Sejarah Piano : Sekitar pertengahan abad kedua belas ditemukan kunci monochord, yang dikembangkan lebih lanjut, beberapa

senar ditambahkan sampai akhirnya kita mengenali Clavichord. Menjelang 1350 atau pertengahan abad keempat belas pandai besi Jerman mulai membuat kawat melalui pelat baja, dan metode ini berlanjut sampai awal abad kesembilan belas. Besi, emas, perak, kuningan, usus, rambut kuda dan terakhir nylon digunakan sebagai bahan senar pada berbagai instrumen yang berbeda. Penggunaan awal dari kawat baja muncul pada tahun 1735 di Wales. Perusahaan piano Broadwood menjelaskan bahwa mereka menggunakan kawat baja pada 1815 dari Jerman dan Inggris, tetapi hal ini belum dikonfirmasi. Menurut Oxford Companion, Pada tahun 1819 Brockedon mulai membuat kawat baja melalui lubang di berlian dan rubi. Sebelum 1834 kawat untuk instrumen dibuat dari besi atau kuningan sampai Webster dari Birmingham memperkenalkan kawat baja. Kawat terbaik dikatakan dibuat di Nuremberg dan kemudian dari Berlin. Kawat telah berlapis emas, perak, dan platinum untuk menghentikan karat dan kawat berlapis masih bisa dibeli, tetapi kawat yang dipoles adalah yang terbaik. Sekitar 1400 Clavichord memiliki sekitar sepuluh string. Clavichord paling sederhana dan biasanya yang terkecil dari instrumen keyboard string. Ini lebih mirip kotak dengan keyboard dengan string horizontal ditempatkan paralel pada sisinya. String dipukul dari bawah oleh potongan kecil dari logam berbentuk obeng. Sejak sekitar 1450 keyboard hampir tetap sama, kecuali sedikit variasi dalam warna kunci. Organ adalah instrumen keyboard pertama yang berat dengan tuts yang sangat bervariasi sejak awal, kunci sangat berat yang disebut pemainnya Organ Beaters. Sekitar abad ketiga belas atau keempat belas, keyboard diletakkan menurut modus alami yang mana merupakan dasar dari sistem musik. 1598 Paladino menjelaskan instrumen yang dibuatnya pada surat kepada Duke of Modena, yang disebut Piano e Forte. Meskipun instrumen ini dapat lembut dan keras, tidak jelas apakah itu adalah tipe harpsichord yang pas dengan perangkat atau piano pemukul. 1709 Tahun 1709 adalah salah satu sumber yang paling memberikan untuk munculnya instrumen yang benar-benar dapat disebut Pianoforte. Penulis Scipione Maffei menulis sebuah artikel tahun itu tentang pianoforte yang diciptakan oleh Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1732), yang mungkin memproduksi empat gravicembali col piano e forte atau harpsichord dengan lembut dan keras. Instrumen ini menampilkan pencapaian nyata pertama mekanisme dan sering disebut palu harpsichord. Palu kecil terbuat dari kulit tertutup. 1711 John Shore adalah penemu garpu tala. Shore merancang garpu tala untuk membantu dia menyetel kecapinya. Dia meninggal pada 1752. 1725 Johann Ulrich von Konig, penyair pengadilan di Dresden, mempublikasikan terjemahan artikel Maffei s pada piano Cristofori dan dalam setahun pembuat clavichord Gottfried Silberman (1683-1753) membuat dua piano tersebut. Disini piano tidak diterima dengan sangat antusias. Bach teman dekat Silberman tidak menyukai piano saat pertama kalinya, tetapi opininya kemudian berubah. Christian Ernst Friederici, murid dari Silberman, melanjutkan percobaan pada piano dan membuat piano kecil berbentuk kotak yang terbilang sukses, ia menamai pianonya Fortbien. Kemudian Friederici mulai memproduksi pyramid piano dimana piano diatur secara vertikal, dengan kurva treble pada sisi atas dan merengkuh pasak-pasak di bagian bawah.

Setelah akhir Perang Tujuh Tahun di Germany tahun 1760 piano menjadi begitu populer. Ini karena dua belas pembuat instrumen datang ke Inggris, mereka dikenal sebagai dua belas rasul. Johann Christoph Zumpe adalah salah satu dari mereka. Buntebart, yang juga murid dari Silberman datang ke Inggris, dan ia pertama kali bekerja dengan Shudi seorang pembuat harpsichord terkenal. 1730 Menurut Pierce Piano Atlas Perusahaan pembuat piano Kirkman didirikan pada 1730. Kirkman mewarisi bisnis dari istri Tabel, yang dinikahinya satu bulan setelah kematian Tabel. Tabel adalah pembuat harpsichord yang diajari oleh Ruckers. Dia datang ke London pada 1680 dan memulai membuat harpsichord. Kirkman Abraham, yang lahir tahun 1710 di Bischweiler dekat Strasbourg, datang untuk bekerja pada Tabel. Pada 1742 ia pindah ke Great Pulteney Street. 1735 JC Bach lahir pada 1735. Pada tahun yang sama, menurut Pierce, Schiedmayer membuat piano pertamanya. Sebelum itu dia adalah seorang pembuat clavichord. Ia lahir pada 1711 dan meninggal di Erlangen pada 1781. Dia memiliki tiga putra, dua di antaranya membuat piano sekitar 1790, nama mereka Adam Schiedmayer dan David Schiedmayer. Kemudian, sekitar tahun 1853, mereka menjadi perusahaan tunggal. 1739 Ini bisa menjadi tanggal untuk piano pertama, yang dibuat oleh Domenico del Mela, yang lebih mirip sebuah piano upright seperti yang kita kenal hari ini atau yang dibuat oleh Hawkins pada tahun 1800. 1748 Stein menjadi murid Silberman dan dia bersamanya sampai Juni, 1749. Pada 1760 dia menikah dan memiliki lima belas anak. Salah satu anaknya bernama Nanette Stein adalah murid terbaiknya. David Schiedmayer juga belajar di bawah dia. Stein melakukan banyak riset dan mengembangkan beberapa pola yang aneh. 1750 Thomas Culliford, 112 Cheapside London, membuka usaha pembuatan pianonya pada semester akhir abad kedelapan belas. Dia juga bekerja untuk Longman & Broderip untuk sementara waktu. 1752 Clementi lahir di Roma, anak dari pengrajin perak. Pada 1766, ketika dia berusia empat belas, ia datang ke Inggris dan tinggal di Wiltshire dibawah pengawasan Petrus Beckford. Dia membuat debut di London pada tahun 1801. Clementi mempublikasikan metode piano yang sangat tinggi dimana Beethoven disahkan, mengirim murid-muridnya kepada Clementi. 1756 WA Mozart lahir. 1760 Christian Ernst Friederici mulai berdiri sendiri. CPE Bach menulis sebuah surat kepada Forkel pada 10 November 1773, menyatakan bahwa ia menyukai clavichor Friederici daripada yang dibuat oleh Fritz. Friederici kemudian membuat piano-piano kecil berbentuk kotak yang menjadi sangat populer. 1761 Pada bulan September John Broadwood memulai pekerjaannya untuk Burkat Shudi. 1761 JC Zumpe adalah orang Jerman yang magang dengan Silberman. Dia juga bekerja untuk Shudi membuat harpsichord untuk sementara waktu. Pada 1761 dia mendirikan bengkelnya di 7 Princess Street, Hanover Square, London, di mana ia bekerja sampai 1780. Dari 1780 sampai 1784 dia ada di Princess Street, Cavendish Square. Dia dalam kemitraan Buntebart dari 1769 sampai 1779. Ada kombinasi piano / organ di Muse des Arts et Metiers di Paris, dengan nama Zumpe dan Buntebart. Aksi piano kotak Zumpe sangat sederhana dan telah disebut kepala pria tua atau tongkat pel tindakan tunggal. Kepala palu dimasukkan ke string dengan bantalan dari kulit tetap ke ujung kabel kuningan tebal dimasukkan ke punggung kunci. Pada sisi kiri dari instrumen ada penghentian atau peningkatan semua dampers atau dua tangan berhenti untuk meningkatkan seksi treble dan bass secara bebas. Piano dibuat oleh Zumpe tahun 1766 dengan catatan dibagi menjadi dua bagian, mengontrol senar-senar yang berbeda, untuk memungkinkan penyetelan suara tajam sebagai kres dan mol sebagai flat. Zumpe menyewa pembuat cabinet Skotlandia, John Broadwood yang datang ke

