Steinway B: Review of the Steinway Model B Classic Grand Piano by Merriam Music
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2019
- #Steinway #GrandPiano #SteinwayB
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Stuart Harrison, a piano expert and a professional pianist, from Merriam Pianos in Toronto provides a thorough overview of the Steinway Model B Grand Piano (6' 11" - 211 cm). The review includes an explanation of the Steinway Model B components, several stylistically different performances and much more.
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Thanks for checking the video out everyone - comments and questions welcome! This was a great example of a Steinway B we had in the showroom, and my review of it. I’ve done some playing closer to the end of the video, and of course there are many more on their way. Please subscribe and help support the channel!
I am certain you know this - but it's possible others don't: Quality pianos have their own personality (i.e. tone and action feel) One can experience this by trying out new Steinways at their factory Selection Room. 1/2 dozen brand-new Model B's lined up in a row are all different. Some are brighter, some have a more haunting, almost sensual feel, and others have a heavier or lighter action feel. So - when comparing and reviewing a specific Steinway, one must not expect ALL Steinways of that model will sound similarly. Some might - but others will be different enough to swear they are a different vintage, or even not even a Steinway! Also - the individual's preference for tone and touch seriously go into the equation of approval if not elation. I had the privilege of purchasing my own new B some years ago and it was both exhilarating and nerve-racking to choose MY perfect model B. But it was very rewarding and I am extremely happy with this piano as it has blossomed to such a wonderful tone that I will sometimes just sit down and just play an arpeggio and listen to it for a minute before going about my chores. Sublime!
Congrats on your Steinway Model B! And thank you kindly for writing in! It is certainly true that, when it comes to handmade instruments, every individual specimen will have its own unique nuances and characteristics. With that said, many of these companies have such a higher degree of precision through their manufacturing process, that the consistency is remarkable. The way a piano is prepped, voiced, and regulated (as you've mentioned) will have a lot to do with its overall musical offering. One way to think about it is that a specific design and selection of materials has a range of musical potential. It is up to the combination of the technician and the player to extract the tonal and dynamic potential they desire out of the instrument. :)
more than the "unbalance" among the registers of a Steinway, there's an undeniable ROMANTIC concept of music behind it. that's why the mid-range was so important at that era, for playing Chopin-like pieces. even so, the complexity of the timbre may deliver a very versatile piano as long as appropriately used by an experienced pianist, even in points where Steinway supposedly "failed". other instruments that delivery clearer bass or powerful treble, like Fazioli, does not delivery a romantic rounded sound or a warm bass, and there's nothing the pianist can do to fix that. with Steinways, what you don't get "raw" there is always a "workaround" from a technical pianistic point of view, so that this piano fits the entire repertoire in a satisfying way. knowing well these "workarounds" is part of a great pianist formation.
Gosh, I just LOVE the Model B!! I've played several, but my favorite Model B to play was at Oberlin College when I went to audition. It honestly was the best piano I've ever played. They had Model B's in each of the practice rooms, which was amazing! Lawrence University (where I also auditioned recently) had Steinways, but I don't know which model, and I didn't have the chance to play one of those unfortunately. I've played other Model B's locally in town, but those are just some notable instances (which happen to be a great distance from where I live). Great review!
EDIT: I also just realized he's playing "Blame It On My Youth" at the end-or at least it sounds like it! Beautiful ballad-that I've played countless times!
Thanks for tuning in! I believe you are correct. I think Stu is in fact playing that number at the end. ;)
The Steinway Model B is a classic scale design and an iconic tone! Thanks again and happy playing!
@@MerriamPianos will a steinway b be to loud in a home whit neighbours by the side?
Love your reviews! I'm scheduling a little studio time. Just me and a B! I cannot wait
Hi Jonathan I am sorry that a few of us have had this experience, thank you for taking the time. It has been a lifelong dream to practice on a Steinway. The problems with this Model B have continued to reveal themselves, each time I had it tuned a string would break. We got a "Steinway expert" a tuner, who said all the strings appeared to be too short around the pins, not enough wrap arounds, which is where they would break. I live outside Vancouver tuners are hard to come by and need to travel. My 3 years with this new piano have been heart breaking. I have been without it now for 7 months, as Tom Lee (A large music store in Canada and Hongkong) is taking their sweet time with it. I feel at this point a new piano would be reasonable compensation. Thanks for listening . Steinway does not acknowledge my notes to them. When you buy a premium brand you expect a level of service, not true anymore, I don't think they deserve their reputation at this point.
