Advertise on ChoralNet
Purchasing a new pianoDate: July 12, 2010 by Chris Fields
Friends,
I am asking if those of you who have purchased new pianos for your choral setting could share some words of wisdom on the process. What type and brand did you pick and why. Here is my situation: I need to purchase a piano for the choral classroom that will have between 95-110 students in it at any given time. I also need one for the performance hall stage. It will have 160-210 students during performances. My question is would you get an upright, or grand, or even baby grand for either of these situations. Space wise, the stage is simply not big enough for a full concert grand but a smaller version would work. So what brand and type would you suggest and why? Thanks a bunch!
Chris
Replies (11): Threaded | Chronological
Stanley M. Hoffman on July 13, 2010 3:53am
Dear Chris Fields:
Why not get a free piano instead? I suggest you visit the Web site below.
http://www.pianoadoption.com
Sincerely yours,
Stanley M. Hoffman, composer
http://www.choralnet.org/view/user/12190
on July 13, 2010 7:09am
Perhaps the best for the rehearsal space could be a studio upright. Brand names may figure into affordability. The best sounding one for the most economical price should be determined by you or your keyboard associate. A five foot grand would probably suit the bill for the performance space. Again, the best sounding piano for the most affordable price. Check into your local Kawai or Yamaha dealers because they may have a "lend-lease" program allowing you the use of pianos for a year if you will sponsor a sale on your property. Be careful to work with a reputable dealer.
All the best.
Rolland Shaw, Retired
on July 13, 2010 7:17am
Chris,
We bought a Yamaha G3 baby grand last year and love it. It is 5'9" and fits well in my room. Great touch, great dynamics and tone. I would love to use it for our concerts but we perform in a different building and have to use a Boston that the district purchased for the theater-don't like it nearly as well. Don't know what your budget is, but the educational discount price was about 20K with all the taxes, etc. Have fun shopping!
Ginger Ekroth
Folsom High School
on July 13, 2010 7:27am
Chris,
For anyone purchasing a piano, I would recommend reading The Piano Book: Buying & Owning a New or Used Piano by Larry Fine. I used it eight years ago when we bought a piano for our church. It's sort of the Consumer Reports of piano buying with good information on how pianos vary in quality, how to shop, how to assess used instruments, brand-by-brand reviews, and even how pianos work (something most pianists know very little about). I believe updates are published annually.
A church situation will be different from a school, but we were able to get a 6' Steinway through a rebuilder. It was an instrument from 1918 completely rebuilt, saving us about 25% the cost of buying new. And we've been delighted with it ever since.
Good luck,
Jim Cole
Our Lady of Lourdes Church
Whitehouse Station, NJ
on July 13, 2010 7:45am
Chris,
An upright simply will not do. Even a good digital piano is less than satisfactory even if it is loud enough. My students did not respond to even our "fire-breathing-egg-layer by comparison to our 5'6" baby grand which is what you need.
I particularly like Mason and Hamlin and Steinway and, perhaps, Yamaha; the former two, made in America of quality materials, Yamaha in Japan. All are proven, quality pianos which will give you years of service at a cost of up to $50,000. You could expect, perhaps, hefty discounting in your bidding process (you might be amazed.
Many "old, noble names", Knabe, Schimmel, many others have been bought up by Asian companies who have been known to use inferiors materials in very important places but Knabe (which would have been in the list above) is the premium brand of one of the Asian brands (Kawai, perhaps). This was a gorgeous piano and tempted me greatly! I am certain that it was fully the equal of the American Knabe, Mason, Steinway, and Yamahas. It was just too expensive for my limited budget.
Which brings me to my second point.You may well do far better by buying a newly rebuilt grand as was the Mason and Hamilin I was able to get several years ago. I had tried many, many pianos all of which were unacceptable in various ways. I was informed that the local piano technicians guild had just finish the Mason as one of their rebuilding projects and were willing to come to my budget because I needed it for my school. First: it was a Mason with incredible workmanship and materials lovingly assembled by masters and then reassembled and renewed by masters. Essentially, this piano had the equivalent of a heart and brain transplant. This, at a third of the cost of a new instrument.
Start with your district's piano tech, and get his/her recommendations and contacts, contact the Guild for advice, call your college piano tech and teachers. Get recommendations from us and pianists you know. Chose some pianos and go play them and play them again (or have your pianists do that if you are not adept).