London untuk mencoba peruntungannya. Tahun 1769 ia menikahi Barbara, anak dari Shudi pembuat harpsichord dimana Zumpe digunakan untuk bekerja. Pada tahun 1763 iklan pertama untuk piano di Inggris diambil oleh Zumpe. 1770 Beethoven lahir. 1771 Robert Stodard mempatenkan nama Grand untuk instrumennya. 1777 Erard membuat piano pertamanya di Prancis. Dia kemudian pindah ke Inggris dimana ia tinggal sampai 1796. Dia kemudian kembali ke Prancis dan pada tahun 1802 membuka pabrik nya Paris. 1779 Membuat piano didirikan di Estonia. ini adalah toko-toko kerajinan kecil jantan sekitar 20, kemudian mereka menjadi perusahaan bernama Estonia yang dimulai pada tahun 1893. 1787 Pascal Taskin mengembangkan bentuk string kembali. Taskin menggunakan pasak yang merengkuh skrup di dalam bentuk loop metal, dimana senar berlalu. Salah satu ujung dari loop melewati blok kayu sedemikian rupa sehingga dapat dipindahkan ke belakang atau ke depan dengan cara gila. Metode ini adalah produk yang mahal dan tidak banyak digunakan, tidak seperti sistem James Stewart yang diciptakan pada tahun 1827, yang masih digunakan sampai sekarang oleh para pembuat piano. 1790 James Ball mulai membuat piano di Duke street, London, dan aktif sampai tahun 1817. 1801 Edward Riley memperoleh paten untuk piano transposing, di mana keyboard bergerak lateral, tuts bekerja catatan yang berbeda. Pada tahun yang sama Jacob Ball membuat piano transposing, yang katanya masih ada. 1810 Piano Chappell dari London didirikan. Perusahaan juga membuat piano Elysian yang sekarang dibuat oleh Young Chang. 1811 Samuel Chappell, Francis Tattor, dan John Baptist Cramer membentuk mempublikasikan firma Chappell & Co pada 1 Januari 1811. Cramer tersisa di 1813 dan Chappell dikatakan telah membubarkan kemitraan keseluruhan pada tahun 1825. Salah satu sumber mengklaim bahwa Cramer terlarut kemitraan pada akhir perjanjian tujuh-tahun di 1818. Chappell mengajak putra tertuanya, William masuk dalam usaha, dan ia menjadi direktur perusahaan ketika ayahnya meninggal pada tahun 1834, meskipun ibunya yang luar biasa William menjadi manajer. Putra kedua, Thomas, 1819-1902, meninggalkan sekolah untuk bergabung dengan ayahnya ketika ia menjadi buta menjelang akhir hidupnya. Cramer dilahirkan di Mannheim pada 1771 dan meninggal di Inggris pada tahun 1858. Clementi mengajarinya dan di tahun 1793 dia memberikan penampilan publik pertamanya dengan menggunakan piano Broadwood. Dia menjadi terkenal karena permainannya dan mendapat julukan Glorious John. Salah satu muridnya yang lebih terkenal adalah George Smart. Setelah bekerja untuk Chappell, Cramer mulai mempublikasikan sendiri. Seperti Chappell pada saat itu nama perusahaan terkait dengan membuat piano. Sejumlah pembuat piano dan organ pembangun baik cetak dan diterbitkan musik pada waktu yang sama. 1825 Pierre Erard mematenkan di Inggris metode memperbaiki bar logam untuk mematri dengan menggunakan baut, yang melewati lubang dipotong di papan suara. Bingkai besi grand modern terpasang dengan cara yang sama dan meskipun bar Broadwood digunakan dari tahun 1808 selalu ada kontroversi siapa yang pertama kali, karena Broadwood tidak mematenkan palang metal yang dikombinasikan piringan senar dari metal sampai 1826 . 1825 Babcock (1785-1842) dipatenkan rangka besi penuh, yang pada awalnya tidak sepenuhnya berhasil tapi masih sebuah perkembangan penting.

1826 Robert Warnum dipatenkan aksi pita-cek, yang mirip dengan peredam. Ia juga mengambil paten untuk merangkai diagonal. Dari 1810-1812 ia berpartner dengan George Wilkinson di 315 Oxford Street dan 11 Princess Street. Wilkinson kemudian bekerja untuk Broderip setelah ini. 1827 James Stewart, partner pertama Chickering, string kembali dipasang, tidak hanya untuk bichords baja tetapi juga di bagian treble. 1827 Thomas Loud di Amerika membuat down-mencolok besar pertama. Lokakarya-Nya berada di 22 Devonshire Street, Queens Square, London, dari 1802 sampai 1825 ketika ia pindah ke Amerika Serikat. 1828 WH Barnes mendirikan dan juga menjual piano dengan nama Normelle, Osbert dan DAlmaine. Kemudian dalam tahun 1900 mereka menggunakan nama Kemble dan Monington. 1828 Rushworth yang didirikan oleh William Rushworth, organ pipa pembangun di Yorkshire. Pada akhir 1800-an perusahaan itu pindah ke Liverpool. Tampaknya permulaannya sebuah piano di jual dari kantor, hampir secara kebetulan, dan kemudian mereka memutuskan menjual piano kepada masyarakat umum. Piano pertama dibuat oleh Clarence Lyon dari London, dan tidak lama setelah itu Rushworth mulai memproduksi piano-piano klasik British terkenal di dunia, yang sekarang dalam generasi kelima di bawah kepemimpinan Alastair Rushworth. dan menjadi pembuat organ terbesar di Inggris. Sekitar tahun 1921 Rushworth juga memiliki piano-piano dari Squire & Longsons. Pada tahun 1969 produksi piano terhenti di St Anne Street. kemuadian mereka berkonsentrasi membangun organ. 1828 Palu cat-ditutupi dengan bulu kelinci dan wol domba merasa digunakan. Ini juga bisa saja ketika dua lapisan merasa digunakan. Kulit rusa masih umum digunakan untuk treble atas. 1828 Perusahaan piano Bsendorfer didirikan di Vienna. Bsendorfer Ignaz (1794-1859) diberi hak untuk perdagangan sebagai pembuat piano. 1829 Rawler membuat piano upright peredam di bawah yang pertama. Tingginya sekitar satu meter. 1829 Squire & Longson, London, didirikan. Pada tahun 1938 terjadi kebakaran di pabrik, dan kemudinan Kemble membeli namanya dan menghasilkan piano dengan nama Squire & Longson sampai tahun 1970-an. Tenaga kerja diambil oleh Maxwell & Codd Whelpdale Ltd untuk membuat Welmar. 1829 B. Squire didirikan. Pada tahun 1936 Kemble mengambil alih produksi. 1830 Friedrich Grotrian, meninggalkan Jerman untuk mendirikan sebuah bisnis musik di Moskow. Ia kembali 25 tahun kemudian seorang pengusaha kaya dan menjadi mitra dari sebuah pabrik piano Grotrian-Steinweg. Pada tahun 1865 keluarga Grotrian mengambil alih sisa saham perusahaan 1830 Claude Montal (1800-1865) memulai karirnya di Paris sebagai penyetel piano buta pertama. Dia adalah putra pembuat pelana dan kehilangan penglihatannya saat sakit tifus pada usia enam tahun. Orang tuanya mengirimnya ke sekolah biasa, tapi kemudian dia dididik Royal Institute untuk orang buta di Paris. Pada tahun 1834 ia menerbitkan sebuah judul buku Cara Tune Piano Anda sendiri dan kemudian membuka toko dan workshop sendiri. 1830 Chickering membuat bingkai satu-sepotong besi untuk grand dan dipatenkan di tahun 1843.

1830 Ada sekitar lima puluh pembuat piano di London pada saat itu. 1831 William Allen mempatenkan rangka besi cor. 1831 Perusahaan dari Richard Lipp, Stuttgart, didirikan. 1832 Samuel, Barnet & Sons, London, didirikan. 1835 Wilke Breslau menciptakan palu pertama yang mencakup mesin. John Strohmenger dari London didirikan. Pada tahun 1938 Chappell membelinya. 1835 Grotrian-Steinweg piano didirikan oleh Friedrich Grotrian (1803-1860). 1836 John Brinsmead membuktikan dirinya sebagai pembuat piano di London. 1836 Steinweg membuat piano grand di German dan kemudian pindah ke Amerika pada tahun 1853 nama perusahaan diubah menjadi Steinway. 1836 Tate menggunakan rel setengah-pukulan. 1836 Wheatley Kirk dipatenkan bingkai besi pertama yang lengkap untuk piano upright. 1837 Piano Allison, 29 Berners Street, London, didirikan. Tempat lain dari perusahaan itu pada 49 Wardour Street, Soho, London (1839), dan 75 Dean Street (1846), juga di Soho. 1838 Moore & Moore dari London didirikan. Perusahaan ini diambil alih oleh yang Kemble pada tahun 1933. 1839 Hallet & Davis, Boston, USA didirikan. 1840 Perusahaan Allison didirikan. 1840 Antoine-Jean Bord dari Paris (1814-1888), mulai membuat piano-piano. Pada satu waktu mereka adalah produsen terbesar di Perancis dengan produksi 4.000 instrumen. 1840 J. dan C. Fischer mulai membuat piano-piano di New York, Amerika Serikat. 1842 Organ St Nicholas di Newcastle-upon-Tyne disetel ke temperamen equal. Hal ini diyakini telah organ pertama yang disetel dalam temperamen yang sama di Inggris. 1842 Yohanes toilet membuat piano dengan dua soundboards. Masing-masing tulang rusuk Soundboard tiga belas untuk mendukung itu, dan suara adalah ditransmisikan dari papan suara atas ke bawah Soundboard melalui sebuah jembatan kedua. 1842 George Russell didirikan di London. Alamat terakhir yang diketahui bagi perusahaan berada di 2 Stanhope St, London. Dari sekitar 1936 Cramer membuat piano, dan nomor serinya setelah tahun itu adalah dari Cramer. Sebuah contoh dari 1939 akan menjadi nomor 128750, dan satu awal dari sekitar tahun 1900 akan menjadi nomor 16499. 1842 Strich & Ziedler, New York, Amerika Serikat, didirikan.

