Me and the piano
I have a piano update!!
On August 13th, after my friend Anne's wedding, I went to Robert Lowrey's in Toronto to look at pianos. I had no intention of purchasing a piano right away, I was just going in to see what was out there, and to get a feel for prices. Robert Lowrey's rebuild pianos and refinish them in their shop in Toronto, and I knew they'd have quite a selection. It was the perfect place to begin my search for the perfect piano.
A salesman started by showing me a Heintzman upright they had just purchased and on which they would spend about $2000 more on rebuilding. It had a great sound with the existing strings, but I didn't like the look of it - it had a yellowish finish, and the work he explained that would be done didn't seem like enough for me. He proceeded to show me around the shop (that would be an interesting place to work if your primary goal is to work with pianos!) and pointed out a few pianos in which I might be interested. So far, I thought I had at least gotten a taste for what I was looking for, but nothing jumped out at me. I was not looking for a project on which I could work during my off-hours, I wanted something I could take home as soon as possible and start to play right away. I was prepared to continue my search.
But then, he brought me back to the showroom, and showed me the finished pianos, those that are ready for immediate sale. He showed me a Gerhard Heintzman (here's an interesting tidbit about Gerhard Heintzman) that dates back to about 1910. Lowrey's had refinished the cabinet, and replaced hammers, damper felts, key tops, strings, tuning pins and many other internal felts. The salesman's intention was to compare other pianos to this one in terms of sound. We kept coming back to the Gerhard Heintzman, because the bass was unsurpassable. The other pianos he played made me feel like I had cotton in my ears when I heard the bass. It just didn't ring out...
Well, I fell in love with this Gerhard Heintzman. I was confused, because I had no intention of purchasing a piano here. I was hoping to be able to find something I liked from a smaller merchant, with the thought of helping out a smaller business. I am not certain I would have found this extent of work on such a great sounding piano from a small business. I had to remind myself that I am now at a level where I really deserve something outstanding, and my gut was telling me that this was the piano for me. It sounded great, there was alot of work done on it, and the cabinet was beautiful! A smaller businessman would not have been able to afford to do so much work and end up with such a fine specimen.
And I'm sure that, by now, you know how this story turns out. The piano has been in my new apartment since August 21, and I play it every single day! I have friends who could not believe how much I had spent on this piano, but after they saw and heard it, they understood immediately. I'm very proud to have this piano in my home, and feel that something deep inside has begun to be fulfilled. I've been waiting twelve years to have my own piano! And now I can concentrate even more on my intimate passion with music. I can now prepare for my final practical exam with the Conservatory of Music, the ARCT (Associateship of Royal Conservatory Teachers)! I will attain my goal!
I am an accomplished pianist. I have my grade X certificate from the Royal Conservatory of Music which I passed in January 1987. Throughout my childhood, I participated in the Kiwanis Festival in North Bay, winning many certificates and a few trophies! The piano I played at home is an upright Lindsay that was likely made in Quebec some time around 1920. It belonged to my paternal grandmother and spent 10 years in an attic before my father took it in. It is still at my parents' house in North Bay, but it seldom gets any action since it is not in such great condition anymore, and all the pianists in the family have moved away!
While attending the University of Toronto, I lived at St Joseph's College, part of the St Micheal's College campus. In the residence, there were several pianos, and I played them regularly. One day, my father came to pick me up for an outing of some sort, and I was at the piano when he arrived. One of my friends was just outside the solarium when he came in, and they began to talk about me. Simone made a comment about my playing, and my father answered "She doesn't play just because she wants to, she needs to play." In other words, it is an important outlet for me. He was right. Unfortunately, since I've left the college, I haven't had a regular outlet and I miss it terribly! I've started saving some money for the day that I have a place to put a grand piano... It may be a while, but they say patience is a virtue!
George Brown College
In June, 1998, I graduated from the Piano Technology program at George Brown College in Toronto, Ontario. Since then, I've tuned a few pianos and done some very minor repairs. But it seems a career in piano technology is not in the books for me... That's OK though. The two years spent in the course was a good opportunity for learning, something I'm always up for!
This is the grand piano my class partner and I rebuilt in our second year of Piano Technology at George Brown College. The photo shows the repaired and refinished sound board, the repainted plate with its new bright red felt, and the new strings. You can also see the new bridge caps - they are wooden and their tops are painted black with graphite; the strings pass over the bridges, and their vibrations are transferred through the bridge to the sound board. We also built a new pin block which is at the keyboard end of the piano and holds the tuning pins.
Here, I'm drilling the holes for the tuning pins into the pin block. Typically in any piano of regular size, there will be approximately 220 tuning pins! Laying out their precise location and then drilling the holes at a slight angle is only part of the big job in building a new pin block. The curved edge of the block must be fitted to the cast-iron plate so that it is snug against it, and the straight edges must be cut so that they fit into the piano and fasten to the cast-iron plate.
During this course, we went to New York and visited the Steinway piano factory. I went there hoping to obtain employment, as they stated they were in a hiring mode at the time. Although they were impressed with my resume, and were certain I'd be a good candidate for a position with their company, they weren't able to hire me because of my citizenship. They could sponser me for two or perhaps three years, but wouldn't be able to renew my work visa because of the nature of the work and the availability of skill in the US. In other words, I'd just be getting good, and they'd have to ship me back to Canada. I was bitterly disappointed... but they do make a fine piano. I'd be proud to own one.
Also during this course, we visited the University of Western Ontario's music department. The highlight for me was playing one of two Bösendorfer grands in one of the staff members' office. That is definitely a piano I would like to own! Unfortunately, they run very high in price, and the way my career (or lack of one) is going I may never be able to afford one! Unless, of course, I marry a rich man or win the lottery... I'm not holding my breath!