Thank you for this fascinating video Max. Had no idea that a piano is such a complex instrument. Really enjoyed watching you, listening to you playing in the background and also loved the foxes and the gorgeous sunset. Looking forward to episode 2.
This was very interesting! Thanks for posting this and giving us insights into all the craftsmanship that goes into restoring these wonderful instruments!
This was great too watch! It seems like so much work, too, but I’m 100% sure it’ll pay off. Your work on the bass already did! I also really enjoyed the bits of paper that you uncovered… :) They provide a nice window into the past, too! (The handwriting of people then really outshines our modern writing, I feel.) I got a new piano (apparently a Hooff &Co, built in Berlin in the late 1930s or 40s) half a year ago. There is a bit of family history surrounding it, because it used to stand in the sitting room (foyer?) of hotel Croix de Bourgogne, which was owned by some friends of my great-grandfather (and my grandmother). During World War Two said hotel was confiscated by the Germans and turned into an SS headquarters. Near the end of the war the hotel was destroyed in an air raid, but someone managed to retrieve the piano from the ruins. They managed to patch it up (of which you can still see the effects if you look closely) and later it came into possession of that friend of my grandmother’s. She passed away a few years ago and her family didn’t know what to do with the piano, so it was neglected for all that time. Last year they decided to sell the house, and when my parents and I went to take a look, I saw the piano and instantly felt the urge to play it, so I did. ;) Despite the neglect, it had a nice touch! I asked if I could buy the piano from them. Ultimately, since they were also friends of my father, they decided to give it to me for free! Now to wrap up this story… Ever since I got it, I’ve been asking my tuner to come take care of it, but he’s been so busy that he hasn’t found the time to do it yet… the piano is severely detuned - the lower registers are detuned by a semitone!! - so I would love to be able to fix it by myself, but I don’t want to break anything… I would ask you to come over but a flight ticket to Europe is quite costly. :P
Thanks so much for this wonderful video, Max! It’s fascinating to see one of your many musical talents in more detail. Of course your playing Joplin as part of the process is sublime, as always. 🎶 🙌👏
Man, I love this video, this piano, and your playing as well! I think this piano already sounded very good for it's age in that first performance you did of The Nonpairel, the treble is much like your Heintzman where there's a lot of high overtones and a bright clear sound! The bass strings really had a significant improvement from the twisting, the only other time I've seen someone mention bass string twisting is when I was doing work on my player piano with Bill Maguire! When I saw the disaster under the keys, namely the felts being completely destroyed by moths it reminded me of how when I looked at the shims in my Francis Bacon player piano I saw that all of them were the same height. I think when the piano was redone (badly unfortunately, the stack is a mess) the tech removed all the felts and replaced them and made every key the same. There's considerably more keydrop than most pianos but it looks great when it's playing on it's own and feels really solid when I play it. I also remembered sucking the dust out of the piano with a vacuum (that obviously came to be when you showed how you blast the dirt and grit from the piano!) and how satisfying it was xD I can't wait for episode two!
@@wheelmanmitch Oh you haven't!? I assumed you had, since you do a lot of transcriptions, too... ;) starting smaller might be wise, but there's always an option to start. :)
There are two "twists" involved, both kind of tough to explain without getting wordy, but here goes: First is gathering up each string, looping it like a garden hose; this is what opens up the wrap + breaks up the corrosion. I either do that by hand in groups of 5-10 strings, or loop each string one-at-a-time around a clothesline pulley wheel. Running the clothesline wheel up and down the length helps get more dust out of stubborn strings and keeps finger grease off newer strings. The second twist is when you put the string back on the hitch. You have to turn the hitch eye-loop in the *same* direction that the bottom tail end of the string wrap material is pointing. I twist by hand 1 or .5 turns, looking for medium resistance, then use pliers to transfer the loop onto the hitch. Too many turns can give the string false beats/difficulty tuning. That was more than a "bit" but I hope it makes sense!
@@maxkeenlyside Thanks for the clarification. I've encountered similar methods before. I thought you might be suggesting a loosening twist while cleaning the string... Some people just talk about adding a twist-not bothering with the loopy stage. Guess success there will be somewhat dependant on just HOW dirty the strings are... You certainly got striking results!
@@qwaqwa1960 Interesting, I've never considered a counter-twist while cleaning. Next time I'm about to restring a bass section, I'll experiment to see if a counter-twist in the cleaning stage gets out more dust, or leads to loose windings. Thanks for your thoughts!
Thank you for this fascinating video Max. Had no idea that a piano is such a complex instrument. Really enjoyed watching you, listening to you playing in the background and also loved the foxes and the gorgeous sunset. Looking forward to episode 2.
This was very interesting! Thanks for posting this and giving us insights into all the craftsmanship that goes into restoring these wonderful instruments!
This is fantastic! I've always admired this sort of work.
Awesome video - super interesting. PEI is lucky to have you!
Thank you! I feel very lucky to share PEI with only a couple of senior technicians.
This was great too watch! It seems like so much work, too, but I’m 100% sure it’ll pay off. Your work on the bass already did!
I also really enjoyed the bits of paper that you uncovered… :) They provide a nice window into the past, too! (The handwriting of people then really outshines our modern writing, I feel.)