1843 Bord dari Paris digunakan bar tasto, yang merupakan jenis bar tekanan. 1843 George Rogers dari London didirikan. Kemudian Bechstein menugaskan mereka untuk membangun London membuat piano Bechstein di awal 1890-an. Rogers bergabung dengan Hopkinson tahun 1918 dan keduanya diambil alih oleh Zender pada tahun 1963. 1843 Co-Op didirikan pada 1 Desember di Toad Lane, Rochdale. Sekitar enam tahun kemudian piano pertama dijual ke seorang pria menggunakan keuntungannya dari Divi. Pemandangan dari piano dibawa ke pondok belum pernah dilihat sebelumnya di Rochdale. Co-Op menjadi pabrik piano dan menjual piano dengan merek Amyl, Amylette, dan Co-Op. Pabrik produksinya di Birmingham. 1844 Schwander membuka pabrik piano tindakannya. Anak mertua Herrburger Nya menggantikan dia dan akhirnya Brooks mengambil alih, sehingga Herrburger Brooks. 1845 Ronisch didirikan, pertama di Dresden dan kemudian di Leipzig. 1851 Periode piano klasik yang lebih modern, penggunaan frame besi lebih besar. 1852 Chickering & Sons, Piano Makers, membuka pabrik di Boston, Amerika Serikat. 1852 Albert Weber dilahirkan di Bavaria pada 8 Juli 1828. Pada tahun 1852 ia mendirikan Piano Company di Manhattan Weber, New York. Pada tahun 1869 perusahaan membuka tempat baru di lokasi pusat kota di Fifth Avenue dan Sixteenth Street, di New York. Pada tahun 1903 Perusahaan Aeolian New York diperoleh Weber. Pada sekitar waktu ini mereka juga membuka sebuah pabrik di Hayes, Inggris. Pada tahun 1985 pabrik piano Aeolian ditutup. Perusahaan Wurlitzer membeli nama Weber, tetapi mereka tidak pernah membuat piano dengan nama itu. Pada tahun 1986 mereka menjual nama Young Chang, yang mulai memproduksi piano-piano Weber. Namun, ini tidak berlangsung lama karena Samsung Amerika, Inc memperoleh lisensi untuk menjual piano Weber dan mendirikan kantor-kantor perusahaan di New Jersey, Amerika Serikat. Sekitar 1988 mereka memperkenalkan nomor yang berbeda untuk piano grand dan uprights. Grands dimulai di nomor 034442 dan uprights dimulai pada 1327707. Pada tahun 1992 mereka memperkenalkan model baru. Perjanjian tersebut mewajibkan Samsung untuk membeli piano-piano dari Young Chang. Namun, pada Desember 2003 Samsung meninggalkan Weber dan sekarang memasarkan piano Cina di bawah nama Behning. Ada beberapa membuat piano akan di bawah nama Weber, sebagian besar di AS, tetapi ada satu di Berlin dan sebuah perusahaan besar di Kanada. 1853 Bechstein dari Berlin terbentuk. 1853 Blthner dibentuk. 1853 Steinweg berubah nama menjadi Steinway dari Amerika dan perusahaan piano Steinway didirikan. 1853 Bord menggunakan pegas spiral untuk jack. 1853 Claude Montal salah satu tuner piano buta pertama. Dia memamerkan pedal sostenuto, yang dibeli Steinway. Sebuah monograf yang ditulis oleh Montal di Paris tahun 1856, berjudul LArt daccorder soi-meme piano anak, menggambarkan penemuannya. 1854 Gabler didirikan di New York, Amerika Serikat.

1854 Mason & Hamlin didirikan di Boston, USA, oleh Henry Mason dan Emmons Hamlin. 1855 Pada 12 Agustus di malam hari, pabrik Broadwood Horseferry Road terbakar habis. Pabrik itu membuat 2300 piano dalam setahun, dan 575 karyawan bekerja di sana. Pada waktu itu pabrik piano mereka yang terbesar di dunia. 1855 W. SAMES Ltd didirikan. 1856 Decker & Son, NY, USA, didirikan. 1856 Piano Wurlitzer, Amerika Serikat, didirikan. 1857 Steck, NY, USA, didirikan. Mereka kemudian bergabung dengan Aeolian. 1858 Halle Orchestra dibentuk. 1858 Monington & Weston, London, didirikan. Kemudian mereka menempatkan rangka besi uprights ganda piano, membuat piano sangat berat tetapi sangat stabil. 1859 Agustus Forster mendirikan sebuah bengkel kecil di Lobau, Jerman, di mana ia membuat piano pertamanya. Dari sana ia mulai membuka pabrik pertamanya di tahun 1862. 1859 Ludwig Bsendorfer mengambil alih bisnisnya ketika ayahnya meninggal. 1859 Kimball, Chicago, AS, didirikan. 1859 Pada tanggal 20 Desember tahun ini Henry Steinway Jr mengambil paten untuk over-stringing untuk piano grand (nomor paten 26532). Ini adalah titik balik untuk Steinway dan piano yang memenangkan banyak penghargaan di seluruh dunia untuk piano grand yang terbaik karena fitur over-stringing. 1860 Alfred Dolge memulai Persediaan Piano Amerika di New York City. Amerika Felt Co diperoleh APSC tahun 1900. 1862 DHBaldwin mendirikan perusahaannya di Amerika. Pada tahun 1889 namanya dirubah ke Baldwin Piano Company. 1862 Ajello & Sons, London. Giuliano Ajello mendirikan bisnis di London. Mereka memproduksi berbagai piano dan sangat sukses, akhirnya mengoperasikan dua pabrik di London. Piano Ajello memenangkan banyak hadiah untuk pembuatan piano di Eropa. Pabrik Ajello tutup sekitar 1930. Arthur Giovanni Ajello, dan Louis Robert Ajello, cucu dari Giuliano Ajello beremigrasi ke Kanada 1910, dan mendirikan perusahaan mereka sendiri, yang beroperasi sampai tahun 1930-an. 1863 Henry F. Miller & Sons dari Boston, AS, didirikan. 1864 Anton Petrov mendirikan perusahaan piano di Cekoslovakia membuat. 1864 Kranich & Bach, NY, USA didirikan, yang mengkhususkan diri dalam grand kecil. 1866 Nathaniel Berry Piano didirikan. Pada tahun 1965 Barrat & Robinson membelinya.

1866 Piano kotak terakhir dibuat oleh Broadwood. Hal ini karena piano cottage kecil lebih populer di rumah. 1870 Shenstone & Co pembuat tuts piano didirikan. Banyak pembuat piano menggunakan kunci mereka, termasuk Cramer, Kemble, Rogers, Knight dan Challen. 1871 Albion Pianoforte didirikan di London. 1871 Piano Bohemia didirikan, di kota Jihlava, Republik Ceko. Sekitar 1924 bekerja sama dengan pembuat piano Piano Wina Bohemia mulai membuat Hofmann & Czerny, mempekerjakan sekitar lima puluh pekerja. 1871 Piano Perzina dimulai pada 1 Juli, Julius dan Albert Perzina membuka toko pertama mereka di Schwerin. Perzina piano sekarang Cina dibuat. 1872 Smith, Barnes & Stroeber didirikan. Mereka tampaknya berhenti membuat piano tahun 1920. Pianopiano dibuat di Clybourn, Chicago, AS. Pada 1884 nama menjadi Smith dan Barnes. 1872 Sohmer, NY, USA, didirikan. Hugo Sohmer adalah penemu dan orang pertama untuk membangun baby grand lima kaki di Amerika Serikat. 1872 Steinway membuat hak paten timbangan duplex. Bantalan bar pada panjang mati string digunakan untuk membantu menghasilkan harmoni yang selaras 1883 Bansall & Sons didirikan. 1887 Torakusu Yamaha mendirikan Yamaha Organ Ream dan menjadi Bapak dari industri musik Jepang. Pada tahun 1887 Torakusa Yamaha membangun organ buluh pertama. Pada tahun 1900 produksi piano tegak dimulai, dan pada tahun 1902 produksi piano grand dimulai. Pada 1904 piano Yamaha memenangkan penghargaan untuk keunggulan di St Louis World Exposition. 1888 Windover didirikan, dan juga membuat Mertons. Mereka mungkin punya pabrik di Manchester atau toko. Piano Inggris Manufacturing Co Ltd juga membuat piano-piano Windover. 1888 Broadwood baja bar kurang frame diperkenalkan. 1890 Ambridge & Son London. 1911 Michael Kemble mendirikan Kemble. 1930 Kawai meninggalkan Yamaha dan memulai perusahaannya sendiri. 1931 Piano Neo-Bechstein dengan Soundboard, hanya diperkuat melalui pengeras suara. 1933 Whelpdale dan Maxwell mulai membuat piano-piano Welmar sendiri dan Cod bergabung dengan perusahaan pada tahun 1920. Whelpdale dan Maxwell dan Cod Ltd masih bertahan dengan nama itu hari ini. 1933 Nama Squire dan Longson pergi ke Kemble. 1956 Pearl River Piano didirikan. Mereka mulai dengan enam toko-toko dan bengkel, dan sekarang memiliki tenaga kerja lebih dari 4.000 dan lebih dari 300.000 meter persegi ruang pabrik lantai. Produksi piano adalah 100.000 per tahun. Dua puluh persen dari produksi mereka diekspor ke barat.

1956 Kawai kini mempekerjakan lebih dari 500 orang dan menghasilkan sedikit diatas 1,500 piano tiap tahun. Koichi Kawai menerima Medali Pita Biru yang prestisius dari Kaisar Jepang, menjadi perusahaan pertama di industri instrumen musik Jepang untuk menerimanya. Koichi Kawai meninggal tiba-tiba pada Oktober 1955 pada usia 70. Sekitar waktu ini 33 tahun Shigeru Kawai mengambil alih perusahaan dan memulai perubahan radikal. Dia mulai pembangunan dua pabrik baru, satu pabrik pengolahan kayu dan tanaman lainnya perakitan piano, menjadi jalur produksi modern pertama perusahaan. l958 Pearl River Piano Group Ltd telah memproduksi piano berkualitas di Guangzhou, Cina sejak 1956. Pada tahun 2007 mereka memiliki kapasitas untuk membangun lebih dari 100.000 piano satu tahun serta array yang luas angin Pearl River dan instrumen senar. 3-juta kaki persegi di fasilitas kami Delta Sungai Pearl dilengkapi dengan teknologi terbaru dalam Komputer Aided Design dan dikelola oleh tenaga kerja yang berdedikasi dengan panjang 17 tahun rata-rata layanan dengan Pearl River dan telah diberikan ISO 9001 Sertifikasi untuk pengendalian kualitas. l958 Alat Musik Samick didirikan. Samick telah berkembang menjadi produsen instrumen musik terbesar di Korea, dan sekarang perusahaan piano terbesar di dunia. Mereka hanya memulai membuat piano tegak di tahun 1960 dan piano grand di tahun 1970. l959 Perusahaan Challen berhenti berjualan bebas piano mereka, dengan nama pergi ke Brasted bersaudara pada awalnya, kemudian untuk Barrat & Robinson. l960 Yamaha memproduksi dua ribu dua ratus piano sebulan. 1960 Pada Juli 1Oth, Lindner, anak perusahaan dari Rippen Belanda, dibuka di Irlandia. Piano-piano yang dihasilkan revolusioner; frame dilas aluminium alloy diperkenalkan mengurangi berat badan sekitar setengah dari kerangka cor. Plastik dipakai lebih banyak untuk bagian aksi dan tuts. Ada flensa untuk whippen dan palu, dan peredam dijepitkan ke rel. 1962 Steinway memperkenalkan Teflon sebagai bahan bushing pada semua piano grand digunakan sampai tahun 1982. 1963 Kawai Amerika didirikan, diikuti oleh Kawai Eropa, Kanada, Australia, dan Asia. 1963 Pada pameran di Festival Frankfurt adalah Herrburger Brooks Schwander dengan lengan tembaga, dilapisi dengan bushing plastik PTFE bukan bushing kain. Amber Cahaya Engineering Co mensuplai bushing plastik tembaga. 1963 Kompetisi Piano Leeds dibentuk di Inggris. 1963 Rogers diakuisisi oleh Zenders. 1964 Kembles diperoleh John Brinsmead dan Piano Cramer. 1965 Barrat & Robinson Ltd dibeli piano Nathaniel Berry. 1966 Jasper Corp mengakuisisi Bsendorfer. 1969 Piano Kemble dipindahkan ke kota baru Milton Keynes dari pabrik Stoke Newington London. 1971 Kemble mengambil distribusi Inggris piano Yamaha dan instrumen musik.

1971 Pleyel dan Gaveau piano dibuat oleh Schimmel 1971-1994. Pada tahun 1994 produksi pindah ke Perancis dan desain baru diperkenalkan memakai aksi Langer dan Renner. 1972 Blthner dinasionalisasi oleh pemerintah Jerman Timur. 1973 Pengecoran diperlengkapi untuk memproduksi rangka besi untuk Barrat tampaknya di ambang tutup, maka Barratt & Robinson membeli perusahaannya untuk terjaminnya pasokan rangka di masa depan. 1974 Baldwin dari Amerika Serikat memiliki semua saham Bechstein. 1974 Knight memperkenalkan suatu bushing serat pin merebut (jarum penyetel) yang dikatakan punya tekanan sebesar 30,000 pon., Dibandingkan dengan ring kayu tradisional yang hanya 6.000 lbs. 1980 Kawai membuka fasilitas Ryuyo grand piano. Mampu memproduksi lebih dari 60 piano grand per hari. Pabrik Ryuyo mewujudkan keahlian tangan dan teknologi canggih otomatis. 1982 Steinway berhenti memakai tuts dari gading. 1983 Eavestaff berhenti membuat piano di Inggris. 1984 Zender piano yang dibuat oleh Bentley untuk mereka. 1984 Yamaha memiliki saham mayoritas di penjualan organ Kemble dan perusahaan diberi nama baru Yamaha-Kemble Musik (UK) Ltd Pabrik piano Kemble menandatangani persetujuan untuk memulai membuat piano Yamaha dibawah lisensi di Inggris. Produksi piano kembali pas dengan keadaan mesin seni dan teknik produksi dikendalikan komputer disediakan oleh Yamaha. 1985 Birmingham bersaudara membeli Steinway dan sisanya dari divisi musik instrumen CBS (kecuali Fender). 1985 Bentley berhenti membuat tutsnya sendiri. Tuts diperoleh dari Herrburger Brooks. 1985 Pabrik Kemble mulai memproduksi berbagai piano akustik Yamaha untuk dijual di pasar Inggris. Dua tahun kemudian Yamaha dinominasikan sebagai mitra manufaktur Kemble tunggal Eropa. 1986 Baldwin dijual Bechstein Karl Schulze, teknisi piano Jerman master. 1987 Zender benar-benar diambil alih oleh Bentley yang termasuk Piano Rogers. 1987 Perusahaan Ningbo Oriental Piano Parts didirikan. Presidennya adalah Mr Luo Senhe. Perusahaan mempekerjakan George F. Emerson, seorang desainer piano Amerika yang bekerja untuk Baldwin Piano Inc dan Mason & Hamlin. Juga, piano tala Wina dan menyuarakan spesialis Sibin Zlatkouic, dan piano spesialis Jepang Ema Shigeru membantu untuk memantau pengendalian kualitas dan produksi. Pada tahun 2001, perusahaan Hailun berinvestasi dalam peralatan digital Jepang dan lini produksi. Juga di tahun ini, kerjasama didirikan antara Hailun dan Wendl & Lung, Perusahaan berganti nama menjadi Hailun Alat Musik Co, Ltd. Pada tahun 2006 menghasilkan 12.070 piano, 10.500 uprights dan 1570 grands, juga membuat bangku piano, pada November 2006 mereka membuka markas baru dan showroom di Lilburn Amerika Serikat. 1989 Nama Danemann dijual kepada Piano Gardner di Cardiff dalam kaitannya dengan Badan Usaha Welsh. 1989 Piano Frazer diambil alih oleh Hellas.

1989 Piano Broadwood dibuat di Bentley dibawah lisensi. 1990 Piano Chavanne didirikan di Perancis, membuat piano tegak berkualitas. Tinggi, 125 cm. 1993 Bentley, Broadwood dan Knight dimiliki oleh Welmars. David Grover dari Bentley pindah dengan mereka sebagai kepala penjualan di luar negeri. 1995 Sekitar saat ini, Pearl River Piano piano perusahaan Cina dan Yamaha dari Jepang membuat perusahaan patungan. Mereka mendirikan sebuah perusahaan bernama Yamaha-Pearl River. Perusahaan ini didirikan untuk memastikan Eterna model yang diekspor ke Eropa dan Amerika Serikat. 1998 Pada hari Sabtu, 12 Desember, Komisi Perdagangan Internasional AS memulai penyelidikan daya saing industri piano AS. Ini karena piano-piano import dari Cina, Jepang, Indonesia, dan Korea Selatan lebih dari 62.480 dalam sembilan bulan pertama tahun ini. 2003 Pada Desember 2003 Samsung meninggalkan piano Weber yang dibuat oleh Young Chang sejak 1984 dan sekarang memasarkan piano Cina di bawah nama Behning.

Sumber : http://www.rumahpiano.com/sejarah-penemuan-piano/
Piano adalah alat musik yang dimainkan dengan jari-jemari tangan. Pemain piano disebut pianis. Pada saat awal-awal diciptakan, suara piano tidak sekeras piano abad XX-an, seperti piano yang dibuat oleh Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655 1731) buatan 1720. Pasalnya, tegangan senar piano kala itu tidak sekuat sekarang. Kini piano itu dipajang di Metropolitan Museum of Art di New York. Meskipun siapa penemu pertama piano, yang awalnya dijuluki gravecembalo col piano e forte (harpsichord dengan papan tuts lembut dan bersuara keras), masih menjadi perdebatan, banyak orang mengakui, Bartolomeo Cristofori sebagai penciptanya. Piano juga bukan alat musik pertama yang menggunakan papan tuts dan bekerja dengan dipukul. Alat musik berprinsip kerja mirip piano telah ada sejak 1440. Piano sendiri lahir dari keinginan untuk menggabungkan keindahan nada clavichord dengan kekuatan harpsichord. Hasrat itu mendorong Mariusdari Paris (1716), Schroter dari Saxony (1717), dan Christofori (1720) dari Padua, Italia, untuk membuat piano. Namun, hasil utuh dan lengkap cuma ditunjukkan Bartolomeo Christofori. Dari piano ciptaan pemelihara harpsichord dan spinet (harpsichord kecil) di Istana Florentine - kediamanPangeran Ferdinand deMedici - inilah piano modern berakar. Pada pertengahan abad XVII piano dibuat dengan beberapa bentuk. Awalnya, ada yang dibuat mirip desain harpsichord, dengan dawai menjulang. Piano menjadi lebih rendah setelah John Isaac Hawkins memodifikasi letaknya menjadi sejajar lantai. Lalu, dengan munculnya tuntutan instrumen musik lebih ringan, tidak mahal, dan dengan sentuhan lebih ringan, para pembuat piano Jerman menjawabnya dengan piano persegi. Sampai 1860 piano persegi ini mendominasi penggunaan piano di rumah. Rangka untuk senar piano pertama menggunakan rangka kayu dan hanya dapat menahan tegangan ringan dari senar. Akibatnya, ketika pada abad XIX dibangun gedung-gedung konser berukuran besar, suara piano tadi kurang memadai. Maka, mulailah dibuat piano dengan rangka besi. Sekitar tahun 1800 Joseph Smith dari Inggris membuat suatu piano dengan rangka logam seluruhnya. Piano hasil inovasinya mampu menahan tegangan senar sangat kuat, sehingga suara yang dihasilkan pun

lebih keras. Sekitar 1820, banyak pembuat menggunakan potongan logam untuk bagian piano lainnya. Pada 1822, Erard bersaudara mematenkan double escapement action, yang merupakan temuan tersohor dari yang pernah ada berkaitan dengan cara kerja piano. Dalam perkembangannya, sebelum memiliki 88 tuts seperti sekarang, piano memiliki lima oktaf dan 62 tuts. Ia juga dilengkapi dengan pedal. Semula pedal itu digerakkan dengan lutut. Namun, kemudian pedal kaki yang diperkenalkan di Inggris menjadi populer hingga sekarang. Sejumlah pengembangan berlanjut pada abad XIX dan XX. Tegangan senar, yang semula ditetapkan 16 ton pada tahun 1862, bertambah menjadi 30 ton pada piano modern. Hasilnya adalah sebuah piano dengan kemampuan menghasilkan nada yang tidak pernah dibayangkan Frederic Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven, dan bahkan Franz Liszt.

