I wasn't performing a solo classical recital! I was part of an ensemble performing some rowdy stuff, and it was no drama to make the substitutions as required.

But I was very impressed with my efforts (aided by an OLD and not-well-maintained instrument, truth be told).

I've never broken a string. And considering how much playing I've done over the years on old clunkers, it's probably surprising. But I certainly don't want to break one on my piano!

I was breaking strings (and hammer shanks, as well) on an old piano I had. I bought a new piano and thought the problem would be resolved. Wrong. Turns out it was me, not the piano.

Since then I've learned that there is a particular sort of energy or force that will do it. I don't really know how to describe it, other than I can feel it when I am getting close to it, and have learned to back off. And no more broken strings (knock on wood). It's too bad in a way, because I rather liked that feeling.

"Since then I've learned that there is a particular sort of energy or force that will do it."

You make it sound like you are doing telekinesis or something :-) Please can you describe what you are doing, you're sure it's not just banging too hard ;-)

Well, I'm pretty sure it's not "banging too hard" because it doesn't sound like banging. But it does have to do with playing very loudly with a lot of focus. And yeah, it does feel a bit weird, although I don't imagine it has anything to do with anything paranormal. Maybe it is like one of those odd martial arts skills, like breaking a stack of bricks with your bare hands. Really, all I know is how it feels, and I am sort of at a loss to describe it. Subjectively, it really does feel like putting a certain kind of "extra" energy into the finger that strikes the key that drives the hammer that breaks the string. I wish I could be more specific, but I don't have the words...

Thanks for elaborating. Nice recovery.

There's an anecdote about Chopin told by one of his pupils - the young man broke a string on Chopin's piano during a lesson and was falling all over himself to apologize, and Chopin reassured him that, "If I had your strenght I'd probably have broken every string on that piano by now in playing that piece." (Wish we knew what piece.)

I've never broken a string playing. I believe WR is right as one of my teachers would say sometimes to a student,'If you play like that you will break a string!' It was usually a harsh, abrasive tone and in learning the Rachmaninoff C# Minor Prelude she had me stand up to play it to achieve a better tone quality--it worked! I could get big sound without harshness. Mme. de Horvath told me that people marveled that Gabrilowitsch could get huge fortissimos without pounding and harshness which is characteristic of so many now. One of her objectives with us was to acquire a sonorous tonal quality but without the percussiveness so prevalent. I think that is probably why strings break.

I don't think breaking strings has everything to do with playing too harsh (maybe the odd chance) - sometimes it's honestly just the piano. I've broken strings when I was playing a slow movement of Beethoven on a piece of ... yeah. Or sometimes strings break if you don't change them too often, especially if you have to play big loud rep on it.

I never broke a string but I broke two benches. Actually, I'm only about 5% overweight, but the benches were very wobbly to begin with. It's a strange feeling to have a bench collapse while playing.

I've broken hammers.. That was really weird! Strings I get. But hammers??

What make was the second piano in your music room? When are we going to hear a new recording from your talented son?

I've never broken a string, and I've been described as a "big" player.

I did see a guy break the pedal on a Steinway grand during a performance once. I think he was playing the last movement of the Prokofiev 7th Sonata, and got carried away, slamming his foot up and down. Well, the wooden rod that connects the pedal to the piano took all that it could, and then just broke. The owners of the facility were not amused.

So what happened? Did he stop playing or did he finish?

He finished, but it was kind of chaotic. This was at a student recital a summer music school. The guy was one of the most advanced college students, and some of us youngsters were secretly pretty amused about the whole thing.

I've broken both and some hammers as well. But since going digital, the problem disappeared.

Here's my practice space-

Very nice. Your M&H is very striking. I have played some wonderful old Mason & Hamlin grands over the years. They have good "bones" and seem to restore beautifully.

Shall we start a new thread about things we've broken while playing?
I blew through a bench once, in a dress, during a performance rehearsal with a group of junior high kids. (thankfully just a dress rehearsal)
The legs of the bench collapsed and I fell backwards, legs in the air, dress flying around. Kids and music directors who were present were LOLOLOLOL.

While I've never broken the legs on a bench, I once absent-mindedly sat down on the inside of an old wooden bench while it was open (was feeling a little sleepy and had forgotten to close it before I sat back down). It had a really thin inside board made out of some kind of cheap material (which is perfectly fine as long as no one sits inside of it!) and the bottom fell out of it and sheet music spilled all over the floor and I had to nail it back in. Needless to say I was a little embarrassed at myself, but thankfully no one else was around to witness it.

I've broken 2 hammers on the junk piano that I was playing on before. Nothing on this one yet, knock on wood. Gorden, I also think it's unusual that your strings break so frequently. Even conservatory pianos that go under hours of use everyday don't do that. Even my violin strings didn't break that often, and those are more breakable because of the frequent tunings and direct finger contact. Get a really good technician to check your piano out.


He couldn't have been that advanced if he didn't know how to pedal properly. Good pianists don't make a sound when they pedal. I've never seen that sort of slapping the pedal before.

He was basically stomping.

He was a phenomenal musician, but our teacher was a kind of Svengali who wanted everyone to show a lot of emotion when they played. I'm not certain he was a great influence on this guy. But you should have heard him play the Liszt 6th HR. I had never before heard octaves like that, and I'm not certain I have since then. And this was 43 years ago.

I'm pretty certain the student is now a professor of piano at a college in the Midwest. I'll obviously leave his name out of this.

Then I guess you've not heard Rudolf Serkin play Beethoven!

Regards,

Re BruceD: I asked my teacher one time which pianists she would recommend I hear as she would advise me NOT to go hear some describing them as mediocre or very poor examples and thought I would pick up bad habits. So she gave me some names--Hess, Bachaus, Moseiswitsch,Gilels, Richter, among others and then I mentioned that she had not named Rubinstein, Serkin, and Horowitz. That made me wonder why so I asked about them and she said that Rubinstein, when he played well was incomparable but that he played badly so often; of Serkin she said he was percussive, pounded, stomped the pedal and had a most disagreeable tone; of Horowitz she just said he was an exception.

Later I went to a Serkin recital and he did everything she said he would do including the stomping of the pedal. Richard Goode was engaged for a program and I was to turn pages for him. I left him at my house to practice thinking nothing of it as he was to play the next evening and the Emerson Quartet was performing that evening. I rehearsed the Perle piece with him noting nothing unusual. That evening I was surprised when he was playing as he was vigorously stomping the pedal. One of his teachers? SERKIN! Um . . ..I checked out the piano when I got home. M&H was fine--Built to LAST!

We need some more uprights shown here!

So here's mine, tucked in a corner of my living room. (Not enough room in a 1927 bungalow on a city lot.) But this is my space, and (besides the piano) I especially love the picture that my husband painted -- a copy of Manet's The Fifer. And yes, those are doilies under the lamps. But my sister-in-law made them for me, and they're quite pretty.

IIRC it was a Kawai. +1 on more recordings from Piano*Son!!

OK, here is mine when I first bought it... Now it has many scores on it...

OK, I am in for a picture of an upright. This is the view from the other side of the room from the earlier picture so the upright is visible. These pianos are like pasta versus steamed fish - I love them both and move to each one depending on the kind of thing I am playing. The grand gets a little more playing time but not much.

This is what my practice space looks like when I'm actually practicing. My scores are saved as pdf files on my Mac. I make annotations using the Wacom Bamboo tablet to the right of the laptop. I record using the Zoom H4 digital recorder to the left. There's the ubiquitous metronome and then the two small speakers for listening to recordings.


Occasionally I host performances:

Here is mine. Not much to see.

I like it! I have those same caster cups underneath mine. Guess I should take a picture, but it's the weekend and I'm feeling exceptionally lazy. Otherwise, I'd be sitting at my piano instead of typing this message.

Stop with the breaking of strings! I've never done this on my piano.

Yeah, this picture is no bloody good- thought it might come out better, but I guess my camera sucks.