I'm sorry to hear about your bad experiences with this piano. It is disgraceful that Steinway does not stand behind their pianos, especially when you bought it brand new in 2015. I hope that Tom Lee will fix the string problem and that you will finally be happy with the piano. Steinway should have fixed it themselves. I would post about this experience in all the online piano forums. People should be forewarned about Steinway and their reputation deserves to be sullied. Steinway does make some beautiful pianos but their quality control has gone way down in recent decades. Best wishes for 2024!
I am very sorry to hear about your experiences with your Steinway Model B. Given that the instrument is only three years old, it should certainly be covered under warranty. I hope that the dealer you purchased through is able to resolve the issues for you as soon as possible to ensure that you can get back to playing and enjoying the piano.
Thanks for commenting love your content. TomLee is restringing it. Just no technical staff to do it quickly. @@MerriamPianos
Your explanation about the importance of the woods used and why the use of the BELL in the Steinways.... is correct... but you might want to add HOW Steinway acquired the BELL (treble resonator). They LEASED the rights to use the BELL from A.B.CHASE, who Had the patent on the BELL.... after Steinway discovered how the use of the Bell on the A.B.Chase added projection and brightness to the Treble range which was what the Steinway was missing. I can explain more if you email to me.... I am in Southern California, USA. .... My Great Aunt Hester Covington and my Grandmother Miriam Covington were the pianists called upon to accompany performances of any Opera troupe toured the West Coast.... they were the Master Piano Instructors for Southern California, teach the most prominent Piano Performance Major students from the various Universities and Colleges in Southern California. My Great Aunt Hester had an exceptional A.B.Chase she purchased new back in 1919.... I had it totally rebuilt by Lindeblad Piano Restoration, New Jersey... taking 6 months to bring it back to NEW CONCERT level 5 condition.... there are pictures of it on Google and I have extensive photos and video of the entire restoration process. jamesrcovington@gmail.com
Jim, I would love to know more about this bell. I will send you an email and if you are willing we can chat more. Thank you
@@robertvasi I returned a reply to the email that arrived on my gmail.... it had tons of pictures... did you get it...????
I'm using this piano in pianoteq 6 stage with my roland fp10 piano and it's just perfect for playing Chopin etude 24-12
My new local Steinway dealer was so rude to my husband and I, that we are happy to say we now own a brand new Kawai SK6 which also has hard rock maple and the bell. The Steinway sales person should not have talked to us the way he did. We love our SK6.
I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with one of your local dealers. However, I am happy to hear that you've discovered the beauty of the Shigeru Kawai line and have been enjoying your SK6. They are wonderful pianos and I know it will serve you well musically for many years to come! :)
Good choice, as a pianist who owns both a Steinway B and a SK3 I personally do find the SK to have more personality and consistent better craftsmanship over the steinway, though the steinway may be much more versatile towards the range of repertoire. They are both great pianos and neither one is better or worse.
Hi Stu, love your videos and recommend them often. I had a piano tuner here yesterday assessing a problem for me, a lower F, which sounds dull, like it does not belong. My new tuner told me that I had good hearing, most people would not notice, I was depressed by his answer, as I have avoided playing the f. I was told that Steinway was aware of this problem, and this design was a compromise, not something I associate with the brand, it is never talked about. It happens to be the F right after the transition from wrapped/coiled strings to steel strings. Can anything be done or do I just suck it up. My Yamaha G did not have a noticeable break in its sound, I would not go back to it, that being said. My Steinway B, was built in 2015 and brand new in all respects and had been sitting in a showroom in Victoria B.C. It has been tuned twice and has now been with us a year, I play daily. I still love the responsiveness and its sound. Thanks for any insight or help you can offer.
I bought a Steinway B a few months ago which was built in 1965 and restored in about 2005. I love this piano - it has a magnificent tone - but that lower F that you refer to has the same problem that yours does. I asked my tuner why that note sounds "clunky" and he said that's a problem with all Steinway B's. It seems crazy that in all these years Steinway hasn't figured out a solution to this.