Notasi piano

Sebuah perkembangan nyata di abad XX (berawal di tahun 1930-an) adalah kehadiran piano elektronik (atau piano listrik), yang didasarkan pada teknologi elektroakustik atau metode digital. Nada suaranya terdengar melalui sebuah amplifier dan loudspeaker. Dari sisi mutu suara, piano elektronik nyaris tak ada bedanya dengan piano biasa. Perbedaan terletak pada berbagai fitur yang melengkapinya. Fitur itu tentu tidak ada sama sekali dalam piano biasa. Misalnya, bisa dihubungkan dengan perangkat MIDI, komputer, alat rekam; memiliki pengatur volume, tusuk kontak untuk pendengar kepala; dan sebagainya.

Sumber : http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano

Piano Kelas Dunia Buatan Dari Indonesia

Indonesia buat kejutan! Sekarang dikenal sebagai negara pengekspor piano berkualitas tinggi. Terlebih lagi alat musik buatan negeri tropis ini laku keras di Amerika Serikat! Setiap bulan sedikitnya 50 upright piano diekspor ke negara adikuasa AS dari Cikarang, Jawa Barat. Pemesannya tidak tanggung-tanggung, pabrik piano Boston, label kedua dari merek terkenal dunia, Steinway & Sons, Rolls-Royce-nya piano! Boston Piano sangat puas atas kualitas piano buatan Indonesia yang diekspor ke Amerika Serikat,. Pabrik di Cikarang direkomendasi pabrik Kawai Jepang kepada Boston sewaktu tahun lalu pabrik piano AS ini mencari pabrik di luar benua Amerika untuk memproduksi pianonya. Rekomendasi tersebut tidak lain, karena Kawai sangat puas atas produksi Cikarang, tidak meragukan sedikit pun untuk menyarankan piano Boston dengan moto Affordable high-quality piano diproduksi di Indonesia. Selain AS, Eropa juga mengimpor upright piano Kawai dari Cikarang berlabel Made in Indonesia. Total setiap bulan pabrik penanaman modal asing (PMA) dari Kawai Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company berpusat di

Hamamatsu, sekitar 300 kilometer dari Tokyo, mengekspor 500 piano dari kawasan industri Cikarang. Sementara ke pabrik pusatnya di Hamamatsu, Cikarang mengirim setiap bulan 1.500 soundboard lengkap ke Jepang. Local content-nya 60 persen buatan Indonesia,. Komponen lokal tersebut di antaranya iron frame piano terbuat dari casting iron (besi cor) seberat 85 kilogram untuk penyangga string atau kawat senar piano dibuat di Pulo Gadung. Kabinet piano dipesan dari pabrik furniture di kawasan Cikarang. Bahan baku kayu lapis khusus bagi salah satu komponen piano dari Jambi, Kalimantan, dan Sulawesi. Komponen iron frame harus prima dibuat sebab fungsinya sebagai penyangga dari tekanan kawat senar piano, harus mampu menahan tekanan sekitar 20 ton. Sebuah piano dilengkapi dengan 230 senar, setiap senar mempunyai tekanan sekitar 72,7 kg sehingga komponen tersebut harus mampu menahan tekanan sekitar 16.300 kg untuk upright piano atau sekitar 27.180 kg bagi grand piano. Adapun komponen soundboard merupakan bagian terpenting dari sebuah piano yang memengaruhi mutu suara, terbuat dari kayu spruce, tebalnya sekitar 1 sentimeter. Komponen ini dilekatkan pada frame buatan Pulo Gadung tersebut. Komponen yang didatangkan dari Jepang hanya action mechanic, keyboard, dan pedalnya,. Untuk mengantisipasi peningkatan pesanan dari dunia internasional, pabrik Kawai Indonesia yang mulai dibangun Maret 2001 dan berproduksi Januari 2002 dengan investasi 4,5 juta dollar AS saat ini memperluas pabriknya dengan mendirikan unit untuk produksi grand piano dengan investasi sama, 4,5 juta dollar AS, atau total pabrik Kawai Jepang menanam modal sebesar 9 juta dollar AS di Cikarang. Investasi lain adalah mengirim tenaga Indonesia ke pabrik Kawai di Jepang. mendalami assembling dan finishing selama tiga tahun di Jepang, Seorang tenaga wanita lulusan SMA yang melakukan shitaritsu atau penyetelan senar pertama (first tuner), juga pernah dikirim untuk mendalami bidangnya selama kurun waktu sama. Secara periodik, sejumlah karyawan dikirim ke pusat Kawai di Hamamatsu selama satu bulan. Tidak ada satu pun piano Kawai buatan Indonesia dari Cikarang dipasarkan di negeri khatulistiwa ini. Dari kawasan berikat Cikarang, piano langsung diekspor ke luar negeri. Karena itu, yang beredar di Tanah Air adalah piano impor dari Jepang, seperti yang dipamerkan di ruang pajang Kawai (diresmikan 1 November) yang dikelola PT Modern Photo Tbk sebagai distributornya. Salah satunya adalah seri Vari-Touch VT-132, piano pertama di dunia dengan tuas variable touch control untuk mengatur atau mengubah bobot/berat sentuhan keyboard (tuts). Orang Indonesia lebih menyukai buatan luar negeri, kurang menghargai produk negeri sendiri,. Padahal, kualitas mutu produk dalam negeri sudah tinggi, sama dengan produk luar negeri. Salah satu contoh yang diberikan adalah piano Boston buatan Cikarang. Karena itu, seandainya piano buatan Cikarang diizinkan dipasarkan di Indonesia, piano Cikarang disangsikan akan selaku kacang goreng seperti di pasar Amerika Serikat. Ironis sekali, katanya. Selain pasarnya masih kecil, sejarah pembuatan piano di Tanah Air masih berusia seumur jagung. Sedikitnya baru ada dua perusahaan, yakni Kawai di Cikarang dan Yamaha di Pulo Gadung. Keduanya pun dari Jepang. Sementara di negeri sakura, selain pabrik raksasa Yamaha (produsen piano nomor dua di dunia, 130.000 unit per tahun) dan Kawai (nomor dua di Jepang, 70.000 piano per tahun), ada ratusan pabrik kecil dan industri rumah yang turut membanjiri pasar piano negeri matahari terbit tersebut. Gitu donksekarang tunjukkan lagi kreatifitas bangsa indonesia. [sanshiro, sumber: kompas 04]

The piano may be the best known and loved of all musical instruments. It also has the broadest range of any instrument, so music for all other instruments can be composed on it. It can be played solo, but most other instruments, including the

voice, use the piano for accompaniment. Technically, the piano may also be the most complicated musical instrument with over 2,500 parts. The piano is a stringed instrument. Its many parts are organized into five general structural and mechanical areas of either grand or vertical pianos. These are: the case of the wing-shaped grand piano (or the cabinet of the vertical or upright piano); the soundboard and the ribs and bridges that are its components; the cast iron plate; the strings; and, collectively, the keys, hammers, and piano action or mechanism. The case has many structural parts for attaching legs and tuning pins, but perhaps the rim and the keybed or shelf where the keys and piano action will be installed are most important. The soundboard amplifies the vibrations of the strings, which are transmitted through bridges. The cast iron plate is installed over the soundboard and pinblock (part of the case), and it provides the strength to anchor the strings under tension. Nose bolts and perimeter bolts anchor the plate to the braces and inner rim of the case. The 220 to 240 strings of the piano are attached to hitch pins along the curved edge of the cast iron plate and to tuning pins across the front of the piano, roughly parallel to the keyboard. The piano action is still more complicated and includes the keys, hammers, and mechanism or action. Names for pianos usually indicate their sizes. Grand (wing-shaped) pianos range in length from 4 ft 7 in-9 ft 6 in (1.4-2.9 m) from the front of the keyboard to end of the bend. The "baby" grand is 5 ft-S ft 2 in (1.52-1.57 m) in length; smaller grand pianos are called "apartment size." The larger sizes are the medium grand and concert grand. Modern vertical piano design has changed little since 1935. Verticals range in height from 36-52 in (91-132 cm) with small variations in width and depth. The five standard sizes from smallest to tallest are the spinet, consolette, console, studio, and professional pianos. Pianos are frequently chosen for appearance, and cabinets are available in most furniture styles and finishes.

