When I mention to people that one of my specialties as a piano technician is working on modern piano player systems, I often get a quizzical look in response. Most people have heard of player pianos, of course, but still associate them with the player pianos of yore, the ones with paper rolls and vacuum …
Throughout my life as a piano player and my career as a piano technician, I’ve noticed an interesting divide in opinions on player pianos. Some people think they’re the bees’ knees. I mean, a piano that plays itself (and likely does a lot of other stuff like recording and streaming music over the internet) obviously …
Over the weekend, my daughter and I trekked down to the studio of Portland’s amazing classical radio station, All Classical Portland for a Halloween party and movie showing of Hotel Transylvania hosted by the International Children’s Arts Network (ICAN). All Classical Portland is, and has been for a long time, a truly great radio station. …
Player pianos have come a long way since they were invented in the late 1800s, but I came across an old-school system that merges the old with the new in a really cool way. It turns out the owner is a retired (old school) player piano technician who had his Mason & Hamlin upright with …
The following are some of my favorite piano related DVDs and books. Links will take you to Amazon, where you can purchase a copy for your piano library. I love to read…and the only thing perhaps that I love more than reading is telling other people what they should read. -Clark Gregg Pianomania …
One of the biggest behind the scenes changes we made when undergoing our big website redesign to what is now andantepianoworks.com v3.0 was switching platforms from Squarespace to WordPress. I regularly tell clients that at a certain point, a particular piano may stop meeting their needs as their playing progresses and changes, and that is …
5 Reasons for our Switch from Squarespace to WordPress Read More »
Can’t get enough of pianos and piano technology? Check out these books and DVDs!
Temperament: How Music Became a Battleground for the Great Minds of Western Civilization by Stuart Isacoff
Did you know that equal temperament, now the standard system of tuning for pianos, was once thought to be an affront to all that is good and holy? Neither did I, until I read this fascinating book that covers the journey and riddle of equal temperament, tackled by religious leaders, Greek mathematicians, Isaac Newton, and a brilliant Chinese scholar.
A Natural History of the Piano by Stuart Isacoff
While I haven’t yet had the opportunity to read this book, I have read numerous reviews that describe it as an engaging declaration as to why the piano is the greatest of all instruments ever. That is all I needed to hear to recommend it to you, my fellow piano nerds.