Speakers on the piano are only for when I switch the piano off acoustic- I've never liked wearing headphones.

MaryBee,

The first thing I said when I saw your space was "Le Fifre"!. Pretty good job by your hubby. You both have fine taste

Lovely piano--that's plenty to see!! Glad you shared.

argerichfan ,I love your space. Great light and the plants really make it seem very warm.

Looks very nice, mate. The big thing for me is the good natural light. My music room is great because I can get wonderful morning light without it touching the piano.

Damn, these are all nice. Would anyone like to donate me a grand piano? =)

Jason
I like the green plant. None at my place. Just the occasional flowers in a vase. Can't keep the botanicals alive, hard as I try.

Size? Finish? Tier? 4th pedal? Ivory or Bone or?

Many thanks for the compliments, though my piano is no match for the deliciously glorious grands others have posted. (Good on you all!) My flat is filled with plants- takes a very long time to water them all.

In the early morning (when I do my best practising) I switch the piano off acoustic and quietly hear the samplings of a 9' Steinway. Suits me just fine.

Alas, the Schumann for the e-recital in May is not going well. I didn't realize how long it takes to get such a fearsomely difficult work back into my hands after my uni days. The combination of a heavy work schedule, being tired after work, and the occasional organ sub is compromising my time. Free time is not a luxury I enjoy.

Concert Steinway?

I could settle for a concert Yamaha too, I guess.... Or a baby Yamaha.. Or ANY grand piano!!!

4th pedal?? Sure, throw some of that too.

Afternoon,

This is my little piano. I have candles on the left hand side that I often light in the evening and a coaster where I put my glass of wine. On the right hand side I have my pencil case and books that I am currently using and behind one of the chairs is a box with all my old books and bits and pieces in. Oh and that is my dog Max - he is very supportive of my playing as you can see :o)

Michelle

Angelina, you are funny. When I turn up the speakers really loud on my Yamaha upright, there's that glorious Steinway sound... oh that BASS!

Yeah, you and me could gladly deal with a real Yamaha concert grand... if I had the space for it.

However, not to reign on the parade, you know what my piano prof at uni said about Yamaha? 'Just try and play a Rachmaninov sonata on a Yamaha concert grand. They're rubbish!' (His quote, so legally I'm safe enough.)

Michelle, nice picture. But no carpet? What's the reverb time in that room? Probably nothing like Liverpool Anglican, but I bet the piano sounds wonderful! Nice canine too...

YES THANK YOU! I had to do that last week.... I felt like I was fighting for my life.

Hi Argerichfan,

We only have carpets in the bedrooms here in Queensland. The rest is all tiled otherwise it is way way too hot. Also what is a "reverb time" - I knew I would learn lots on Piano World :o)

Just love all these pics! Here's mine:

Ah, all those books/scores, so nicely ordered!!!

You can generally choose reverb on a DP... Recently, I have started choosing Concert Hall.... It makes me feel better if I don't look around...

Very nice, I just knew you were a person of class.

And now for the inevitable question: is your music always that neat? Looks too good to be true, did you spend all morning fixing the props?

I seriously envy not only the size of your music collection, but the organization. And the room looks so nice!

Well, I did do a quick tidy up before I snapped the photo. But everything is usually in the correct pile, at least. I'd never find anything if it wasn't.

And it's a yamaha - good thing I don't play much Rach, eh?

Glad you like it, H. What you see is considerably less than half of the music...

I wish I can send a picture of my teacher's room.. the floor is covered with sheet music, mostly with things she transcribed. She usually had to dig through the pile to find my next assignment.

Love it! Love it! ... and the photo reveals no surprises.

I presume the extra-wide music desk is for those four- and five-page photocopy spreads of Lieder, right?

Regards,

Less bookshelf, more piano! More piano!!!

Something like that, yes. It also cuts the reflection if I have the lamp aimed at the music. (It's just a double A4 spread of heavy black cardboard)

Ah, I've been to Queensland. Downright tropical!

"Reverb time" is the time sound spends bouncing off surfaces. Hard surfaces like tile tend to reflect more while soft surfaces like carpeting tend to absorb sound. So, if your room has nothing but hard surfaces the sound reverberates for a long time...like an echo chamber.

1937 Kurtzmann??

My 10 years old son





And my new digital...

Well, currawong inspired me to clear up the mess in my room... And I think I need a proper bookcase too....
I feel that I posted an old photo of my piano instead of tidying up!

That's very stylish, and the view is really nice.

I love traditional metronomes like yours. I still have a little plastic "Taktell" metronome that I took to college in 1972. It still runs like a clock.

@ Batuhan

That view is gorgeous. I'm curious, what is over that window? A lake? a park? Or just more houses?

I've been having so much fun peeking at everyone else's space that I thought I would share my own. As you can see, it's a big piano in a little room, but I don't usually play with that lid all the way up. I normally keep it pretty tidy, but I did put away two stacks of music books that were on the floor next to the piano bench.

I have a fabulous view out those windows of the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Thats a beautiful Steinway Lauralei! What model is it?

It's a B, most likely a rebuild. Note the Art Deco detailing on the case that would put it in the '20s or so.

I was thinking of buying at least an upright one day, but my apartment is sort of full.... And I am afraid of the neighbours because I play other instruments too. Nobody ever complained, but it would really bother me if they did....

Looks like a re-build, since I've never seen a Steinway where the upper ribs of the metal frame are painted black. Is the entire plate painted black as well?

Regards,

I often do the same thing. The imagination is a wonderful thing!

I see what you are talking about, but I think it is the shadows tricking the eye.

A lake between the houses. Im in the center of Istanbul close to Bosphorus Bridge.

@wdot

I bought this metronome 2 or 3 months ago before this i used digital metronome.

It's actually a 1940 B. The plate is in fact gold...my picture is just a little dark. I wanted to lighten the picture, but just figuring out how to shrink it, obtain the URL, and then post it was at the limit of my technical ability.

Here's a photo of the plate. (And look...I figured out how to lighten it!)

Ah, so I was a bit early. It's a lovely instrument! The reason I guessed so early is that the last B I saw with that Art Deco detailing was a 1916 model.

Love the thread!

My practice room is very simple and almost scant. But I am a minimalist, and that's the way I like it. There is only a rug in there, a couple of pictures on the wall, a shelf for sheet music and a reclining chair that my wife uses when she listens to my playing.

Less things in the room to create mysterious buzzes, SeilerFan--- and that instrument looks like it could seriously make things vibrate.

I love that old Steinway B. Gorgeous! I haven't seen a modern B on this thread yet. Horowitzian, would you mind posting a picture of your B? (It's a new one, isn't it?)

It makes my heart and mind vibrate... other things, too, probably... Our cats are usually noise sensitive, but they love the piano being played, even at FF.

Our street neighbors could probably care less. We live in a neighborhood where I never hear any instrument being played. Sad!

This is my practice room!

Should add that I have all my music neatly put away in the piano studio which is in another room of it's own. Have tons of shelves for all the music. And the shelves roll and are hidden behind mirrored doors. The shelves move because they are on skateboard wheels. Yes you heard right. All the music is on moving shelves on skateboard wheels!

So here's a picture of the shelves on skateboard wheels!

Just the wheels, and not the skateboard! Took just the wheels and so you can see there are 2 shelves, one in front and if you look way down, . . . you can see the small wheels on the shelf in front, and it rolls back and forth! When you first roll the shelves, it kind of scares peaople the first time because they think the shelf is falling or something! Entertaining though!

Nice thing about this is that when you close the mirrored doors, everything disappears! Thank my husband and not me for the skateboard idea!



Mirrored doors closed!

Thanks for sharing Lauralei. That is one beautiful B. I love the deco styling on the side!
My other hobby is collecting antiques. Mainly home appliances, like vacuums and fans. The art deco and space age pieces interest me the most!

Diana, nice practice room and storage!
so you have three pianos? I have seen that with some others too. Is one grand not enough ?

