[CAUT] The Steinway Cult thing.

[Fred Sturm]

On Apr 24, 2009, at 12:26 PM, Richard Brekne wrote:

> Thing is I just dont see how on earth anyone of us... or even all of  
> us put together has got a hoot'n chance of doing anything about this  
> phenomena.  And I'll bet 2 dozen to 1 that it's not so important  
> exactly what name the present piano deity has...  it the fact that  
> pianists just need the deity.  The reality of that deities condition  
> is in the end not relevant. I'll be the first to hop on anyones  
> frustration wagon as far as that ride will take me.   But experience  
> tells me... there aint a damned thing I or anyone else can do to  
> change it.  At best... we can truly satisfy a very few open minds  
> who are willing to try anything as long as real quality has its  
> named not just on the fallboard but in every part of the pianos  
> performance. For those few .... just about any well executed  
> approach will work.  But for the rest of the worlds <<pianists>>...   
> its just hopeless. Its good (or not) simply depending on the name.  
> And that seems to be a fact I have to live with, and try to make the  
> best of.

	Curiously, this is an example of what seems, by your description, to  
be a reasonably decent piano badly set up and prepped. I guess you are  
saying that the customer overlooks the bad prep because of the name on  
the fallboard, and the fact she heard the rebuilder was good. And no  
doubt lots of people - maybe most - are pretty suggestible that way,  
and aren't all that perceptive and able to make up their own minds  
based on their own perceptions.
	But the moral I draw from the story is that this customer - and as  
much of the public at large as possible - needs to be exposed to well- 
prepped pianos. I am convinced from my own experience that this can be  
an eye-opening and life-changing experience, and one that will lead to  
more sensitivity and demand for excellence of different sorts  
(including subtleties of design and materials - like hammers and  
soundboards). When most pianos a person comes in contact with are  
"horribly out of focus" (as I would put your description of the  
condition of the O), it is hard to tell the difference with any  
certainty, from the perspective of the pianist. When at least a large  
number are "in focus," it becomes possible to discern the real  
underlying differences. Not that that will entirely eliminate the knee- 
jerk fallboard decal reaction, but I think it helps.
	IOW, there _is_ something we can do. But it is a lot of small things.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu