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Motown sound revival by Paul McCartney

Motown Steinway piano has been restored

The 1877 9-foot Steinway and Sons grand piano from famous recording studio Motown is now back under the spotlights, thanks to Paul McCartney. The Motown Museum is now exhibiting this music instruments jewel. (Go to the Motown Museum’s facebook for details). Motown is the contraction of Motor and Town meaning “Motor City” (the nickname of Detroit that is the most famous place in the United States for automobile construction with several constructors like General Motors, Ford and Chrysler).

Play piano on the street with streetpianos

Have you ever heard about Luke Jerram ? This British artist had the crazy but cool idea to put pianos on the Streets allowing everyone to play on it. By putting his pianos everywhere in the world, Luke Jerram’s artwork quickly became successful. He multiplied the experience in several cities and encountered each time a great success. When does a piano come into my streets? Answer here on streetpianos website… and if nothing is planned near you, don’t worry you can request a piano to come in your city …

Composer Benjamin Martinson mixed Kinect technology and piano performance

For those who love technology, piano music, live performance and have a serious geek soul, this post is for you ! A composer named Benjamin Martinson had the good idea to mix these concepts by connecting a Microsoft Kinect camera with a silent grand piano equipped with motorized hammers. The result is interesting. When Benjamin moves his hands in fronts of the Kinect, this results as a key played on the piano, allowing the piano and the pianist to be disconnected. How it does work? The native system of the Kinect detects the movement of the player, these movements are then translated into a MIDI signal that plays the piano (lot of silent piano models are designed to play automatically by receiving a MIDI signal). Best is to discover the performance on video:

Roland RD-64, good piano, easy transportation

Musicians (pianists in our case) have always been confronted to a cornelian dilemma: with standard instruments available on the market, they constantly had to choose between sound quality and instrument weight. This was true until the Roland RD-64 landed this year in the USA Namm show where it was disclosed.

A famous George M. Guild & Co restored in Harlem

A 1862 Grand piano for $100 000

The 10th Grand Piano assembled by the famous George M. Guild & Co has moved to Harlem in order to be restored. Made in Boston in year 1862 this piano will be renewed by 2 people from Harlem, who have recently been mandated for doing this meticulous work. This kind of piano is very rare and its price can reach up to $100 000. The piano will be transported by truck and will drive through Fifth and Madison avenues to reach Harlem. The owner Ron Hansford declares that the dream comes true. With this restoration, we will be able to listen to music the way our ancestors do more than one century ago. At 1001pianos.com, we won’t miss the opportunity to let you hear the sound of this “brand new” George M. Guild & Co once restored … be patient!

Discover 24 new Yamaha silent piano series

Yamaha proudly announces the launching of 24 new acoustic silent pianos (upright and concert). This Silent technology allows playing on acoustic as well as on silent mode with your headphone plugged in the piano. This is perfectly adapted if you wish to play day and night without awaking your neighbors.

How does a silent piano work

Star singer Billy Joel auctions a personalized baby grand piano

In order to give some money to music students, the very famous singer of « pressure » and « honesty » will put its signature on a Steinway & Sons baby grand piano that will be auctioned this week. The money raised by this “buzz auction” will benefit the non-profit organizations Ten O’Clock Classics that aims to provide instruments and music lessons to children and also the Amy Winehouse Foundation. Auction will close on April 2, so hurry up if you have $ 60000 for a Steinway & Sons personalized piano.

A touching documentary on the last hours of a retired piano

This fortuitous made documentary realized by film director Anthony Sherin deals with the last hours of an upright piano abandoned on the street in New-York City. Although it has been filmed statically from the director’s window, this film is full of emotion and even poetry. Discover here the Solo Piano NYC documentary on video.
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Solo, Piano NYC, an accidentally filmed documentary

Forum for piano and free music is now open on 1001pianos

The Forum now allows 1001pianos users to post messages and reply on them. Use it to discuss, exchange and build the piano music community that 1001pianos is proud of. On the forum you can:
- Discuss on piano technics or tuning
- Buy / Sell a piano
- Find a piano teacher
- Exchange on learning exercises and on how to learn piano.
- Find piano concerts, events, competitions.
- Discuss and learn about famous pianists
- Ask for rare titles you wish to listen on 1001pianos.