piano history Archives - South Jersey Piano

The Differences Between Grand And Upright Pianos

June 3, 2022June 3, 2022 by Andrew LarzelereNo Comments

The Differences Between Grand And Upright Pianos A Brief History of the Piano The first piano was created by an Italian named Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700. His intention was to make an instrument with a more dynamic tone than the harpsichord, which does not allow musicians to have much control over the volume of the notes they are playing. It was originally called a pianoforte, because in Italian the terms “piano” and “forte” mean “soft” and “loud”, respectively. Cristofori did this by changing the mechanism that causes the strings to vibrate. Whereas a harpsichord uses a plectrum to pluck its strings, Cristofori designed a system that uses a hammer that is pushed toward the string at first and then allowed to travel the rest of the way on its own momentum. This made the piano more responsive to the touch of the musician, since playing a note harder would result in a louder sound, and vice versa. Modern pianos, though they have evolved over...

Mezzo-thermoneal stabilizers (Or: Marketing Gimmicks)

March 31, 2017April 6, 2017 by SJ Piano ServiceNo Comments

What's a "mezzo-thermoneal stabilizer" you ask? That's a great question. In the post-WW2 era, when the piano market was really taking off in America, manufacturers started coming up with all kinds of new patented techniques to make their pianos stand out from the competition. Or, at the very least, to make them sound special. "Mezzo-thermoneal stabilizers" are a great example. No one really knows what it means, but it sure sounds cool. Almost like your piano was designed by NASA! Most of these kinds of labels, unfortunately, are little more than marketing gimmicks. This particular piano is a 1979 Kimball Console. It's actually a good little piano, but the mezzo-thermoneal stabilization probably has nothing to do with it! ...

Cooling holes in piano plate

March 28, 2017April 6, 2017 by SJ Piano ServiceNo Comments

Have you ever wondered why grand pianos have these holes in their plate? Piano plates are made of cast iron, and as such are forged at very high temperatures. These "cooling holes" are strategically placed in the plate to break up large contiguous areas of cast metal so that the entire plate can cool more evenly and quickly, avoiding warping and cracking. As cool as it would be, they are unfortunately not "subwoofers" or "sounding holes" and having more of them does not necessarily make your piano better. There is minimal impact on sound and that is not the purpose of the holes. What IS cool though, is that various manufacturers trim and decorate the holes in different ways, and it can be a unique identifying element of a piano's history! This one is a 1926 Steinway L baby grand. ...

Stencil pianos – what are you actually getting?

May 10, 2016November 30, 2016 by SJ Piano Comment Closed

This is a great example of what is known as a "stencil" piano. The name "Brahms" appears on the front of the piano, but in fact the plate (visible in the background) is stamped with Winter & Company, the actual manufacturer of the piano. I couldn't find any background information on this particular customer's piano, but it was very common in the mid-1900's for piano stores, dealers, and others to have a run of pianos manufactured by an established company with the dealer's name stamped on the front. Winter & Co. was one of the larger piano manufacturers in the 1940's, when this piano was built, and had arrangements like this with dozens of companies over the years. If you own a piano with a name on the front that is unfamiliar and hard to find any information on, one possible explanation is that it's a stencil. They are not necessarily inferior pianos; it just depends, of course, on the company that...