Thanks I added some more comments, the piano isa total disappointment. All the best in 2024 @@JonathanGeffnerPianist
Thank you for the reivew. In your opinion, Schimmel v.s. Steinway, which one has better sound and which one has better construction?
Hi! Brent from Merriam Music here! I certainly won't speak on behalf of Stu as everyone has their own personal musical preferences. For me, the Schimmel Konzert series grands are nearly unparalleled in terms of their touch and tonal potential. The extended concert grand key sticks at all size categories is quite an impressive feature. With that said, Steinway and Schimmel pianos are both incredibly-built instruments. The musical preference between these two giants of the industry will come down to the tastes and preferences of the player. Thanks and all the best! :)
How. Can I get that? Magnificent piano,but I have to find a way to get my hands in one of these
does the Boston use Maple?
Hi there! If you are referring to the rim, the outer rim of Boston grands are made of several layers of mahogany, while the inner rim is made of hard rock maple. :)
@@MerriamPianos got it, thank you for your great content!
Is maple the element that is responsible for the acoustic / tonal character of the Steinway? I'm not so sure that is the case. I think it's more foundational / structural that permits the tonal acoustic elements to function properly (soundboard for example.) Not so convinced that some of the talking points in this video are completely science and fact based.
Hey Robert: Perhaps this needs context. The bulk of 'the tone' out of any piano is of course primarily due to its design. But in that regard, and beyond any selling-points and brand rhetoric, as a percentage of overall design there is little difference between a Steinway's structure vs a Bechstein vs a Fazioli vs a Steingraeber vs etc etc... so agreed, if we're talking about the foundation of piano tone, yes this is most influenced by the overall design.
However, what I was suggesting in the video was that the wood used can be a primary cause of those nuanced differences between well-made pianos. For instance, most traditional European pianos have rims made of Beech and sometimes Mahogany, but not typically maple. More modern concert pianos such as the Shigeru Kawai EX, Yamaha CFX, Schimmel K280, Bechstein D282 etc have much higher percentages of maple. And piano makers spend an inordinate amount of time debating and testing rim composition...the thickness of laminations, types of wood, compression strength when bending, wood maturity, etc etc as a major source of tonal variation and overall cabinet resonance.
And generally as a musical principle spanning multiple instruments, wood is well known to be an influence on tone, so I'm not exactly on virgin territory for raising the issue. Try telling a Stradivarius violin expert that the wood used wasn't the influencing factor, but primarily design. Or that a drummer should be able to use maple or mahogany shells interchangeably as long as the design is maintained - or that a guitar should be fine regardless of front and back-board selection as long as design is maintained... I think it's beyond settled debate that wood of course is a massive influence on the tone of these instruments irrespective of design. So why then is it such a questionable assertion that pianos - themselves both a string and percussion instrument - would be subject to the same influences?
An excellent comment/question, and thanks @Robert Allen for contributing to the discussion here! Have an awesome Friday. -Stu
When I see the construction method and choices of materials for piano rims, I see a parallel with the Bowers and Wilkins Nautilus 800 speaker cabinet. Multiple layers of lamination of hardwoods that purpose-designed to not resonate at all, because in doing so, they would color the sound produced and impact the fidelity of the source music. I hope to see some fact-based science that proves out the entire question about rim composition and contributory rim resonance.
@@robertallen5210 A quick google of "Do Piano Rims Resonate" will pull up several helpful articles on the subject. The concept that the inner rim of a piano contributes to its tone is such a thoroughly accepted principle in the industry that it isn't something I'm well-equipped to defend with any scientific paper. All I would say is that virtually every manufacturer will claim - as a benefit - that it's rims resonate, and that their specific combination of woods helps colour the overall piano's tone in a unique way. So if it turns out I'm pushing snake-oil on this one, I've got a whole industry along for the ride lol. I'm genuinely appreciative of the comments and questions, just please know that this is not fringe, self-serving, or misleading commentary I'm giving; it's completely in line with everything I've heard from technicians, builders and designers for 20 years on the subject of cabinet/rim resonance.