Really neat, Diane! It took me a while to grasp what was going on with the music shelves (fooled by the mirrors ) - but very ingenious! I can think of a lot of things in my house that would do well to be hidden by rolling mirrored doors...

Thanks Brandon, and others, for the compliments on my B. I feel very fortunate indeed to own it; I feel especially fortunate that it was my husband who insisted on getting it for me.

Antique vacuum cleaners? Sounds interesting. My husband likes old appliances, too. We've acquired many old typewriters, portable fans, sewing machines, and even a broken carillon. We've never paid money for any of them...they just seem to find their way to our house. Luckily, we have a large barn where he can store all of his treasures!

Laura

Yes, Diane, very ingenious! Your husband is a very clever man. What a great way to store a lot in a small space.

Your practice area is beautiful, too.

I really wish I could go and visit all of these wonderful pianos and try each and every one!

Laura

I'm too busy just now...various things going one...a new teacher being one of them. But I'll see what I can do another time. Raincheck?

You didn't see mine? Not the greatest pictures, I must admit.

But one of the "great" pianos. I saw the pic; love the piano!

Regards,

Won't it be too loud to have a full size concert grand like that in a small size room like yours?

Actually, that isn't a 9 footer...somewhat shorter. The 'too loud' thing is a myth IMHO.

Stunning practice rooms and practice instruments you all have here. I have a couple of practice rooms.

Here's one I use at night:



And this is the one I use during the day. The right one is my daughter's practice instrument and I usually use it too in the mornings because it has practice mute.

http://i42.tinypic.com/20pbhjb.jpg it feels a little crowded at times since the stand is either too low or too high. I just put two books underneath my DP to get it a little high. BTW, can anyone find something seemingly odd from the picture?

The curtain?

Yeah, the heater running. >.> I guess it was too obvious.

The problem with my current music room is that it is impossible to put in a grand piano because there is a sort of very short and narrow L-shaped corridor in front of it... It is impossible to get through with a grand... I don't know if you know what I mean?
I think I have a new reason to be depressed....

Actually small and medium grands are pretty close to being just uprights with legs as far as moving is concerned, since when you move them you take off the legs, so they can go most places where uprights go. Movers can tip them so the keys are straight down, if necessary.

The exception being very small uprights of console and spinet size that could be tipped on their side to go around even tighter corners.

One way to find out if it'll go around a corner is to cut out a piece of cardboard that is the size and shape of the front of the piano (as if you're looking directly at the logo on the fallboard) and lay that one the ground and try to slide it into the room without lifting it up.

Maybe a baby grand... Anyway, I would wait another couple of years...
The room though would be small too, I am not sure about the acoustics... Probably not phenomenal... The lounge is bigger, but I want it here... And the lounge is also very cold in winter and there are smells and everything coming from the kitchen (they are connected and there is no door).

Smash your windows and put it through there?

A grand piano will bring more joy than a window, it's worth it!

I am not sure the neighbours would be happy to fully participate in my musical life without a window...

ab-ster
Your house looks nice. What brand is the upright acoustic ?
So you have 3 pianos in your house ?

The air-flow from the heating duct raising the curtain?
The price tag on the leg of the stool?
The fire escaping from the lower right side of the fireplace?
The missing C-sharp in the second measure of the left hand of the score?

Cheers!

Thanks! I'm lucky my wife likes to decorate.

The upright is a Diapason made by Kawai. I have another 61 keys keyboard that I use for gigging when I don't feel like hauling a heavy board.

I have more concern about the piano starting to slide to the right.

Where's that facepalm emoticon? Horowitzian? Help?

Must have overlooked it! Nice piano!

Raincheck taken. I will remind you in due course, though. Do you have any Horowitz paraphernalia on or next to your piano?

Nope! Music is the only thing allowed to sit on my piano. Well, except for the dust.

lauralei,

"Here's a photo of the plate. (And look...I figured out how to lighten it!)"

Mmm I think you pulled the wrong slider. It rather bleached out instead of got lightened.

Maybe you can try to use the gamma slider instead of the brightness ;-) Or correct the exposure manually if you have a better camera

How do I upload my picture? I can't find "file manager" to open the attachment link.

Nice thread - I always enjoy seeing the pictures of people's pianos.
Here's mine:


It's a Schimmel CC213T

Yes, yes that's it.. the fire escaping.. except there should be no fire since it's not a real fireplace. I don't know what it is.

Somewhere near the beginning of the thread (it's page 2 for me) there are instructions (by me - channelling Monica - and gooddog) telling you how to do it.

may i use the quote on your wall? i love it. so meaningful.

Eerie music playing: I heard you through the ether. Here's the link:
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/fileuploader2.html

EP - your photo is so surreal, with that picture of the piano on the wall echoing the one in the room. Cool.

EP: Is that noise absorber I see on the ceiling and possibly on the left wall?

Mary Bee - it's a fabric wall hanging (afghan?). I've had it for years and I never get tired of it. I've actually tried to match some of the room appurtenances (lamp, flowers, etc.). Kind of fun.



ab-ster - It's actually a diffuser panel. It made a huge difference when I installed it - eliminated the boominess caused by the low (8') ceiling.

^^ This is an excellent thread, i love all the pictures, ^ there is mine.

and.. i font know if anyone spotted it, but here is my baby grand -

I'm trying to solve that same sound problem.

Question(s)... Where did you get the diffuser? Is it also on the wall behind you? Does it only cover the space just above the piano?

Thanks :-)

Kevin -
It's been quite a while - I ordered it directly from Auralex - it's 4" pyramid foam.
I just had a couple of pieces left over so I hung them on the wall - most of the ceiling is covered.
EP

Here it is. Yamaha GC1 The room soon to be filled with 14 people for a recital a week from tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!JIM








http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/pianostudio.jpg

Wow, funky butterfly poster thingy!

It looks as though it might be a hooked rug.

Regards,

The Butterfly looks exactly like a quilt pattern from a book I have. In fact, I'd bet I'm right.I'm working on an optical illusion piece from that book right now/ It's designed by Cheryl Phillips. JTattoo would have to confirm.

I really enjoyed looking at other people's practice spaces. This is mine. I have two acoustic panels between the piano and the wall to absorb the excess bass reflections. There is also an ottoman under the piano for the same purpose.

What manufacturer is that ^^

SophieM :

I hope you never have to turn on the radiator/heat supply directly behind the piano.

Regards,

Thanks, BruceD! The combo unit is rarely turned on and the air blows away from the piano -- unfortunately this is the only spot for my piano. The dealer ok'ed the placement (for whatever it's worth).

It's actually a hand made quilt (one I did). Jim

It's an Estonia 168. it is a powerful little piano for my space -- so I have a blanket functioning both as a string cover and a dampening device to lower the volumn a bit.

This *is* a great thread. Feels like you can learn a lot about someone from their practice spaces. I wonder what my space says about me?

I've managed to chisel out a small musical area in our little townhome. My wife is very supportive and lets me fill my corner with toys.



A rundown:
Piano: Yamaha U1 (just got it last week!)
Bottom Keyboard: Yamaha MO8
Top Keyboard: Yamaha B200

Then a pretty generic Mixer and PC combo.

RE:3 Yamahas, it parallels a strange trend that has emerged in my life. All our cars are Fords, All our motorcycles are Suzukis, and all of our musical instruments are Yamahas. It's not intentional, it just keeps working out that way.

What a great way so see everybody their pianos, how inspiring!
My piano is the living room, when I have guest the can just sit on the sofa, have a drink and listen (or play)

I have tried getting the pictures shown as you all did but I can't seem to get it to work! O well, here are mine in a different way (can anyone fix this for me?)

Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4
Picture 5

Lookin' good, Patrick! BTW, I love your new screen handle.

PATRICK's Music space!
There you go!

Music Space no. 1


Music Space no. 2


Music Space no. 3


Music Space no. 4


Music Space no. 5

Tnxs Diane, you are a star
I like the new name too Horowitzian, I do need to practice lot's before I live up to the name though....