I got a new piano (apparently a Hooff &Co, built in Berlin in the late 1930s or 40s) half a year ago. There is a bit of family history surrounding it, because it used to stand in the sitting room (foyer?) of hotel Croix de Bourgogne, which was owned by some friends of my great-grandfather (and my grandmother). During World War Two said hotel was confiscated by the Germans and turned into an SS headquarters. Near the end of the war the hotel was destroyed in an air raid, but someone managed to retrieve the piano from the ruins. They managed to patch it up (of which you can still see the effects if you look closely) and later it came into possession of that friend of my grandmother’s.
She passed away a few years ago and her family didn’t know what to do with the piano, so it was neglected for all that time. Last year they decided to sell the house, and when my parents and I went to take a look, I saw the piano and instantly felt the urge to play it, so I did. ;)
Despite the neglect, it had a nice touch! I asked if I could buy the piano from them. Ultimately, since they were also friends of my father, they decided to give it to me for free!
Now to wrap up this story…
Ever since I got it, I’ve been asking my tuner to come take care of it, but he’s been so busy that he hasn’t found the time to do it yet… the piano is severely detuned - the lower registers are detuned by a semitone!! - so I would love to be able to fix it by myself, but I don’t want to break anything…
I would ask you to come over but a flight ticket to Europe is quite costly. :P
Thanks so much for this wonderful video, Max! It’s fascinating to see one of your many musical talents in more detail. Of course your playing Joplin as part of the process is sublime, as always. 🎶 🙌👏
So glad you enjoyed it my friend!
Loved the shims reveal (and wonderful playing)!
Aren't they cool? I've found business card shims, a sheet music cover from the 1830s, among other things. Thanks for the kind words.
Awesome video Max! Hope you're well. Mega apron too.
Fascinating!
Great video Max! Impressive work!
This is so simple, beautiful and wholesome! Thanks for posting. 🙌😊
That's the vibe I was chasing here, thanks so much. :D
Very cool insights man 🔥
Man, I love this video, this piano, and your playing as well! I think this piano already sounded very good for it's age in that first performance you did of The Nonpairel, the treble is much like your Heintzman where there's a lot of high overtones and a bright clear sound! The bass strings really had a significant improvement from the twisting, the only other time I've seen someone mention bass string twisting is when I was doing work on my player piano with Bill Maguire!
When I saw the disaster under the keys, namely the felts being completely destroyed by moths it reminded me of how when I looked at the shims in my Francis Bacon player piano I saw that all of them were the same height. I think when the piano was redone (badly unfortunately, the stack is a mess) the tech removed all the felts and replaced them and made every key the same. There's considerably more keydrop than most pianos but it looks great when it's playing on it's own and feels really solid when I play it. I also remembered sucking the dust out of the piano with a vacuum (that obviously came to be when you showed how you blast the dirt and grit from the piano!) and how satisfying it was xD
I can't wait for episode two!
Interesting video Max! How cool to find that little time capsule in there. But what happened to your glorious locks of hair lol.
Thanks! HA, summer heat happened to my hair. I'd never had hair that long and it became a huge nuisance.
wonderful piano!
Very cool Max! Thanks for sharing :) And is the piece at 2:38 in one of your folios?
HA. It's not, but there's a great composing challenge for one of us. Maybe those notes can be turned into a real bass line?
@@maxkeenlyside hahaha I’d like to try my hand at that! Maybe it could be a collaboration (Mitch?)…
@@pjotrkolster I haven't composed anything before, I think I will have to start smaller :D
@@wheelmanmitch Oh you haven't!? I assumed you had, since you do a lot of transcriptions, too... ;) starting smaller might be wise, but there's always an option to start. :)
Could you explain the "twisting" a bit more? One twists the string against the wrap (1 or 2 turns...??) to loosen while brushing?
There are two "twists" involved, both kind of tough to explain without getting wordy, but here goes:
First is gathering up each string, looping it like a garden hose; this is what opens up the wrap + breaks up the corrosion. I either do that by hand in groups of 5-10 strings, or loop each string one-at-a-time around a clothesline pulley wheel. Running the clothesline wheel up and down the length helps get more dust out of stubborn strings and keeps finger grease off newer strings.
The second twist is when you put the string back on the hitch. You have to turn the hitch eye-loop in the *same* direction that the bottom tail end of the string wrap material is pointing. I twist by hand 1 or .5 turns, looking for medium resistance, then use pliers to transfer the loop onto the hitch. Too many turns can give the string false beats/difficulty tuning.
That was more than a "bit" but I hope it makes sense!
@@maxkeenlyside Thanks for the clarification. I've encountered similar methods before. I thought you might be suggesting a loosening twist while cleaning the string... Some people just talk about adding a twist-not bothering with the loopy stage. Guess success there will be somewhat dependant on just HOW dirty the strings are... You certainly got striking results!
@@qwaqwa1960 Interesting, I've never considered a counter-twist while cleaning. Next time I'm about to restring a bass section, I'll experiment to see if a counter-twist in the cleaning stage gets out more dust, or leads to loose windings. Thanks for your thoughts!
im 29like subscribe I want friend have a nice day see you later I saw full video im korean good video and good piano