History
The piano's ancestors are the first stringed instruments. Plucking, striking, and bowing of strings was known among all ancient civilizations; the harp is mentioned in the Book of Genesis in the Bible. The psaltery was an ancient box-type instrument

with strings that were plucked with a pick. Keys were added to stringed instruments to make the family of instruments led by the harpsichord, but keys are used to pluck strings in the harpsichord, the most popular instrument of the seventeenth century. A parallel development was the dulcimer, another stringed box with strings that are struck. Keys and strings were paired in a striking instrument in the clavichord, which led directly to the invention of the pianoforte or fortepiano. Bartolomeo de Francesco Cristofori made harpsichords in Padua, Italy. He is credited with having invented the piano in 1700. Cristofori's piano had hammers that struck the strings by falling by momentum, after having been moved by the action parts linking the hammers to the keys. The hammers were caught by back checks or hammer checks to keep them from bouncing up and down on the strings after the initial strike. This method allowed the strings to continue to vibrate and make sound and for them to be struck loudly or softly, unlike the harpsichord. Johann Andreas Silbermann of Strasbourg, France, continued Cristofori's interest in the pianoforte, and the instrument became popular in Germany after Frederick the Great purchased several. Johann Sebastian Bach approved of it in 1747. The piano had replaced the harpsichord in importance by the end of the eighteenth century. Cabinetmakers built beautiful cases for them. The square piano was built mid-century, and more musicians began writing music specific to the piano, rather than borrowing harpsichord tunes. Piano building began in America in 1775, and changes to the design of the hammers and to the playing mechanism or action improved the sound and responsiveness of the instrument. Jean Henri Pape of Paris patented 137 improvements for the piano during his life (1789-1875). In England, John Broadwood developed machines to manufacture pianos and reduce their cost. Improvements continued from 1825 to 1851 with over 1,000 patents in Europe and the United States for stronger, more deft pianos with greater control and repetitive motion. By the mid-nineteenth century, the modern piano had emerged based on the development of the cast iron plate for structural strength and cross-stringing by fanning bass strings over trebles. By 1870, Steinway & Sons had developed this fanning method called the over-strung scale, so that the strings crossed most closely in the center of the soundboard where the best sound is produced.

Advertisement for a Beckwith player piano from the 1915 Sears Roebuck catalog. (From the Collections of Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village.) In the early twentieth century, the player piano achieved great popularity, allowing people to feel artistic and produce music in their homes without having to invest endless hours in practice. The pianos, equipped with a built-in player mechanism, were activated by foot pedals or electricity and used perforated paper rolls to play a variety of music. Manufacturers advertised their player pianos as good family entertainment and a source of cultural enrichment. An eager public responded with enthusiasm, purchasing over two million pianos by the end of the 1920s. Parents hoped that the pianos would interest their children in attaining musical skillsalthough they often had the opposite effect, since player pianos offered, as one manufacturer described it, "perfection without practice." Dealers offered music rolls for a broad range of age groups, musical tastes, and interests. Young adults sang along with the latest tunes, while musical versions of nursery rhymes enchanted toddlers. Classical music enthusiasts listened to sonatas or operatic melodies. Many Greek, Italian, and Polish-Americans purchased song rolls with words printed in their native language. Coin-operated player pianos were popular among hotel, dance hall, and restaurant owners, who purchased them to serenade customers and increase profits. Fitted with rolls that played several tunes, these pianos poured forth music at the drop of a coin. Customers glided across dance floors to waltzes and fox trots, dined in restaurants to popular melodies, or drank in speakeasies to uptempo tunes.

The enthusiasm for player pianos began to wane in the late 1920s, however, as phonographs and radio provided keen competition for leisure time and entertainment dollars. Jeanine Head Miller C. F. Theodore Steinway also developed the continuous bent rim for the case, which enhanced sound transmission by using the acoustic properties of long wood fibers. These improvements were adapted to all styles of pianos including grand, upright, and square pianos. By 1911, there were 301 piano builders in the United States. Production peaked in the 1920s and declined greatly because of the Great Depression in the 1930s. Today, there are approximately 15 piano manufacturers in the United States, and Japan is the world's largest producer of pianos. The design of the piano has not changed appreciably since the late 1800s, although manufacturers may use different materials or approaches to the manufacturing process. The manufacturing process for the grand piano is described below; there are some differences in manufacturing the vertical or upright piano and in operation methods, particularly the angle at which the hammers strike the strings.

Raw Materials
Pianos are made of the finest materials, not only for appearances but for excellent sound production. The long fibers of maple wood are strong and supple for construction of the rim, but long fibers of spruce are needed for the strength of the braces. Wood is also needed for making patterns of other parts. Metal is used for a variety of parts, including the cast iron plate. Sand is needed for casting molds. The character of the sand is modified by using additives and binders such as bentonite (a type of clay) and coal dust. Molten iron for the casting is made of pig iron with some steel and scrap iron to add strength. Strings are made of high tensile steel wire that is manufactured at specialized piano string mills.

Design
Pianos are designed by specially trained and educated engineers called scale engineers. Scale engineers choose the materials, create the designs and specifications, and develop the interactions of the parts of the piano. Perhaps the

most important aspect of design relates to the structural strength of the piano. About 160-200 lb per sq in (11.2-14 kg per sq cm) of tension is exerted on each of the 220 or more strings in the piano. The piano must perform well, but it also must remain stable over time as changing conditions affect the many materials in the piano differently. The cast iron plate must support the tension of the stringing scale, covering the sound-board very little; it must have maximum mass for strength, but minimum mass for sound quality. Its shape is unique to the design of the piano because it conforms to the string layout, the placement of the bridges on the soundboard, and the paths of the strings. Because the material is brittle, it must be supported in places where the strings apply tension. Holes are designed in the curved side to prevent the plate from cracking due to thermal stress after it is poured and cooled, and this design allows sound to rise from the soundboard too. The scale engineer first sketches a proposed plate, draws it to scale, and makes a wood pattern; this design is later used for manufacture.

The Manufacturing Process

Bending the rim of the case

1 Steinway's method of rim bending is still used and is the first step in assembling the grand piano. Layers of long-fiber maple wood are glued together and bent in a metal press to form a continuous rim; both the inner and outer rim are made this way. Up to 22 layers form each piano rim, and the layers may be up to 25 ft (7.62 m) long. Resin glue is applied by machine, then the layers are carried to the press where they are shaped. The rims are stored in braces to keep them from changing shape. They are seasoned in controlled temperature and humidity conditions until the wood meets a specific moisture content where it will hold its contour. The bent inner rim is then fitted with other wood components, including the cross block, the pinblock, the cross braces, the keybed, and the backbottom. These are glued and doweled in place.

2 The cabinet is finished to improve sound properties as well as for appearance. The cabinet is sanded so stain is absorbed properly, wood is

bleached to equalize appearance of the veneer, prestaining and staining are done next, wood fillers (sometimes with a washcoat) are added, and a first coat of sealer or lacquer is applied. The surface is sanded again, special glazes (for antiquing or other effects) are added followed by two more coats of lacquer, sanding is done again, special trims are added, and two final coats of lacquer are used. The cabinet is dried for up to 21 days before it is handrubbed to its final finish.

Making the structural components

3 The wood components of the piano (collectively called the framework)the pinblock and the cast iron plateare the parts of the piano that support the tension of the strings. Braces are made of select spruce, and the pinblock or wrestplank is constructed of bonded layers of rock maple. The pinblock is quarter-sawn or rotary cut to maximize the grain structure's grip on the tuning pins. The laminated layers are also glued at different angles to each other so that the pins are surrounded with end grain wood. The pinblock has one hole per string, or up to 240 holes, drilled in it.

4 The cast iron plate is made in a piano plate foundry. Match-plates are made of metal from the wood pattern designed by the engineer with top and bottom pieces to match. Sand molds are made from the match-plates, and these are used to cast the plate. Molten iron is poured through the molds and allowed to harden during the founding process (a controlled cooling process) to produce a plate weighing about 600 lb (272.4 kg). After the plate is cooled and removed from the molds, sand is blasted off the plate with steel grit. The plate is transported on overhead conveyors to a drill room where holes are drilled for the tuning pins, nosebolts, bolts to the frame, and hitch pins. The hitch pins are inserted next; then the casting imperfections are removed from the plate by grinding and drilling. Oils are also removed. The plate is hand-sanded and rubbed, primed, and painted.

5 The cast iron plate is suspended above its piano during the process of fitting. The plate will be lowered and raised in and out of the piano several times as the pinblock, seal against the rim, and the sound-board and bridges are fitted.

Creating the soundboard

6 The soundboard is a thin panel of spruce that underlies the strings and the cast iron plate and rests on the rim braces. Its parts are the board itself, supporting ribs on the underside of the board, and the two bridges over which the strings are stretched. The soundboard is made of spruce that is 0.25-0.375 in (0.635-0.95 cm) thick; it acts as a natural resonator, is strong for its weight, and can be vibrated by the strings because of its lightness. Spruce is air dried then kiln dried to a specific moisture content. It is then cut into strips that are 2-5 in (5.08-12.7 cm) wide, the edges are glued, and the strips are pressed together and dried. A pattern is superimposed, and the soundboard is trimmed to grand piano size.

7 The soundboard is curved to produce the right sound. The curve is called a crown that arches upward toward the strings. The arch is made by fitting ribs of lightweight spruce or sugar pine wood to the underside of the board. The ribs are carefully cut from patterns, then fitted and glued to the sound-board using a rib press that accurately positions the ribs, then forces the board into the proper curvature. The ribs are cut along the wood's lengthwise grain and fitted at right angles to the lengthwise grain of the sound-board, so that vibrations are evenly transmitted. The ends of the ribs are feathered, then fitted into notches in the framework of the piano that will exactly support the arch of the crown; the pianomakers use special patterns to guide these cuts in the frame.