Oblacone, your first room reminds me of the beautiful houses to which I was invited when I was in Stavanger.
Is your Kawai a concert grand ? My former piano teacher has one in black. It was a privilege to play it.

Patrick, are there five pianos in your house ?

Hi, I'm new here. I've been reading the forums for awhile, but have never posted. I just wanted to express how much fun it has been to look at all the pictures. You guys have some beautiful homes and pianos! thank you for sharing and nice to meet all of you~

Meadow, welcome to the forum, I've learnt a lot from the helpful members here.

Deborah and Monika K: Thanks for your uploading instructions. Like Patrick, I could only get to the last step.
Here is mine.

http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/practicespace.JPG

Everyone: apologies for my silly question two posts above, in my rush I read it as 5 practice spaces. Although I was surprised that ab-ster had 4 pianos in his house, I now realise that Patrick's is the same piano! Sorry !!!!!

From custard apple's practice space:

http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/practicespace.JPG

That's nice of you Volusiano, thank you !

I need to take some new and better pics of the room, I've posted these here awhile ago. The quality is pretty funky and doesn't really show off the room or the piano too well. I took these during a period of insanity when I was considering selling the D.

The piano is usually all the way on the wood floor but to get a more full shot I had to push it to the middle of my 20 X 20 room.
http://www.divshare.com/download/6609235-f95

Different angles:
http://www.divshare.com/download/6609237-8d1
http://www.divshare.com/download/6609225-5cc

Me practicing away. I now have a floor to ceiling bookcase in this corner that doubles very nicely as a diffusor:
http://www.divshare.com/download/8096034-c1f

I also cannot figure out how to upload just a pic without using this file sharing site. If anyone would can work their magic on my pics, please have at it and thanks in advance.

nice pics, nobody owns a harpsichord ?

Did you try gooddog's instructions?

I do, but it's packed away at the moment. When the kids move their stuff out I might be able to set it up again.

Dave, the links you're showing are actually the links to the webpages and not the pics themselves. But if you right click on the picture and select "View Image Info", it'll show you the actual link to the .jpg file itself. Once your have that link, just wrap the command [img] before and [/img] after the .jpg link and the picture will show. I'm made those modifications to your links and the pics showed up as seen below.

Quote from above:

"The piano is usually all the way on the wood floor but to get a more full shot I had to push it to the middle of my 20 X 20 room.


Different angles:



Me practicing away. I now have a floor to ceiling bookcase in this corner that doubles very nicely as a diffusor:

I own a harpsichord!

There is a pedal on my story and clark that lowers a bar with little felts on it, that have some sort of glue or something, that when you hit it, it makes a twack sort of sound on the strings.

I would call it more of a late 1700s forte piano, but its kinda like a harpsichord!


I would LOVE to own one! But they are so gosh darn expensive! The cathedral has like 15 of them. One for every practice room, and in the music teachers offices and a few in the cathedral itself.

The harpsichord is one of my favorite instruments! Id love to get the Roland C30 digital harpsichord some day.

Here is my amazing playing instrument! This is what you get when your stuck on a boat for 5 weeks at a time. Yes that is cardboard that I made for a music rest, and yes, absolutely every one of those 49 keys are spring loaded to the max.

How do you play it you ask? Well I have to put the keyboard on my lap.

Looks functional enough given your parameters but I'd avoiding learning the tune "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".

i really like the picture of the minimalist 12 foot Seiler

Did someone say 12 foot seiler!?!? I wana see! I must have missed that one!

It's 'only' a semi-concert grand.

I play the harpsichord with my DP, but not so often...

This looks a bit like my room, but my walls are boringly white...

Oh no, my piano is only um well its 1,76 cm, i believe that is 5'8 or something. So you have been to Norway ^^ thats nice.

I would love to own a concert grand however for now, i enjoy my Kawai ^^

... says the owner of a small "music room grand" (that's how Steinway calls their model B) Just kidding!

Honestly, though, the bass sounds it size, approx. 8 feet (7'10 1/2'' to be precise). At the time (1998), Seiler didn't make a 9 foot piano, and so they designed the model 240 to be their concert grand. They added mass to the piano body in order to magnify the sound. Their claim was that this piano sounded like a full-flung 270cm piano. But you know how it is with these claims. They're mainly used for marketing reasons.
My model 240 is actually a bit heavier than e.g. the Steinway D and about as wide. Many European grands are heavier than their Steinway breathrens in general. That seems to be a difference in construction for I have also heard the opposite argument that if you reduce mass you can magnify the sound. I guess each maker makes their claims. This has also to do with the fact the Europe and America use different woods for the inner/outer rim (beech wood/mahogany vs. hard rock maple).

I have not played the Seiler 9 foot piano, but my 240's bass is definitely different from the pianos in the 220 cm size (e.g. the Grotrian 225 which I could compare recently) as it has more of that nice growl that I personally love.

Last but not least, the United States should really go metric! That'd be so much easier for all of us. No feet, fingers, and fingernails anymore to express length...

Dave Ferris, I love your Steinway D. I love the beautiful old-fashioned design/shape of the D. It is oh so sexy! I am sure it sounds fantastic.

Not to derail the thread, but there are many studies done about how much "not going metric" is costing the US both in sales and in re-tooling expenses.

Regards,

By the by, Horowitzian, it's raincheck time if you know what I mean! Haha! Seriously, show us your practice space! I am curious!

It has been a long time since I have seen the inside of a US Middle School.

I remember being taught we were about to go metric in grade school. I'm 57. I'm not holding my breath.

No, no! It's OK! This comment totally made my day.



Interesting! I was unaware of the history behind Seiler. So they have a 9 footer now?

I know the feeling about the bass on the large pianos. I have regular access to a couple of Steinway D's, so that gives me my 'big piano fix'.

+1000000 on the metric system.

Yup, here it is: Seiler Modell 278

Unfortunately, one cannot learn much about it online except for the separate spec sheet.
Anyway, sorry to everybody for taking this thread slightly off topic.

It's beautiful! Love to get my hands on one.

Well, following currawong's good example, I have tidied up my apartment and it looks twice as big now!
I am extremely orderly with documents, books etc., but for example if I come home I throw the mail on the sofa etc. I am sort of lazy with practical things....
I am waiting for my Steinway now that the apartment is so tidy...

In good time mate. Camera has dead batteries...and I'm busy practicing, because I have a new teacher now. No more procratinating.



WTF?

Here is where I get to practice! Its a Steinway B.

Ooooo, nice! I'll bet it is a lot of fun to be able to practice in a veritable concert hall. Lovely church, too.

Do you play there for services?

The absence of a prominent religious symbol in the first picture makes it look like a church built to worship the piano - maybe a fitting image for the piano forums! Just kidding of course.

Here is my practice space.

An inherited 1951/52 Steinway model "40". I am the second owner

[img]http://dmsynck.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=73040865[/img]

That's a good point. While it's a great setup for a piano recital, I have to wonder about it for religious services. Our organ is in the chancel area, and the piano (a decrepit Steinway which really should be replaced) is between the chancel and the first row of seats. This really does look like they are worshiping the piano!

@ Horowitzian: Yeah, it certainly beats the beat up baldwins in the tiny practice rooms!

@-Frycek: No, I do not, someone else has been doing it for longer than I have been at school.

@ Charleslang and wodt: They should be worshiping the piano! The chapel is the only one we have on campus so it does not try to cater to one. Although you cant see it in the photo, the stained glass has several religious symbols on it. I should start my own piano religion though!

OK. The fact that it's a campus chapel changes everything. Thanks for explaining.

Just curious. Is there an organ? If so, where?

Is there an organ in that church? I hope so.

Nice piano too. I can only dream of the acoustics! I bet it sounds so beautiful in that nice church!

i've been at piano world so long it seems i've answered this question before. I have 2 practice spaces now.