I paid $12,000 for the Mason, that may be low now, maybe not. Certainly you could get a rebuilt grand (the is a "baby grand--the string length varies but you are not going to get a 9ft Concert grand or probably even a 7 ft which is still huge; 5'6"-5'8" is what you need. They speak well and are transportable, you can see over them and you can hear your choir while at the keyboard. Ideal.
So get your contacts, get your ideas, and start this longish process. Have a wonderful time.
S
on July 13, 2010 7:52am
Chris,
NB: My gmail sidebar showed these sponsored links:
More about...
Good Place to Start!
You're still here?!!!!! Go play pianos!
S
on July 13, 2010 9:52am
A contrary view - Our chorus purchased a high quality electronic stage piano, Yamaha YDP 160, for our rehearsal and performance use. The sound quality is excellent, the built-in amplifier/speakers more than adequate, and the price far less than any of the recommended pianos in this thread (except the free ones). Most importantly, this allows us to TRANSPOSE solos and the occasional choral piece. This has proved invaluable over and over again.
Bill Paisner, Director
Southwest Women's Chorus
on July 13, 2010 3:03pm
I was wondering when someone would chime in with a view similar to Bill's.
Back in the day, we invested in an electronic piano for my touring college show ensemble. The so-called "pianos" we were finding at our performance venues were simply too grossly bad and so poorly maintained that some of them were simply unusable. At the time (the early '80s) the most piano-like electronic was the Roland, and it was a very fine instrument. But of course it was an electronic PIANO, and not just an electronic keyboard that happened to have a piano setting.
On the other hand, in my experience an electronic (and therefore amplified) piano, if well made and cleanly amplified, can sound just as good as a grand piano that's played through a sound system, but it can NEVER sound as good as a fine acoustic piano, because of the amplification.
I'm not a pianist and I'm not up on the latest. All I can say is that my Mom was a Steinway person her entire life, and so are our piano faculty at this university. Baldwins used to be just as good, but quite different, until they moved away from Cincinnati and left all their older master craftsmen behind. I've never been impressed with ANY of the Asian pianos, although the finish is certainly nice and shiny!
All the best,
John
on July 13, 2010 11:31am
My school purchased a Yamaha C7 grand piano to use in both our choir room and auditorium and I would give it my very highest recommendation. It's a beautiful instrument to play, and at 7'6" it provides a large and warm sound for our 1000 seat auditorium. I have also been very impressed with the Yamaha U1. For an upright, it produces a strong clear tone and does well in a classroom situation. The only problem with the U1 is that it is tall, so if you have to run a rehearsal from the piano it can get in the way.
Jim
on July 13, 2010 6:22pm
UPDATE – Purchasing a new piano.
I spent 8 hours of my day in search of a piano that fits my needs. So after playing Rhapsody in E-flat major, Op. 119, No. 4 by Brahms on 20+ pianos new and used I finally picked one that spoke to my heart. For the auditorium I purchased a refurbished 1931 Steinway M 5’7” grand piano in mahogany for $18,550. It just had a rich and powerful sound for its size. I know this will look and sound great in our auditorium. For the classroom I purchased a refurbished 1942 Steinway S 5’1” baby grand also in sparkling mahogany for $14,500. Both will be wonderful additions to our department and I feel that I got a good price on these instruments. My advice to anyone would to shop around and get a reputable dealer of certified pianos! Now after spending a great deal of money from my choir boosters account you better believe my students will not touch these instruments. They will remain locked when not in use!
I say this because a high school choral director friend of mine (she won’t care if I tell this story) has (well, had) a very nice 9” Steinway concert grand. It just so happens that the maintenance staff needed to refinish the stage floor and they proceeded to roll it off the side of the stage. Well, instead of rolling it off the side they accidently rolled it off the front of the stage. I can only imagine the sound that a $100,000.00 piano would make as it crashes into the floor. She called me and was in tears. Fortunately it was insured!
Peace,
Chris
on July 13, 2010 8:00pm
Chris: Congratulations! Very good choices, especially since you were able to get acquainted with the instruments yourself.
But I urge you to forget about the cost, now that it's spent (and WELL spent!), and remember that these are musical instruments and were meant to be played on, not to sit it lonely splendor! Instead, why not grab the teaching moment and teach your students how to treat a fine, expensive musical instrument? No sticky fingers, no food or drink within 5' of the piano, nothing AT ALL placed on top, ever; that kind of thing. And make sure they teach the new kids the next semester!
As to the maintenance staff, get your shop people or someone to build a big wooden box for your stage piano, and THAT should have a padlock on it. The Lord clearly loves idiots, He made so darned many of them!!!
All the best,
John
|
Help support ChoralNet by buying via these links
|
