Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/05/09/man-builds-15-ft-tall-pianos.html
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Is this the reverse of the 12 inch pianist joke?
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I can see I’m not needed here…
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Pretty sure a Klavins is what Nils Frahm plays on for some of his albums - an Una Corda specifically, which has a distinctive sound because it only has one cord per note instead of 3 like typical pianos. It gives these albums a ‘simplified’ sound, and along with his compositions, they are amazingly tranquil.
Edit: I’m unable to watch the video at the moment since I’m at work - apologies if all this is covered in the piece!
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Ok, here’s my stupid question: why not build them “upside down”, with the keyboard at the bottom, so one doesn’t have to climb up to play them? More like a “normal” upright piano, I guess.
I mean, it’s kinda cool and all, but wouldn’t it be a bit easier to have them oriented the other way? It would be pretty strange if pipe organs were built this way, I guess…
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But… this one goes to eleven.
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I was wondering the same thing. Is there some reason to make them so cumbersome to play?
But he climbs beautifully!
he actually has to climb a ladder to play it, which he does, beautifully
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I want one, the sound is so nice. Our piano is WAY too loud for the room we have to keep it in.
If you are a musician into sampling, Native Instruments has a reproduction of this very instrument that sounds incredible. However, the idea has been around for a while and there have been plenty of instruments that already do this, or methods to mute other strings so they don’t produce harmonics (which still happens with the traditional mute…you have to stick them in the strings).
That said, back in the days of uprights, there were a few full-length grand uprights where the strings were designed not to cross one another and thus elicit sympathetic harmonics from one another. Some went up, and others were built directly into their performance spaces so that the room was as much a part of the instrument as it was. It is amazing that in this day and age, someone is still doing this, but pianos used to be a lot more experimental than they are today with almost everything standardized within a few themes.
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There are vertical grand pianos from yesteryear where that’s exactly how they’re made - keyboard at the bottom and strings up to the ceiling. I’ve only seen ones about 6ft tall though, the same length as most grand pianos.
I think this dude is just being “extra” - as the kids say.
https://www.tefaf.com/art/details/tefaf-maastricht/renar/florentin-baudet-grand-vertical-piano
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Usually it’s the vocalist who has trouble hitting the high notes.
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I’m going to guess that it is because his motivation to make it vertical was to direct the sound toward the audience, and to sit in front of the strings would block some of it. also might be pretty loud.
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Once I saw Klavin’s name, I couldn’t help but read the article in Professor Frink’s voice. (Or Jerry Lewis)
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That narrator is really annoying.
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Is anyone else a little worried about what appears to be a single temporary lumber column, held with hand clamps, that is preventing this thing from pitching over?
In this scene the column might also be resting on the forklift-supported wood platform!
Hungarian OSHA?
I suspect that the lumber+clamp is more of a stabilising aid. The actual support is from the green straps tying it to the building frame at the back:
Plus I think the vertical V shape is also support. Interestingly, his website shows the same kind of build but with a surrounding full support framework:
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