8 The two soundboard bridges transfer the vibrations of the strings along their lengths to the soundboard. The long bridge is crossed by treble strings, and the bass strings that fan across the trebles cross the short bridge. The bridges are complicated because they must parallel the grain of the soundboard closely, curve with the crown, and support the strings, which exert a downbearing pressure on the bridges and therefore on the soundboard. This pressure must be supported by the strength of the bridges and the arch of the crown, or the tone of the strings will drop. The bridges are made of solid blocks of wood or of laminated wood. Hard maple is used in American-made pianos, and falcon wood (beech) is used in Europe. Laminated bridges must be placed with laminations perpendicular to the soundboard or the glue layers have a damping effect. The bridges are glued to the soundboard and also fastened to it with wood screws capped by soundboard buttons made of wood

that act like washers and keep the screws from grinding into the board. The bridges are notched on both

Pianos have the greatest range of any instrument and over 2,500 parts. They are considered to belong to both the string family of instruments, because a piano's strings produce its sounds, as well as the percussion family, because the sound is produced when a hammer strikes a string. sides where each string crosses, so the string strikes a small part of the bridge and can vibrate easily. Pins are inserted in the bridge, and strings are threaded between the pins.

Stringing and tuning

9 Piano string is made in specialized mills and consists of carbon steel wire. The bass strings are also wrapped with copper windings in a process called loading the strings. The windings add weight and thickness to the steel core strings so they vibrate more slowly and can be made to lengths that fit a piano of practical size; without loading, bass strings would have to be 30 ft (9.14 m)

long to produce their sounds. Treble strings are short, are not wound with copper, but are grouped in threes to make one tone. Scale sticks are used as standards for each string, acting as a gauge of each kind of wire and determining how many sizes of string are needed; up to 17 different diameters of wire may be used to string one piano. Piano strings require special care and handling because they lie straight after they are formed, cut, and loaded and are never wound on rolls. After the strings are strung, they are held in place near the tuning pins by metal bars and special brass studs called agraffes. Other bars position the strings properly near the hitch pins.

10 Tuning pins are made from steel wire. The wire is cut to the proper length, the ends are shaped with a die, and the pins are loaded in a tumbler where rough edges are smoothed away. The tumbler empties them into a press where swags that fit tuning hammers are formed at the tops of the pins. Holes for the strings are drilled into the swagged ends of the pins, the pins are cleaned of metal chips and oil, and nickel-plating is applied to the pins to keep them from rusting. The pins are threaded to turn easily during tuning, then they are subjected to controlled heating called blueing, which oxidizes the outer surface of the threads of the pins (where the nickel plating was removed during threading) so the pins will grip the wood in the pinblock. Special machines insert several pins at a time through the holes in the cast iron plate and into the pinblock where they are fitted in place by hand.

Constructing the keyboard and action

11 Keyboards, key and action frames, and actions are made by specialty manufacturers. The keys balance and pivot on a set of either two or three rails that are covered with felt to prevent noise. Guide pins for each key are inserted in the front or head rail and the middle or balance rail. The keys themselves are made of lightweight wood that is cut to size and dried in kilns. The keys are covered with black or white plastic, although in the past ivory and ebony were used. The plastic key covers are molded to cover a group of keys that are later cut individually. Holes are drilled on the undersides to fit the guide pins. Capstan screws are mounted on the back edges of the keyboard extending inside the piano; the action will be seated on these. The keys are now cut into 88 individuals, which are sanded and polished on the sides. The

black keys are also stained black before the black caps are glued on. The keys are rematched to the keyframe, punchings resembling washers are placed over the guide pins, and the keys are placed on them.

12 The voice of the piano depends on the quality of the hammers. Many materials from elkskin to rubber have been used over the history of the piano, but today, hammers are covered with premium wool felt of precisiongraduated density. The felt is made by specialists who begin with select wool that is carded, combed, folded, and compressed into felt in tapered strips. The thinnest felt is used for the treble hammers, while thick felt is used for the bass. The core of each hammerhead is a wood molding, and an underfelt and top felt are bonded in place with resin to cover the molding. The hammerheads are made in long strips of the same size then sliced into individual hammerheads by hand or automation. The complete set of hammers is installed in the piano. The sound of the piano is adjusted by a specially trained tuner called a voicer. The key actions must respond with the same resistance. The felt hammers are modified with a sticker or needler that retextures the hammerheads and changes the sound.

13 The final parts are added, including the pedals and their trapwork, the fallboard or key cover, the music rack, the hinges and top lid, the topstick that supports the raised lid, and many other details. All parts are carefully made so they fit tightly and do not rattle or otherwise affect the sound of the instrument.

Quality Control
Pianos would not exist without quality control in all aspects of production because the instruments are too sensitive and dependent on the interaction of many parts and materials. For example, quality begins with the scale engineer's design. Metallurgists check the metal content of the iron plate; chemical analyses are made of the other contents, including carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, and manganese. Temperature is also critical; the molten iron is 2,750F (1,510C), and founding or hardening temperatures are also carefully monitored. String is similarly controlled and tested during manufacture for elasticity, resiliency, and tensile strength.

The Future

The process of piano manufacturing has remained essentially the same for a century, but scale engineers are always seeking new methods. Vacuum casting has recently been used to produce cast iron plates with smooth finishes requiring no grinding.

Read more: http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Piano.html#b#ixzz2NJdCi1PL

Pedal Piano
The pedal piano (or pedalier piano)[1] is a kind of piano that includes a pedalboard, enabling bass register notes to be played with the feet, as is standard on the organ.[2] There are two types of pedal piano: the pedal board may be an integral part of the instrument, using the same strings and mechanism as the manual keyboard, or, less frequently, it may consist of two independent pianos (each with its separate mechanics and strings) which are placed one above the other, a regular piano played by the hands and a bass-register piano played by the feet.

History
The origins of the pedal piano are found in the pedal clavichord and pedal harpsichord, of which an original of the former survives and the latter only survives in descriptions and modern reproductions. The first citation of a clavichord with pedalboard appeared around 1460 in a section dedicated tomusical instruments in an encyclopedic treatise written by the scholar Paulus Paulirinus (14131471). Organists would use these instruments for practise when they had no-one available to work the bellows for a church organ or, in the wintertime, to avoid having to practice on a church organ in an unheated church. Johann Sebastian Bach owned a pedal harpsichord and his organ trio sonatas BWV 525-530, Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor BWV 582, and other works sound well when played on the instrument.[3] Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart owned a fortepiano with independent pedals, built for him in 1785 by Anton Walter. His father refers to this in a letter to his daughter on March 12, 1785. The autographed manuscript of the Concerto in D minor K 466, composed the same year, shows a series of chords for the left hand plus bass notes an octave lower, covering about 2 1/2 measures. Some believe that the bass notes were intended for the pedal.[4] But there is disagreement about this interpretation. The additional bass notes could be regarded as a revision, where the original was not crossed out. And since the pedal was strictly for his own, largely extemporaneous, use there would be no reason to write out notes. Louis Schone made a pedalflgel for Robert Schumann in 1843, when he was in Dresden. Schumann preferred an upright pedal piano; his pedal keyboard had 29 notes and was connected with an action placed at the back of the piano where a special soundboard, covered with 29 strings, was built into the case. Schumann wrote much music for the pedal piano and was so enthusiastic about the instrument that he convinced Felix Mendelssohn, who owned a grand pedal piano, to form a class devoted to it in the Leipzig Conservatory. Charles-Valentin Alkan owned an Erard pedal piano made

in 1853 and now in the Muse de la Musique, the historic instrument collection of the Conservatoire de Paris. Alkan composed a number of works for it, in the virtuoso style to be found in his other piano music.[5] Kevin Bowyer has revived some of this music in recent years, though he plays it on the organ.

The instrument never became very popular in the 1900s, and it remains a rarity. It is mostly used to enable organists to practice at home, rather like the pedal harpsichord and clavichord were centuries ago, instead of being used to play the pedal piano repertoire. In the 2000s, pedal pianos are made in the Luigi Borgato workshop in Italy. This company makes the Doppio Borgato, an independent bassregister instrument connected to a pedal board, on which a concert grand can be placed. Borgato expanded the register of the bass piano to 37 notes (rather than the standard 30 or 32 on an organ).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedal_piano

Piano pedals are foot-operated levers at the base of a piano which change the instrument's sound in various ways. Modern pianos usually have three pedals, from left to right, the soft pedal (or una corda), the sostenuto pedal (mainly found in American-made grands), and the sustaining pedal (or damper pedal). Some pianos omit the sostenuto pedal, or have a middle pedal with a different purpose such as a muting function also known as silent piano. The development of the piano's pedals is an evolution that began from the very earliest days of the piano, and continued through the late nineteenth century. Throughout the years, the piano had as few as one modifying stop, and as many as six or more, before finally arriving at its current configuration of three.

