[CAUT] Voicing method/analogy

[Richard Brekne]

Hi Jeff

This was an interesting and if I may add nicely reflected posting.  An 
important point you make as to the financial viability of the company 
over this same time period. You do ask a question relative to Europeans 
and which piano they prefer. I will attempt to provide at least some 
information in partial answer.

The short answer is that they prefer the Hamburg Steinway when they can 
get it.  Petrof is quite popular because they have accomplished an 
instrument with an overall nicely rounded sound picture.... not because 
of the general quality which tho has improved significantly these past 
years still suffers from some of the familiar production problems they 
traditionally have had. Long story there... but I have every indication 
that they are committed to entering the ring of high quality pianos... 
and I for one cheer them on enthusiastically.  Otherwise in Europe... I 
am afraid the story is similar to the development in the US.... tho 
perhaps a few more companies have been able to see the proverbial 
writing on the wall in time then was the case in the US.  Schimmel 
struggles...but manages well enough and improves its product.  Seiler, 
Sauter, Bosendorfer and Bluthner keep on and tho they are struggling... 
they are surviving.  Smaller companies of high quality pianos that are 
managing also include Fazioli and Steingræber & Sons.

There are many other makes of lesser quality still available... 
curiously tho these seem to be the first to fall by the wayside... the 
Dutch pianos come to mind.  In more southerly areas some French pianos 
are popular tho we see few of them up here and I am unfamiliar with 
them.  Chinese pianos are still rather unknown here.... tho they are on 
their way no doubt. Korean Samick has been a big seller.... a price 
decision me thinks.  Boston has been kept rather secret in much of the 
northern part of Europe it seems to me. They are virtually unknown here 
in Norway.... tho they are popping up now and seem quite well received 
when first given a fair chance. At least that can be said of their 
grands.  These have from their inception struck me as a throw back to a 
kind of central European piano sound tradition.... big rolling bass and 
a treble that when voiced nicely moves in the direction of crystal as 
opposed to chimelike.  I think really... Boston presents a double sided 
sword to Steinway. Being much less expensive but still a wonderful sound 
that presents a very clear alternative to the brassy Japanese sound that 
has influenced the market so much these past years.

Ah... one could go on and on... but I will allow this to suffice for now. 

Cheers
RicB




    I think we've all heard some pretty tall tale-telling over the years  
    from Yamaha and Kawai dealers, too, so marketing is a tool that  
    everyone uses.

    But, like Ric, I can't accept the theory that the "Steinway sound" is  
    the dominant preference thanks to clever marketing.  Steinway has  
    always integrated feedback from performers into the piano making  
    process.  They continue to do that today.  I think they are  
    successful because they build an instrument that is extremely  
    durable, capable of anything any performer is capable of, and is more  
    versatile, that can be voiced in so many different directions to suit  
    so many different musical tastes.

    Something that has also helped is that the company has been  
    profitable for 150 years, while others have struggled, and just  
    disappeared.  The company, as a company, is dependable.  Yes, Piano  
    Disk has had Mason & Hamlin back in production for several years and  
    sales are good.  Yes, Gibson is building Baldwin pianos (who knows  
    about sales? I don't know of a Baldwin dealership I can drive to in a  
    day's time).  SMC is reintegrating the old Baltimore scales back into  
    the Knabe, and it will be built in the US.  Others have just become  
    names owned by the next new buyer, and stuck on the fallboard of  
    another piano shaped product built in China.  But Steinway has always  
    been there, right there in the same place, and the American public  
    will reward that dependability.

    European makes?  They are wonderful pianos.  But you don't see enough  
    of them here to make a statement.  As good as they are, what are the  
    artists preferring in Europe?  Steinway presence is strong because  
    the company is profitable enough to market the product all over the  
    world.  That's just good business.  And, after all, in the end, it is  
    business.  Survival of the fittest.

    So, perhaps there is some natural selection involved.  But I doubt it  
    can all be attributed to the Steinway marketing department.

    Even if it were, what's wrong with it?  It's a pretty darn good  
    sound, me thinks.


    Jeff Tanner, RPT
    University of South Carolina

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/20070601/3d97941a/attachment.html