1



2

Yeah, it is to the right in the first picture, unfortunately its a fake! Just a big speaker, although it is a very expensive big speaker.

Great bookcase in the first photo.

Apple, I've seen the first picture -very spiffy- but not the second. Nice full AGO pedal board, though not sure why there are so many foot couplers. How often do you need them?

Whatever, I wish I had the space to have a practise instrument like that. Lucky you... (and pretty organ shoes... mine are black.)

Don't the Americans call it Junior High?

Awesome pictures, thanks for posting them. What kind of organ does the church have?

I call it Middle School.

I still want to know what the heck he's talking about...

You mean "I'm busy posting!"

That, too.....

Wow apple!

Nice allen. Is that a transistor model? Looks like a TC series. Very nice! I wanted one of those, but ended up with a Rodgers 22b, from around '68.

Haven't touched an organ in, god it really has been, 1 year almost exact! Its my absolute favorite instrument. I really wish to take lessons again.

Junior High is an obsolete term. It used to be Elementary School or grade school, Junior High, which was grades 7 and 8 and Senior High, grades 9-12. Now it's Elementary School, Middle School, and High School and I'm not sure what grades are included in each.

Don't know what he's talking about either unless it's my reference to learning about the US's (it'll never happen) intention of going metric in grade school about fifty years ago- -

It varies by district. Some middle schools are 6-8, some are 7-8, some are 7-9.

A Steinway Grand is of such quality (please chaps, I’m not roughing up your splendid Grands) ... but the thought occurs, that any owner’s playing skill ought to be commensurate ... and conditional on being able to play at least one of these masterpieces:

1. Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata ... Opus 27, no. 2 (including the 3rd movement!)
2. Debussy’s la fille aux cheveux de lin
3. Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C# minor Opus 3, no. 2
4. Chopin’s Nocturne in F# Major Opus 15, no. 2
5. Mozart’s Turkish March
6. Prelude I in C Major (Bk I) by JS Bach
7. Haydn’s Gipsy Rondo
8. Rimsky-Korskov’s The Flight of the Bumble Bee
9. Traumerei by Schumann Opus 15, no. 7
10. Schubert’s Impromptu Opus 90, no. 3

Any takers?

I’m pretty sure that respected colleagues Kreisler, BruceD and argerichfan can tick off the lot ... but what about the rest of the motley?

PS. Sorry chaps ... I had nothing better to do ... had planned to mow the grass but it’s raining.

Thanks for your vote of confidence, but, no, not all on your list, although there are many, many others not on your list that I have both played and performed.

1 - No, cannot play the 3rd movement, but I've not worked on it, either.
2 - Yes.
3 - Yes.
4 - Yes.
5 - I've played movements 1 and 2, but never studied the third because I don't particularly care for it.
6 - Yes
7 - Never tried it
8 - Which transcription?
9 - Yes
10 - Yes

Regards,

Thanks BruceD ...
As Lord Muck (sole committee member of the Grand Order of Mugwumps) ... it is my considered opinion (without prejudice, mind you) that you, BruceD qualify to own a Grand Piano ... you can therefore (ipso facto) ... keep your Estonia 190 in satin ebony.

PS It’s stopped raining ... so I better get to the hacking of the lawn ... sorry about the rot chaps.

We've been mowing lawns for over a month, now, in this little corner of the Northern Hemisphere, where we've had our annual Spring Madness of "The Annual Victoria Blossom Count" - a record of some 300 billion +, although I don't recall the exact figure!

It's officially still winter on the calendar and in much of the rest of the continent, where it actually may still feel like winter, too. Enjoy the grass, btb!

Regards,

If I learn everything on the list, do I get a Steinway? I'd actually do it.

Any (wealthy) philanthropists out there willing to take this on? I would do it, too (or try my best). (The Steinway would have to be in very good condition and at least a model A in size . . .)

(I fixed the link for ya to the actual pic and not the web page so the pic would show)

That is beautiful it almost makes me want an upright instead of a grand, but thats almost...Although I would love to have both

Since I posted a pic of a Steinway Grand, I thought I had better respond.

1.Yes, but 3rd movement is very rough. I can only play those arpeggios well with the pedal and I'm told that's not right.
2.Yes
3.Yes
4.No, never tried it until a few minutes ago, but think I think it's doable.
5.Yes
6.Yes
7.No, never tried it
8.No, but I can play Bumble Boogie by Jack Fina. Does that count?
9.Yes
10.Yes

Do I get to keep my grand? I promise to keep working on the 3rd movement of Moonlight!

Laura

Haha, well here is my list-
1 no :P
2. Nope
3. Yes
4. I'm going to learn it soon
5. Nope
6. Yes
7. No
8. Not even close
9. Yes
10. No

Well.. i dont have a Steinway, and i have only played 2 years, so I still have lots left to learn on my not Steinway

Opps. didn't put my answers outside of the above quote.

But they are in there.

Thanks, I am still rather new to this site.

Thanks, I am quite proud of it.

Pretty impressive Oblacone ... for a 16 year old Norwegian student to have chalked up 3-10 ... don't downplay the relatively modest Kawai ... from small beginnings.

Here’s the good news ... longevity statistics suggest that you will have 70 years (three score and ten) to complete the other 7 masterpieces ... don’t give up your day job.

Good going Brandon ... hang in there!

btb - but that list isn't even considered remotely difficult! Just for the fun of it, I'll say I think someone with a Steinway should be able to play things like.. I don't know, Appassionata, a Rach concerto or two, say Gaspard maybe, Scriabin sonatas.. etc.

If we can play all that's on the list, can we get one too? Please? I don't even own a piano!

a couple comments

Stores - we picked up that bookcase at an estate sale for $35.00 - it has wavy glass and everything.. not in the best condition but it could be superb.

Jason.. the presets on that organ don't work.. i bought it for next to nothing. it's great for practice.

.

Damn I fail. But isn't this just for classical?

My husband just promised to buy me a grand piano for my 50th Birthday.......OK so i have to wait till July 2028 but hey, there is light at the end of the tunnel and I can see my grand piano in it :o)

He did suggest a digital grand....... anyone have one or should I not have mentioned it <hide>

.

I'll be right over!

Oh, Apple -- those gorgeous red shoes! I can just picture them flashing along the pedal board!

ME!!!!!

And then you click the heels together and ... oh wait, wrong story.

(actually, apple, I just noticed you're already in Kansas)

Hi Michelle,
I have one of each....a grand and a digital grand.
My husband bought me the digital grand first, when we were Active Duty
AirForce and moving all the time. Now we are retired and a finally got my
real grand. and...I'm just a few months short of 50, haha. I don't know how
to post pictures and I'm new here. You can click on my user name and click on
my studio website. There is a few pictures of both my pianos there. But wishes
to you and hope you are able to get your digital while you wait for your real one!

Hi Angelina,
At 13 years of age, with romantic ogle-eyes on Rach 2 and Beethoven’s Appassionata Sonata Op. 57, it won’t be long before you are an accredited member of the Grand Piano Club.

For what it’s worth, your present studying of the Sonata Op. 7 ... composed when Beethoven was still influenced by the styles of his early tutors Haydn and Mozart ... is but months away from the famous Pathetique Sonata Opus 13, when LB really showed his colours ... and romped over the keyboard in unprecedented grandeur.

The later top sonatas have collected fond nicknames ...
Moonlight, Pastoral, Waldstein, Appassionata, Les Adieu and Hammerklavier.

Any time you think the Moonlight 3rd movement is easier than the Appassionata ... I’ll book a ticket to listen to you on stage at Carnegie Hall.

I think you'll find Angelina is a bit older than 13.

And I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss op.7 as a mere lead-up to op.13. IMO it has one of Beethoven's best slow movements, of all the sonatas.

I think btb has mistakenly read the DOB she jokingly wrote in her profile (1907) for 1997....

