Comments on: 88 Keys – The Making of a Steinway Piano http://grandpianosforsaleonline.com/88-keys-the-making-of-a-steinway-piano/ We'll show you where to find a great deal on grand pianos! Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:59:18 +0000 hourly 1 By: samlet@aol.com http://grandpianosforsaleonline.com/88-keys-the-making-of-a-steinway-piano/comment-page-1/#comment-43 samlet@aol.com Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:27:49 +0000 http://grandpianosforsaleonline.com/88-keys-the-making-of-a-steinway-piano/#comment-43 Mr. Chapin has attained the impossible... or the nearly impossible. He has taken a thing of beauty, a Steinway piano, torn it apart, reduced it to its thousands of components, and put it back together, all the while retaining the mystery, art and magic of the instrument. Bravo! Rating: 5 / 5 Mr. Chapin has attained the impossible… or the nearly impossible. He has taken a thing of beauty, a Steinway piano, torn it apart, reduced it to its thousands of components, and put it back together, all the while retaining the mystery, art and magic of the instrument. Bravo!
Rating: 5 / 5

]]> By: Carol C. http://grandpianosforsaleonline.com/88-keys-the-making-of-a-steinway-piano/comment-page-1/#comment-42 Carol C. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:05:14 +0000 http://grandpianosforsaleonline.com/88-keys-the-making-of-a-steinway-piano/#comment-42 This book gives you a blow-by-blow account of how a piano is made at the Steinway factory in New York City. The book is readable and gives you an appreciation of the detail and precision, all of the handiwork that go into a well-crafted piano. It also shows that a piano is not just a standard item -- pianos are crafted for individuals (Horowitz likes a light, responsive touch, Rubenstein wanted a more resistant touch, some performers want different tones depending on what they are playing). The only drawback (unless you're a Steinway groupie) -- it's rather self-promotional, a well-written, well-illustrated 143-page Steinway & Sons advertisement, but fascinating nonetheless. Rating: 4 / 5 This book gives you a blow-by-blow account of how a piano is made at the Steinway factory in New York City. The book is readable and gives you an appreciation of the detail and precision, all of the handiwork that go into a well-crafted piano. It also shows that a piano is not just a standard item — pianos are crafted for individuals (Horowitz likes a light, responsive touch, Rubenstein wanted a more resistant touch, some performers want different tones depending on what they are playing). The only drawback (unless you’re a Steinway groupie) — it’s rather self-promotional, a well-written, well-illustrated 143-page Steinway & Sons advertisement, but fascinating nonetheless.
Rating: 4 / 5

]]> By: Alexander Ryan http://grandpianosforsaleonline.com/88-keys-the-making-of-a-steinway-piano/comment-page-1/#comment-41 Alexander Ryan Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:29:28 +0000 http://grandpianosforsaleonline.com/88-keys-the-making-of-a-steinway-piano/#comment-41 88 Keys is beautifully presented; a large-size book full of fine colored pencil sketches, broken down into chapters on each aspect of the piano. <br /> <br />The book is best suited, and was probably intended, to be a coffee table book at Steinway sites. It provides an overview of the process of building a Steinway, making note of all the innovations that make Steinways pianos the most popular today. <br /> <br />My only reservation is this: I bought it hoping that it would be geared toward the reader interested in the engineering and perhaps physics of piano building. The book provides only enough detail to *just* satisfy this interest, but I walk away like leaving the dinner table still a little hungry. <br /> <br />Nevertheless, this book took me, in its storybook way, from no knowledge of piano manufacture to an overall satisfying knowledge. I'm definitely eager, now, to visit the Steinway factory and see it all for myself. Rating: 4 / 5 88 Keys is beautifully presented; a large-size book full of fine colored pencil sketches, broken down into chapters on each aspect of the piano.

The book is best suited, and was probably intended, to be a coffee table book at Steinway sites. It provides an overview of the process of building a Steinway, making note of all the innovations that make Steinways pianos the most popular today.

My only reservation is this: I bought it hoping that it would be geared toward the reader interested in the engineering and perhaps physics of piano building. The book provides only enough detail to *just* satisfy this interest, but I walk away like leaving the dinner table still a little hungry.

Nevertheless, this book took me, in its storybook way, from no knowledge of piano manufacture to an overall satisfying knowledge. I’m definitely eager, now, to visit the Steinway factory and see it all for myself.
Rating: 4 / 5

]]> By: Anonymous http://grandpianosforsaleonline.com/88-keys-the-making-of-a-steinway-piano/comment-page-1/#comment-40 Anonymous Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:05:11 +0000 http://grandpianosforsaleonline.com/88-keys-the-making-of-a-steinway-piano/#comment-40 With exquisite illustrations by Rodica Prato, this book attempts to explain the most complicated piece of machinery made by hand in the world today - the much-loved & familiar grand pianofortes from the Masters at the House of Steinway. For those of us, seduced as children by the wonder of a piano, so much so that we dreamed at the keyboard, created our own little ditties & mimicked the music & sounds that we heard in our lives, this is a wonderful reunion! I loved the time line at the bottom of the history chapter, now what is that melody, I wonder? An unusual, unique & absorbing book. Certainly a good idea for anyone starting out at the keyboards! Rating: 5 / 5 With exquisite illustrations by Rodica Prato, this book attempts to explain the most complicated piece of machinery made by hand in the world today – the much-loved & familiar grand pianofortes from the Masters at the House of Steinway. For those of us, seduced as children by the wonder of a piano, so much so that we dreamed at the keyboard, created our own little ditties & mimicked the music & sounds that we heard in our lives, this is a wonderful reunion! I loved the time line at the bottom of the history chapter, now what is that melody, I wonder? An unusual, unique & absorbing book. Certainly a good idea for anyone starting out at the keyboards!
Rating: 5 / 5

]]> By: Peter Kenney http://grandpianosforsaleonline.com/88-keys-the-making-of-a-steinway-piano/comment-page-1/#comment-39 Peter Kenney Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:17:46 +0000 http://grandpianosforsaleonline.com/88-keys-the-making-of-a-steinway-piano/#comment-39 88 KEYES is written for music lovers. It is not intended as a manual on the construction of a piano. It reminds me of a college course on the history of science for liberal arts majors who are not interested in becoming scientists. The book contains a history of the Steinway piano and the people behind it as well as a description of how the Steinway piano is built. It is written with clarity and lavishly illustrated. The book is definitely fit to grace the coffee table. The author incidentally is an accomplished actor and also a fifth-generation descendant of Steinway's founder. Rating: 4 / 5 88 KEYES is written for music lovers. It is not intended as a manual on the construction of a piano. It reminds me of a college course on the history of science for liberal arts majors who are not interested in becoming scientists. The book contains a history of the Steinway piano and the people behind it as well as a description of how the Steinway piano is built. It is written with clarity and lavishly illustrated. The book is definitely fit to grace the coffee table. The author incidentally is an accomplished actor and also a fifth-generation descendant of Steinway’s founder.
Rating: 4 / 5

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