I’ve been playing the piano ever since I was very young, which quite frankly given my current time of life is more years than I care to remember. I also play the organ (pipe organ of course, with pedals…) and have spent many years training and conducting, as well as accompanying, choirs of various sizes and persuasions.
Some two and a half years ago I decided to buy a new piano. My old piano (which I still have) was made by Beale (although it's not called by that name) and after many years use and abuse by me and my students was beginning to show distinct signs of being world weary.
So I started a fairly comprehensive and time-consuming hunt to find a piano that I could play for how many more years the good Lord would allow me to add to the overall global level of noise pollution. My first port of call was to examine various upright pianos ranging from mass produced Asian clones through to some German (ie more expensive) models. None really appealed to either my fingers or my hearing.
So I started to look at grand pianos. By far the majority available in Sydney were of the baby grand variety, once again of various degrees of quality, price and sound. The most expensive one I looked at (a German model whose brand I shall not disclose) had the worst damper pedal I have ever seen (or felt, actually) with a ridiculously short travel which made any sort of sensitivity virtually impossible – it was either on or off, nothing in between. Even the ‘recognised’ brand names, both Asian and European, did not appeal. In addition, I was not convinced in any way that any of these pianos represented a good investment in the sense of lasting value, both monetarily and musically.
I had, of course, some familiarity with the work of Wayne Stuart in Newcastle and the publicity that his pianos had garnered in a world where tradition remains paramount (although for what reason I have no idea) was intriguing. Not that I ever intended to acquire one, mind you – such things were, I thought, right out of my league.
So I contacted Wayne and arranged to travel to Newcastle to poke my nose in and see what all the fuss was about. Wayne was (and still is!) very friendly and accommodating to a total stranger and we spent some time going through the factory and all the various bits and pieces that go together to make, as has been described to me by other perhaps more Philistinian people, a large heavy piece of wood with strings and a keyboard attached. After all, who needs a piano like that when one can buy an electronic keyboard that actually plays for you?
So we then sat down at the piano and I started to play. Wayne immediately stopped me, and pointed out quickly some of the ways I could better use the piano’s capabilities and characteristics, and I started the piece again.
The difference was quite incredible and after a short time I began to realise that if I was going to get any piano, I was going to get that one. I was able to get very quickly a tone and feel which I just couldn’t get from any other piano I’d played up to that point in time – and I include Yamaha, Kawai, Bechstein and (yes) Steinway in that assessment.
Well, to make a long story infinitesimally shorter, after much deliberation, negotiation and financial manipulation, that piano was delivered in December 2005. Wayne tuned it at the factory, and then carefully sewed it up in felt (he doesn’t trust piano removalists!). It was then loaded onto a truck and driven down the F3 freeway (rather bumpy in parts) to my humble abode. Whereupon it came off the truck (carefully…) and was manipulated into my music room, defelted (it took half an hour to get the bloody stuff off, Wayne should have been a tailor) and assembled in its new home.
When I finally sat down to play my new acquisition, it was perfectly in tune. Not bad going actually (Wayne tells me he’s sent pianos overseas with the same result).
Next time, first impressions….