NAMM 2024 in Review

This was the first year since covid that the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) trade show was back to its regular January date and, in fact the first show where it felt back to normal. How was it? To answer that, I’m going quickly review the piano market over the last few years. Piano… Read More

Researching Pianos ~ The Action

“I shall build an Arpicembalo!” stated Cristofori excitedly. The year was 1698 and his new invention literally translated means “harp-harpsichord”. It would be a new instrument that would sound like a harp and have keys like a harpsichord. Harpsichords have plucked strings but this new invention would have mallets that strike the strings. It was… Read More

Bösendorfer Vienna Concert Pianos

They say that French cuisine and baked goods are inseparable from the ingredients grown there, that the quality of the food is due in part to the local culture from farm to table. In music, there is something similar in Austria known as the Viennese sound. It is a unique sound that is also considered… Read More

Hailun HG151 Grand Piano

Impressions: Sitting at the Hailun HG151 piano, you get the impression that the piano has what I would describe as a “Classic” feel. The Hailun company, which I visited in 2015 manufactures roughly 38,000 pianos annually and takes a traditional approach to manufacturing, performing many of the processes by hand. Every grand at the factory… Read More

Piano Touch with David Stanwood

Today we have the privilege of speaking with David Stanwood, a piano technician who also happens to be a published author specializing in piano touch metrology. (Metrology being the science of measurement)… Read More

Hailun Piano Factory ~ A First Glimpse

It’s simply overwhelming the stature and size of the Hailun Piano Company. They manufacture roughly 38,000 pianos per year. Now if you do the math, that’s just over 3,150 pianos per month in 4.2 MILLION square feet of factory space.… Read More

Hailun Piano Innovation

Working with a translator, he showed me different concepts in his pianos. What caught my eye was this silver looking gleam under the keys on one of their upright pianos. As seen in the picture… Read More

Testing Pianos Like a Pro

Going back just over 20 years, I was a new upstart that just got hired by the local piano store. With 2 Classical degrees behind me I felt confident I knew my way around the keyboard. Fortunately my boss at the time… Read More