Wow - I looked at your picture like you suggested - thank you. There is just something about a real grand piano - amazing.

michelle

LMAO!
Those romantic ogle-eyes have already entered Rach 2 in a successful competition. "Little" Angelina, is well aware of Op. 7's (though not as popular as Op. 13, in my opinion, a much grander, more mature work) place among the Beethoven sonatas (she plays it very well), and I'm sure she could tear the Pathetique off, at a moment's notice. She will, no doubt, however, be grateful for pointing out those nicknames lol. I would, certainly, agree with her opinion, that the "Moonlight's" 3rd movement is far easier than anything found in "Appassionata".
By the way, where does one enter this sweepstakes? The prerequisite list would have qualified me years ago, so I'll be expecting delivery soon lol.

What he said ^

Also NO Beethoven is easy. Appassionata is harder for me, I played the moonlight when I was 13, oh and I'm actually 20 :p

By the way I was just kidding too

Ps op7 is a heck lot harder than the famous pathetique. And not just technically aanyways..,,,

Grateful thanks to currawong for drawing attention to the Beethoven Sonata Opus 7 ... in particular the largo ... supported with kind words by my Holy Grail reference book ... which sees Opus 7 as perhaps the best of the early sonatas.

However, as earlier notes, Beethoven uses a modest canvas (never more than 3 octaves in extent) and is clearly still under the influence of early mentors Haydn and Mozart ... not to put too fine a point on it ... the structure is patchy (jumped to and fro) as are the switchback dynamics (loaded with short-lived 3 and 4-flag notes) ... by comparison the Appassionata Sonata stretches in places to a spread of 6 octaves.

As previously suggested, Beethoven breaks out of the mould in Opus 13 (Pathetique) to show his true colours ... in coming of age Beethoven cottoned on to the poetic importance of keeping the main musical structure simple ... and only going "fruity" (lots of notes) in well chosen bursts of unbridled rapture (which Chopin was later to master from the outset).

IMHO the slow movement of the Pathetique knocks socks off Opus 7 ... this after spending the past 2 days practising the largo (easy to sight-read because of the slow tempo) ... and thereby able to suggest a qualified take.

See, JAZZ players just play it like that, we don't have to read it!
You should see some of the jazz music written out!

Here's an impressive "practice space"!
Sorry, got a little off topic, but Hey, so did this thread!
Pictures, can we see more pictures!

That's quite an odd place to put a piano - not quite the best place to play for audiences. The acoustics there must be horrible too!

I think your husband has it backwards. When we were shopping for a grand, and I was cringing at the prices, it was my wife (who does not play piano) who said to me, "What are you gonna do, wait until you're 50?"

Speaking of piano pictures, I installed this screensaver , but it won't work (I am using Vista)...
Has anyone tried it on Vista?

I can play everything on btb's list with the exception of the Flight of the Bumblebee. It's not really a piano piece, so I didn't have any occasion to learn it. The 3rd mvt. of the Beethoven is more technically difficult than the other listed works.

I agree with Bruce about the Mozart Rondo Alla Turca. I just don't like the piece.

So I guess I get to keep my Steinway.

I can't even get the Mac one to work...

I have my own Piano Photos screensaver. Just interesting piano photos I've collected and added to Windows Live Photo Gallery. You can add images from any file on your computer to the gallery and use them as a screensaver.

Junior High was grades 7, 8, 9 (and high schools were 3 year)

At least here in Los Angeles virtually all the public schools are called Middle School and run grades 6,8,9 (and high school run a traditional 4 years)

Quick note for Mac users who aren't already aware: You can do the same thing from your iPhoto (and probably your Aperture or Photoshop, too) library. All your albums and events should appear in System Preferences > Desktop and Screensaver > Screensaver, in the list.

Interesting.

Our schools are

Pre-school
Kindergarten
Elementary 1-6
Middle school 7&8
High school 9-12. (im a sophomore ;))

Someone on PW did once explain to me what a sophomore is, but I'm afraid I've forgotten...

btb, we'll have to agree to disagree on the relative merits of op.7 slow mvt and that of op.13, and also on your method of judging merit by observing range of notes

Horo & CA: My screensaver is a random and regularly changing selection of my photos - sometimes piano ones, but at the moment it's beaches and lighthouses. Perhaps I need a holiday.

Op13> op7? Completely disagree but that's just personal I guess........

2nd year of a traditional four year high school (or college for that matter) -
It runs Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior

Yep Currawong, Frycek is right. It is 10th grade, or 2nd year of high school.

Freshman 1st year
Sophomore 2nd year
Junior 3rd year
Senior 4th year.

No idea why they call it that but it is what it is I guess.

Thank you both - I'll try to remember this time

We just use the numbers - no fancy names. Although when I was at uni many moons ago they called first years "freshers".

Cool...those are my favorite screensavers.

I guess I will have to make my own collection of photos and then create my own screensaver, like others have done here...
Surely there must be cool piano images on the net...
And a sunset here and there will only benefit my poor soul....

Frycek used to teach sophomores.

Now that I know it's approximately our Year 10 (c.15-16), I did too, at one stage in my bumpy teaching career

Jeff, That is incredible! Such a beautiful piano! I really like your whole set up! Very professional!

Beethoven, completely broke out of the mold from the start, and, certainly with Op. 7, which is vastly underrated, Beethoven, threw aside all the norms. It is surpassed in terms of sheer length by only the "Hammerklavier". Op. 7 goes much further, and is, arguably, more mature than anything Haydn, or Mozart had composed in the same genre (if anything the second movement of Op. 13 seems to be directly influenced by K. 457). The structure is patchy? Where exactly? What are switchback dynamics? And yes, of course, the Appassionata covers a broader range on the piano, because pianos had broadened their range by the time of the Appassionata's composition. I'm not sure, at all, how going "fruity" with lots of notes infers maturity. What does his use of notation (specifically "short-lived 3 and 4 flag notes) have to do with anything? I find it interesting that you've spent two days sight reading the Largo and feel you're now qualified to give a "take".

Thanks stores, for your comments on the Beethoven Sonata Opus 7.

It was out of respectful attention to currawong’s comments on the largo that thoughts were presented ... opinions obviously must differ ... but to answer you questions

1. Patchy structure ... isolated note structures between half-measure silences as at m1, 2 and 3.
2. Switchback dynamics ... gentle pp followed by coarse ff ... as at m19-20
3. Range ... please check your argument on the Appassionata using a superior piano ... not according to my info.
4. "Fruity" ... racy note patterns gain moment when slipped into a stable flowing structure ...
5. Short-lived 3 and 4-flag notes tend to jar (m26-27) ... although intense, can so easily spoil the flow.
6. Qualified to give a "take” ... use of a MIDI format for some thousand masterpieces has given the advantage of a birds-eye view of compositional genius ... as an architect versed in plan and sectional views of structures ...the opening Allegro assai to the Appassionata Sonata Opus 57 never fails to draw a hand-clap for an exquisite layout ... after the thematic Dual Statement (m1-4 followed by m5-8) ... note the "fruity" cascade of notes to m14-15 which extends over 6 octaves ... close-knitted Opus 7 largo seems tame by comparison ... thus my thought that Beethoven has thrown off the baggage of Haydn and Mozart.

PS The story that K. 457 influenced Op.13 has got whiskers on it.

If you think the silences in he second movement create ' a patchy stricture', you cleary have no real idea about music. If I were you I'd really stop talking right now.

Ps you should perhaps say all of that to Schiff, since he called that mvt 'the greatest slow movement in the history of slow movements'. =) not just in the histoy of Beethoven slow movements....

Pity about the math scores in Los Angeles though.

I have many issues with what you've posted here, but rather than detail my thoughts (which would take considerable space and I'm just too tired, at the moment) I will simply say, that, with no offense intended on a personal level, you simply lack the musical maturity, evidenced by your commentary, to yet understand this work. You may well prefer the second movement of the Pathetique, but, it is not, at all, on the same level, as that of Op. 7.

