Ships Piano
Here’s another small, slightly portable and largely neglected keyboard instrument. Designed by JB Cramer and Sons of London in the late 1800’s, the ships piano (or yacht piano) was built especially for the cramped confines of Victorian pleasure boats. The perfect thing for a little sea bound entertainment in the good old pre-ipod days of the empire.

A ships piano is basically a tiny rudimentary upright piano with a five octave keyboard that folds upwards to save space. It has no bottom half and sits either on a low table or a stand with a small leather and chain contraption dangling from its bottom that loops around the foot for the sustain pedal.

Because of its small frame size it struggles with low notes so the bass strings are very wide gauge and particularly flabby, resulting in a strange almost atonal metallic sound in the lower reaches.

MAKING THE 1690 CRISTOFORI OVAL SPINET COPY

After the discovery in 2000 of the 'missing' Cristofori oval spinet made for the Medici in a palazzo once belonging to the antiquarian Bardini, the instrument was transfered to the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence (famous for housing the Michelangelo statue of David) . The oval spinet is one of two very similar instruments, the other is dated 1693 and is now in the Leipsig instrument museum. The Galleria dell'Accademia includes a gallery of musical instruments of the conservatory, comprising the vestiges of the Medici collection of musical instruments. These include a famous ebony harpsichord also made by Cristofori for the Medici

It was decided to carry out a series of analyses and measurements, incuding x-rays, analyses of the woods and metals used. Also I made a CAD plan of the instrument and keyboard. This was done by mounting a laser pointer on a system of sliding beams mounted above the instrument, and reading off the x and y coordinates of various points (along the edges of the case, bridges etc. and the pin positions) from metal rules (the system would be suitable for automization given time and money). The positions and dimensions of internal parts were taken from the full size x-ray and direct measurement (through cracks and openings in the case).

Harling Cottage Upright (London)

http://shafferpianos.com/harling/
This mid-nineteenth century London piano is one of the most unique and ornate upright pianos we have ever seen. It features a beautifully styled case with bookmatched burled walnut, brass candelabra, and Chippendale-style legs. The ivory naturals and ebony sharps are rounded on the fronts. The sound of the piano is also warm and charming. This instrument would make an outstanding addition to any fine antiques collection, perfectly complementing any Victorian, Chippendale, or British furniture collection.

French Art-Case Piano by Gaveau
A rare and beautiful harpsichord-style, art-case piano painted inside and out with floral designs and supported by a base with six turned legs and heavy shaped stretchers. The piano has an iron frame and a full 88 keyboard with perfect ivory keytops. All the original paintings are perfectly intact, and the piano mechanism is restored.

Gaveau was a French firm of piano and harpsichord makers. Joseph Gaveau (b. Paris, 1824; d. Paris 1903) founded the firm in 1847, working with his employees in a small shop in the rue des Vinaigriers in Paris; the workshop and the offices were later transferred to the rue Servan. The firm established an excellent reputation for its smaller pianos. Gaveau was a competitor of Erard and Pleyel, and built exceptional instruments, with highly decorative cases. This rare piano is an outstanding example of how Gaveau blended elements of early eighteenth century harpsichord style in their piano making.

*Prepared Piano*

Mark Braun rides his "Joybox Express," a bicycle that carries his 352-pound piano.

The German pianist and singer Jo Bohnsack is a great lover of boogie woogie and blues. And an enthusiastic player by the look of it!

I'm fascinated by this building and have not been able to find any other buldings built like a piano anywhere, but it is hard to imagine that they don't exist...

Jubilee model PETROF III grand piano
It has become a tradition: Every time PETROF celebrates another 10-year anniversary, it produces a new, original piano whose production is never repeated.
For the 140th anniversary of the founding of PETROF, a completely exceptional, completely original piano, PETROF III grand piano, Jubilee Model Opus No. 595 000, has been produced.
It is equipped with a magnetic accelerated action (MAA). http://www.petrof.com/grand-pi...bilee-model-iii.html

Petrof MIDI Grand Piano

This is an instrument with classic grand piano keyboard, action and hammers, with a pedal mechanism, without an acoustic section.
The Petrof MIDI piano is built on a bulky standard key bed whose structure is identical with an acoustic grand piano. It includes standard grand piano keyboard with individually balanced keys and complete grand piano action with hammers and damper parts. At play all the mechanical parts really move, including the side shift of the keyboard while pushing the left pedal, so that the feeling of the player is quite the same as playing the acoustic piano. The piano action and the keyboard are standardly regulated as with acoustic instrument and that is why the behaviour of the MIDI piano is really the same as the behaviour of the acoustic instrument.

Cat Concerto – Nora Cat Plays Piano with Orchestra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeoT66v4EHg

Lithuanian composer Mindaugas Piecaitis composed a concerto specifically for Nora, the piano playing cat so she would appear to perform with an orchestra. A video of Nora Cat plays on the big screen while the rest of the music is being performed by the Klaipeda Chamber Orchestra. Story is here: http://www.ravenswingstudio.co...b/docs/theStory.html

That is so cool. Such a strange combination of imagery. But it really works. You can almost hear the tempest, see the fingers flying, and the keys giving up and exploding out of the piano.

I could not find the explanation for this photo, but it sort-of looks like da Vinci was making machines from piano parts...

Rippen Mid Century Aluminum Baby Grand Piano Netherlands 1950's
A fantastic instrument cased in a fabulous design! The Rippen was a revolutionary design when introduced. The tensile strength of the painted cast metal cabinet allowed the profile to be much thinner, while maintaining a full, rich tone. It is indeed a cast 'body-and-frame-in-one'. It's straight strung and the laminated soundboard has reverse crown.

Folding Grand Piano
J.J. Ripping was a highly innovative piano manufacturer, and his son Nico Ripping devised in 1969 the Lindner Folding Grand Piano.