@@MerriamPianos I am not seeking to prolong a discussion on the topic. A "quick google" as you prescribed really doesn't produce anything of meaning. The one thing that did make sense however was a statement on a Kawai site that conveyed the following... " The material used for the inner rim is also critical. The harder the inner rim material, the more sound energy will be reflected back into the soundboard for optimum resonance." To me that makes 100% perfect sense. Stu, I respect your ability as a musician and pianist, however the stuff you're conveying about rims resonating is a regurgitation of unscientific and unproven "myth and lore" handed down by various piano manufacturers. (And there's no shortage of that within the industry.) I don't believe for one minute that there is any way that a structure as solid and massive as a grand piano rim is going to (itself) resonate in any productive meaningful way. I do believe however that what Kawai has stated above is the real reality - that when constructed properly, it permits the components that do actually resonate, to do so optimally. Hopefully the nonsense about the "wood fibers" within the rim contributing to sound resonance will not continue to be perpetuated ...
C. Bechstein. Old established company Great pianos. BUT in any major city there is usually only ONE dealer/ONE service man. Should you not jive with the shop or service man....life could get interesting for you and your Almost $200,000 German grand...heh...Steinway... a few dealers usually...
Dream piano but far too expensive
Nope. With respect, “listen to a Steinway if you want to hear what hard rock maple sounds like”, is not accurate. Steinway, like most piano and guitar makers, uses Sitka spruce to make their soundboards. Spruce is very light but is also very strong and therefore resonates easily, making it a perfect tone wood for musical instruments. Maple is very dense, hard and heavy and therefore is not a good wood for resonation. Maple IS however a very good wood to act as a structural element in a framing capacity. This is indeed what gives a Steinway its sound. The Spruce “sings”, and the maple frame around the spruce soundboard reflects those vibrations back into the the soundboard which gives a Steinway its signature tonal characteristics. So, in effect, it’s the interaction between these woods that we are hearing.. although the spruce is doing most of the singing. There’s a better explanation of this interaction on the Steinway site that worth a read. Your playing sounds terrific by the way!!
The maple bridge colors the sound in a different way than bridges that use maple + beech mahogany boxwood etc in a mix (Shigeru, Fazioli, et al). So you are hearing the effect of maple, especially when the case is designed not to pick up much vibration. I think bechstein and bosendorfer also use all maple bridges but they use rim designs with other woods that are meant to resonate
@@Marklar0 Certainly the hard rock maple in the rim and bridges add and shape tonal elements that are unique to the Steinway design. But those maple elements are acting on a soundboard made of solid Sitka spruce. The principle resonating surface in a Steinway piano is this Sitka spruce. Not once in the review does the reviewer mention the spruce as a tone wood or the relationship between it and the maple and the responsibilities of each wood in that very special relationship. Here’s a page that may be helpful in understanding that relationship more fully:
www.steinway.com/news/articles/the-diaphragmatic-soundboard-the-heart-of-the-steinway-tone-color-and-richness/
Actually, I have nothing against Steinway & Sons, but their arrogance and arrogance really annoy me. There are now manufacturers that are significantly better than Steinway, for example. Fazioli or my favorite manufacturer C. BECHSTEIN they just sound decidedly better, more colorful. And this STEINWAY monoculture on the stages of this world is just gray and kind of boring just because these pianists are used to Steinway walking around with blinkers or it is just a coincidence to look at another instrument and dedicate it to it. I'm happy about every other concert piano than a Steinway grand piano on the stages of this world that is like a nice splash of color in this uniform gray ... and I would like you to test the ultimate among grand pianos at Merriam Pianos, namely the D282 by C. BECHSTEIN ... it is the ultimate instrument.
Somehow Hamburg Steinways have that magical colourful sound that I don't find in other brands. I've played till now 9 concert grands. Fazioli is a direct sound ( 278 / 308. ) August Forster 7 foot I think had some things. but I've still to play C Bechstein. Uprights and grands. As of now the recordings on You Tube 212 282 sound a bit weak..But then the recording of a Concert 8 upright is spectacular....
I agree with you. Everyone knows Steinway because they blitzed the market, giving instruments to universities and sponsoring pianists. More often now we see Fazzioli and Shigeru Kawai being played in major competitions and blowing away Steinway.