Funny how it differs. Back in my school days, we had no pre-school or kindergarten. The rest were:

Grade school 1-6
Junior high school 7-8
High school 9-12

Now that I look back, it is rather amazing how much time was spent at a desk while growing up. I'm not so sure that's healthy, but it sure works nicely to program people to do desk jobs later in life.

dont let this awesome thread die are there no more pictures

I was hoping for more pictures too. I keep checking back. I know there are more of you out there with cameras.
Ya'll know who you are.

what's with the unbridled voyeurism, Frycek???
I will admit though that I enjoyed "voyeuring" your "vintage / turn of the century" digs..

Must not have enough to do. There's only so much owl cam one can watch.

Owl Cam - great for practice breaks when there's nothing on Piano World

That creeps me out. Not because it is an owl, but because it feels like some sort of weird high-tech intrusion where it isn't needed, and doesn't belong.

Just out of curiosity, where would it belong and be needed? In a culture as alienated from the natural world as ours anything that fosters empathy and understanding with another species is fine with me as long as it doesn't interfer with the life of that creature. That's wild owl who's been voluntarily nesting in that box. She doesn't seem to mind.

I love it. I had no idea such a thing existed! thanks Frycek.
I find owls to be particularly fascinating. Love their regal allure and their stare! Plus they often have that "Don't tick me off" type a look on their face....

Here's a photo of my practice/playing space. This is a corner of the large L-shape living/dining room which occupies most of the ground floor in our house. I keep my scores etc. in the cabinet in the corner. I don't have a separate room for the piano and so I have to be selective about when I practice! Luckily I have a digital piano in my "office" in the basement on which I can practice when necessary. You can see my basement practice space in the second photo. It's actually cozier than it looks!

Wow, nice Cruiser. I also have a similar digital crammed in a corner at my parents' house.

Andromache - I love owls too. We've got our own personal pair - never seen but reliably heard living in the small woods in front of our house. They were very active before daylight this morning.

Wow, that is beautiful! Can't believe you didn't post earlier! Shame on you! but what matters is that you did

This is my humble but cosy setup.Note the radiator for my dodgy back, the wall also gives some support.Facing away from the wall means I can watch the tele while I'm playing, something I've always done but probably shouldn't.

Now that you have all posted pictures of your practice space, maybe you can can post new pictures with YOU playing your pet...

And this is mine, I'm very happy with my piano and I'm already playing with The Grand 3 to enhance the fun.

Thanks for the kind comments about my piano practice place. I apologise if the photos are two large, causing you to have to scroll across in the page. They were much smaller on my home PC (I'm in work now, but don't tell my boss!).

btw, if you look carefully at the reflection in the grand, you can just about make out one of our two dogs, Emma, lying on a rug.

So good in summer afternoons... Friend of mine had been playing in the digital one and wanted to use my bench.

I posted earlier in this thread and my practice space has changed a bit! So here's a picture- adieu to my Mason!

It sounds like you have a lovely view. I would have the blinds open just enough to let the light come in some. Enjoy your wonderful Mason and Hamlin, but also the beautiful view that you obviously have and we can't see! How fortunate you are!

Arghh - wish I knew how to post up a pic of my practice space!! does the pic need to be hosted by another website? Can it be linked to facebook pictures?

Four full concert model D grands all side by side in one big music room- Grotian Steinway/ Steinway & Son / Steinway & Son / Yamaha.

Why in the world did you get rid of your Mason?

Too noisy?

Cruiser, that's a gorgeous room-what kind of view do you have from your piano bench? (The ocean, I'm hoping?)
Do you ever find yourself wishing that you had a rug underneath the piano? We have an area rug, to help soften the sound.

The soundboard was tired- it really needed a total rebuild. She had a beautiful warm tone but there were issues with the action and yes, there was noise.

If your Facebook pics have links (to the pics, not the Facebook page per se), try putting the links here and wrap them with [img]http://your_link_here [/img] .

Read back in the thread, page 1 or 2 - I'm sure there are instructions for posting them.

Yep. The instructions worked for me.

.

I got to the last stage by following the excellent instructions on Page 2. Volusiano also rescued me.

Hello,
For those who are interested, herewith my practice areas:-

Keyboard is a Yamaha PF1000.




Same keyboard (2003 vintage). Still provides a lot of pleasure. Recently given a new lease of life performing with Pianoteq via M-Audio fast Track Ultra.




My fun area. Yamaha SY99 above a Yamaha EX5 on stand. Korg Karma on desk.





For more serious stuff. Sauter Masterclass 122. Pure heaven!

OH MY GOODNESS - I came to check out the pics on this thread, clicked on the owl cam link and it looks like a chick is trying to hatch (cool) while the mum-owl multi-tasks keeping the eggs warm while eating a mouse (cool??)........

I couldn't agree more, I've become so addicted to that owl webcam too. Noticed that on one of the last two eggs, a hole is getting bigger by the hour. In fact it's keeping me away from the keyboard - and that's rare!

So..i while you are watching Owl cam, those people who STILL havent taken photographs there is still a possibility now - So keep posting

picture wouldn't post
sorry.

And here is Elfenbein's lovely practice space:

One apartment, two pianos. Both of them are in "working" condition - I'm not one to keep everything neat and tidy all the time.

Late nights:


All the rest of the time:

xD was that a joke xD?

This is quite unlike me, but I think I just fell in love with a white piano! Oblacone... that is a really beautiful piano and beautiful room. I'm usually a stick in the mud about pianos (I only like black or some wood venir) but that is a really lovely room and the piano is beautiful.

This is my baby...



The throw blanket on the bench is to keep the critter you see on my avatar from continuing his efforts and texturizing the leather on my bench.

Thank you ^^ - I'm the same, I think polished mahogany pianos, and black ones are the only pianos I think look beautiful... However we got the piano for such a cheap price, cheaper than a digital piano xD And after we got the piano, it just fit so nicely in the house, and I myself think it looks beautiful Mah babeh <3.

Thats a very nice piano you have, love the music stand!

Oblacone, thanks for the kind words. I rescued my piano from a guy who had it posted on Craigslist for $2000 or as a trade for a fishing boat of an ATV. It had been in his family for 4 generations. Here's a better look at the front. Sorry for the grainy pic, I have to rely on my iPhone as a camera until I go get a replacement camera for the one stolen by airport security recently.

Wow Patrick, great space... love the piano and the funky blue lady in the painting.... looks like Krystal from Squidbillies LOL.

I'll marry it any day. I have enjoyed this thread so much... one day I might get my beloved Steinway, suspect I may need to move to the States. Both of those things could happen...

Oblacone
Are you saying that you bought the grand for a cheaper price than a digital ?

Sometimes the right combination of a nice piano, owned by a person motivated to sell, and a buyer ready with cash and a piano moving appointment come along... it's a marriage made in heaven.

We've had this discussion before on the Piano forum, but anytime you buy a piano other than black your chances at quickly selling with no hitches go down. Many nice wood veneers are also hard to sell fast because people that are buying a piano as furniture (too) get all caught up in, well, it's rosewood, and my early american pine furniture won't go with it... (LOL). White is never easy to sell. But, fortunately for Oblacone, she had a great room and decorating sense that made a "white elephant" into a real gem. I generally don't like white for a piano, but her setting is really beautiful. I'd be very happy with it. I have no decorating sense... it would have looked terrible if it were in my house -- of course, nothing in my house really goes well together, and I try to cover for it by saying "It's ecclectic" when I really just have no sense of decor.

Well depends what digital, but i was thinking likethe high end digital pianos that i were planning on buying, like Yamaha CLP 370 is almost the same price as my grand, i think it is a little more. My grand cost me $3000 - In Norway also prices are very high EVERYWHERE! Which is a plus for us when we go on vacation, since we can get food for maybe a 1/3 of what we do here in norway, BUT ANYWAYS, so yes, cheaper than high end digital.
Yeah, that's what the sellers also said, that one person wanted to buy it, but because it cost so much to make it black he didn't buy it. (haha) By the way - He* I'm a 16 year old boy.

Not a decorator here, but I will venture that the reason for the esthetic appeal of Oblacone's piano lies in the uncannily suitable landscape around it. The piano's color is offset against white walls and plenty of bright (white) light, thus its creamy color is further toned down. The furniture elements in the room play on the same palette as the piano (the leather chair, the vase, the picture frame) and importantly, the "pale" but variegated color of the wood floor. Most dramatically the whole thing is pulled together by the contrast of the deep red of the curtains; in other words everything in the room conspires to allow the piano color not to stand out. The same piano in a more traditional decor (eg darker wood floors, less white in the room) would stand out harshly.. It makes me wonder how much of the decor is coincidental vs. planned.

Another feature of my practice space - Alice with Fred - Alice is as often to be found on the bench behind me or at my feet beside the pedals.


[

Thanks Cary, my piano is a dark brown. So this might affect my resale/ trade-in value.
Anyway I won't be buying a new piano for a couple of years. I love mine and so does my piano tuner.

Cary and Andromaque
You are right, even a piano which is not black can suit the ambience of a room. My house has a tropical (Bali/ Mexican/ Honduras) feel, so the brown is perfect for it.
In my case, it was pure coincidence.

Oblacone
Norway makes Switzerland prices seem cheap.

Here is my practice space, converted to recording space this afternoon. Also bedroom ;)

Well, actually, everything was coincidental... The curtains are actually purple, which match the felts :P, but the floor was picked out before the piano, same with the white walls, the leather chairs were also meant to be there before the piano.
It just fit brilliantly there!

wah, i can imagine playing a chopin nocturne before bed, then waking up to Grieg's "morngen stemning" (Morning Mood) ah how great! it's a beautiful piano too, how long is it?

I just thought i would post a picture of a sad practice space, probably not for practice :P it looks horrible when people dont open the lid properly

Wow Julien, that must get all the ladies!!!

That is a beautiful bed.

Oblacone,

It is a 5'7 Schimmel, which I bought new in 2002 as I was starting to play. I mostly play Bach on it.

Fuzzy8balls,

Thanks ! Actually no ladies have ever slept in that bed, I don't swing that way.

Ah! Mine is a 1979 5'8 Kawai ^^ I bought it used though, 193 days ago to be more accurate.

ANYWAYS since i think this post needs more pictures here is a picture of a boston grand somewhere in Norway -

Ummmm... errr... I feel kinda silly. I guess I just thought the piano space looked like a feminine touch had been behind it and assumed that you were the femme in question... Didn't mean to be a gender stereotyper. But, I am not girl, and as I said, I'd be very happy to have that piano and that space as my practice space.

Haha don't worry xD well the feminine touch may come from my mother, I don't know,i never looked at it like that.

Aw look at this cute little Petrof ^^

A nice 1934 Steinway

A Malmsjö (Swedish brand) - I like the music stand, I also found the action rather nice however super.

Hey Oblacone
I think the deep red wood in the first photo looks really nice. It's such a rare colour for a piano. I can imagine the piano in a log cabin in a forest in Alaska/Canada/Norway/Finland.
Like you I think the music stand is great.
How old is the piano ?

Oblacone - what's that on the window ledge leaning toward in the sun?

A Petrof in a window backed up against a radiator? Ouch!

A Steinway partially in direct sunlight? That's a disaster waiting to happen!

while many of you have beautiful instruments and spaces - mine is constantly shifting as a university music student!
i do have my favorite room, but i have gone home and am not able to photograph the piano. it is nothing special - a smaller yamaha grand that has experienced a bit of wear and tear. it has more warmth than some of the others - it is good for inspecting tone.

There are solar roll-up shades that almost anyone can put up as a DIY project. These block something like 95 percent of the UV rays that fade finishes. You can think of it as sunglasses for the piano.


There are also films that go on the glass that do the same thing or, if you can afford the piano, you can also afford to have the glass installed with the tint factory applied.

I got a new piano!! An Estonia 190L!

It's the first piano I've owned. The piano search was intense and dramatic, but it all turned out wonderfully.

Here are some pictures. The space hasn't been fully moved-into yet. (The bean-bag is my attempt, before finding the right rug, of dampening the sound, because it is *loud*.) Recordings will be posted soon.

Ooooo, beautiful!

What a gorgeous piano!! I can't wait to hear how it sounds. What especially do you like about it? The action, the tone?

Yes, the action and the tone are both wonderful. So is its overall consistency, and the feeling I'm beginning to develop that I can trust this piano.

Best of all is the fact that it's there. To be played whenever I want. Finally. Finally.

-Jason

Hearty congratulations on your new piano. I know you will enjoy it for years to come.

Regards,

Here's my practice space, with me at the piano...

Congratulations Jason. Your excitement about the instrument is almost visible..

Jason, your Estonia's gorgeous!

Is the beanbag working for acoustic control? You may find that your ears get used to the big sound, but do you have plans for a rug or cushy window treatments or something, if you find you want more softness in the room.

I had the C7 on wood floors in my last house. It sounded beautiful, but it was pretty loud. The room was smaller than yours, though. Still, I loved the sound and I was worried about moving into this house and putting it on carpet and under a cathedral ceiling. Fortunately, I like the sound even better here, so even though I think I'll eventually put down wood floors in the rest of the house, the music room will always have carpet.

That estonia looks very very nice! How long is it? 6' something? MaryAnna, your practice area looks very very nice! I love the old world feel mixed with modern features!

The Estonia 190 is 6'3" although some manufacturers list 190cm as 6'4".

Regards,

is that your cousin singing?

Yes, indeed, that's my cousin on his first visit. I was not the best accompanist, so when he came last September, we just sight-read duets. He's a tolerant man.

Thanks, Brandon! I had a lot of fun decorating that room.

When I moved in, I got the dealership that sold me the piano to move it for me. They don't move one that size every day (it's not that big a town), so the dealer came himself to supervise. You can't really see it in the picture, but the room is pretty big. The piano is at the corner of an L-shaped room that's good-sized in both directions.

I'd had it painted, so it was already pink, and it just looked big and *really* pink without any furniture in there. The dealer came in, took one look and said, "Hey! You could get a nine-footer in here!"

Nice try, buddy...

Hmm I seem to totally have missed this picture! What a fine looking piano that is!! Is it an erard? Silly lid. :P

ok, this is my messy practice room. i use a bubble stool to help my back.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your practice spaces pictures! I've really enjoyed viewing them! Here are my pictures in hopes that this thread will keep going....

It appears you have nice high ceilings----a piano's best acoustical friend.

Wow what a beautiful set up

This is my big piano (in not such a big room) - a Brodmann 187.


With a picture of the only member of our family of five who doesn't yet play the piano:



The acoustics of the room mean that playing with the lid fully open is a fine, if fairly loud, experience for the pianist, but rather blows away anyone else in the room. I might need to adjust, but the natural light from the windows and a skylight above make this a pleasant place to play.

Competing with the television isn't too much of an issue. It is a good reason to have the TV off, and we have a digital in another room for silent practice.

Mric
I love the adjustable piano seat. I've never seen one before, let alone one that goes that high.

You certainly have one beautiful Brodmann! I had the opportunity to play a small Brodmann grand. It was a fantastic piano!

I enjoyed this thread so much, and I hope we'll see some more practice spaces... Pianos only come to life when they're embedded in a context. Even though we may predict or know what a Kawai RX-3 looks like (or any other piano for that matter), the piano receives its special value from where it is placed and by what it is surrounded (and by whom it is played, of course)... Let's see some more spaces! (I also like to look at the spaces of others in hope of improving my own space)

It looks like she is very eager to learn though!

my space is in my bedroom, I'm on weeks of getting a new and bigger bed, so let's see where I will put him then lol
it's an yamaha p-85, and the chair, i stole it from my mom's bedroom lol



here at night, and very close



I store my few books and sheets on one ikea folder near me, in the bookcase.