Una corda pedal

Main article: Soft pedal The una corda mechanism, invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori, was the first stop invented to modify the piano's sound. This function is typically operated by the left pedal on modern pianos. The common name many use today for the una corda is the soft pedal, which is not an entirely accurate description of the pedal's function. The una corda primarily modifies timbre and color of the tone, not just the volume of the tone.[1] Soon after its invention, the una corda was integrated on pianos of all makers as a standard fixture. [2] On Cristofori's pianos, the una corda mechanism was operated by a hand stop, not a pedal. The stop was a knob located on the side of the keyboard. When the una corda was activated, the entire action shifted to the right so that the hammers hit one string (una corda) instead of two strings (due corde).[3] Dominic Gill says that when the hammers strike only one string, the piano "produces a softer, more ethereal tone".[4]

By the late eighteenth century, piano builders had begun triple stringing the notes on the piano. This change, affecting the una corda's function, is described by Joseph Banowetz: On the pianos of the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries, the pianist could shift from the normal three-string (tre corde) position to one in which either two strings (due corde) or only one (una corde) would be struck, depending on the depth to which the pedal was pressed. This subtle but important choice does not exist on modern pianos, but was readily available on the earlier instruments. [2] The sound of the una corda on early pianos created a larger difference in color and timbre than it does on the modern piano. On the modern piano, the una corda pedal makes the hammers of the treble section hit two strings instead of three. In the case of the bass strings, the hammer normally strikes either one or two strings per note. The lowest bass notes on the piano are a single thicker string. For these notes, the action shifts the hammer so that it strikes the string on a different, lesserused part of the hammer nose.[5] Edwin Good states, On the modern piano, the timbre is subtly different, but many people cannot hear it. In that respect, at least, the modern piano does not give the player the flexibility of changing tone quality that early ones did. [6] Beethoven took advantage of the ability of his piano to create a wide range of tone color in two of his piano works. In his Piano Concerto No. 4, Beethoven specifies the use of una corda, due corda, and tre corde. He calls for una corda, then "poco a poco due ed allora tutte le corde", gradually two and then all strings, in Sonata Op. 106.[2]

Half-blow pedal
On the modern upright piano, the left pedal is not truly an una corda, because it does not shift the action sideways. This cannot happen because the strings "run at such an oblique angle to the hammers that if the action were moved sideways, the hammer might strike one string of the wrong note".[7] A more accurate term for the left pedal on an upright piano is the half-blow pedal. When the pedal is activated, the hammers move closer to the strings, so that there is less distance for the hammer to swing.[8]

Sostenuto pedal
The last pedal to be added to the modern grand was the middle pedal, the sostenuto, which was inspired by the French. By using this pedal, a pianist can sustain selected notes, while other notes remain unaffected. The sostenuto was first shown at the French Industrial Exposition of 1844 in Paris, by Boisselot and Sons, a Marseille company. French piano builders Alexandre Franois Debain and Claude Montal built sostenuto mechanisms in 1860 and 1862, respectively. These innovative efforts did not immediately catch on with other piano builders. In 1874, Albert Steinway perfected and patented the sostenuto pedal.[9] He began to advertise it publicly in 1876, and soon the Steinway company was including it on all of their grands and their higher class uprights.[10] Other American piano builders quickly adopted the sostenuto pedal into their piano design. The sostenuto was never well-received in Europe, however. Today, the sostenuto is on few Europeanmade pianos, but it remains a standard fixture primarily on American-made grands.[7]

The term "sostenuto" is perhaps not the best descriptive term for what this pedal actually does. "Sostenuto" in Italian means "sustaining".[1] This definition alone would make it sound as if the sostenuto pedal accomplishes the same thing as the damper, or "sustaining" pedal. The sostenuto pedal was originally called the "tone-sustaining" pedal.[10] That name would be more accurately descriptive of what the pedal accomplishes, i.e. sustainment of a single tone / group of tones. Only a handful of composers, including Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel,[1] and Charles Griffes, call for the use of this pedal; the sostenuto still remains the least used pedal of the three on the piano. It is common to find uprights and even grand pianos that lack a middle pedal. Even if a piano has a middle pedal, one cannot assume it is a true sostenuto, for there are many other functions a middle pedal can have other than that of sostenuto. Often an upright's middle pedal is another half-blow pedal, like the one on the left, except that the middle pedal will slide into a groove to stay engaged. Sometimes, the middle pedal may only operate the bass dampers.[6] The middle pedal may sometimes lower a muffler rail of felt between the hammers and the strings to mute and significantly soften the sound, so that one can practice quietly (also known as a "Practice Rail").[8] True sostenuto is rare on uprights, except for more expensive models such as those from Steinway and Bechstein. They are more common on digital pianos as the effect is straightforward to mimic in software.[citation
needed]

Sustaining, or damper pedal

Main article: Sustain pedal The sustaining pedal, the right pedal on the modern piano, has been called "the soul of the piano". [1] This pedal raises all the dampers off the strings so that they keep vibrating after a key on the keyboard has been released. It adds much expressivity, allowing notes to resonate, and certain harmonies and notes to be connected together.

Other pedals
Among other pedals sometimes found on early pianos are the lute stop, moderator or celeste, bassoon, buff, cembalo, and swell. The lute pedal created a "pizzicato-type sound".[11] The moderator, or celeste mechanism used "a layer of soft cloth or leather ... interposed between hammers and strings to give a sweet, singing and muted quality".[4] According to Good, "[the piece of leather or cloth was] graduated in thickness across its short dimension. The farther down one pushed the pedal, the farther the rail was lowered and the thicker the material through which the hammer struck the strings. With the thicker material, the sound was softer and more muffled. Such a stop was sometimes called a pianissimo stop."[12] The moderator stop was popular on Viennese pianos, and a similar mechanism is still sometimes fitted on upright pianos today in the form of the practice rail (see Functions of the upright piano's middle and left pedals, below). Joseph Banowetz states that for the bassoon pedal, paper or silk was placed over the bass strings to create "a buzzing noise that listeners of the day felt resembled the sound of the bassoon".[13] The buff stop and cembalo stops seem to be similar to each other in method of manipulation and sound produced. The buff ("leather") stop[12] used "a narrow strip of soft leather ... pressed against the strings to give a dry, soft tone of little sustaining power".[4] The cembalo stop pressed leather weights on the strings and modified the sound to make it resemble that of the harpsichord.[14] Johannes Pohlmann used a swell pedal on his pianos to raise and lower the lid of the piano to control the overall volume.[15] Instead of raising and lowering the lid, the swell was sometimes operated by opening and closing slots in the sides of the piano case.[14] Often called "the father of the pianoforte"[by whom?], Muzio Clementi was a composer and musician who founded a piano-building company, and was active in the designing of the pianos that his company

built. The Clementi piano firm was later renamed Collard and Collard in 1830, two years before Clementi's death. Clementi added a feature called a harmonic swell. "[This pedal] introduced a kind of reverberation effect to give the instrument a fuller, richer sound. The effect uses the sympathetic vibrations set up in the untuned non-speaking length of the strings. Here the soundboard is bigger than usual to accommodate a second bridge (the 'bridge of reverberation')."[16] The Dolce Campana pedal pianoforte c. 1850, built by Boardman and Gray, New York, demonstrated yet another creative way of modifying the piano's sound. A foot pedal controlled a series of hammers or weights attached to the soundboard that would fall onto an equal number of screws, and created the sound of bells or the harp.[17]

Novelty pedals
In the early years of piano development, many novelty pedals and stops were experimented with before finally settling on the three that now grace the modern piano. Some of these pedals were meant to modify levels of volume, color, or timbre, while others were used for special effects, meant to imitate other instruments. Banowetz speaks of these novelty pedals: "At their worst, these modifications threatened to make the piano into a vulgar musical toy".[2]

Janissary or Janizary pedals

During the late eighteenth century, Europeans developed a love for Turkish band music, and the Turkish music style was an outgrowth of this. According to Good, this was possibly started "whenKing Augustus the Strong of Poland received the gift of a Turkish military band at some time after 1710".[18] "Janissary" or "janizary"" refers to the Turkish military band that used instruments including drums, cymbals, and bells, among other loud, cacophonous instruments. Owing to the desire of composers and players to imitate the sounds of the Turkish military marching bands, piano builders began including pedals on their pianos by which snare and bass drums, bells, cymbals, or the triangle could be played by the touch of a pedal while simultaneously playing the keyboard.[19] Up to six pedals would control all these different sound effects. Alfred Dolge states, "The Janizary pedal, one of the best known of the early pedal devices, added all kinds of rattling noises to the normal piano performance. It could cause a drumstick to strike the underside of the soundboard, ring bells, shake a rattle, and even create the effect of a cymbal crash by hitting several bass strings with a strip of brass foil".[19] Mozart's Rondo alla Turca, from Sonata K. 331, written in 1778, was sometimes played using these Janissary effects.[20]

Development
Hand stops
The sustaining, or damper stop, was first controlled by the hand, and was included on some of the earliest pianos ever built. Stops operated by hand were inconvenient for the player, who would have to continue playing with one hand while operating the stop with the other. If this was not possible, an assistant would be used to change the stop, just as organists do even today.[21]Johannes Zumpe's square piano, made in London in 1767, had two hand stops located inside the case, which acted as sustaining stops for the bass strings and the treble strings.[21]

Knee levers
The knee lever to replace the hand stop for the damper control was developed in Germany sometime around 1765.[2] According to David Crombie, "virtually all the fortepianos of the last three decades of the eighteenth century were equipped with a knee lever to raise and lower the dampers ... ".[22]

Sometime around 1777, Mozart had an opportunity to play a piano built by Johann Andreas Stein, who had been an apprentice of Gottfried Silbermann. This piano had knee levers, and Mozart speaks highly of their functionality in a letter: "The machine which you move with the knee is also made better by [Stein] than by others. I scarcely touch it, when off it goes; and as soon as I take my knee the least bit away, you can't hear the slightest after-sound".[23] The only piano Mozart ever owned was one by Anton Walter, c. 1782-1785. It had two knee levers; the one on the left raised all the dampers, while the one on the right raised only the treble dampers. A moderator stop to produce a softer sound (see Other pedals, below) was located centrally above the keyboard.[24]

Foot pedals
Although there is some controversy among authorities as to which piano builder was actually the first to employ foot pedals rather than knee levers, one could say that foot pedals are a characteristic first developed by manufacturers in England.[25] James Parakilas states that the damper stop was introduced by Gottfried Silbermann,[3] who was the first German piano builder.[26]Parakilas, however, does not specify whether Silbermann's damper stop was in the form of a hand lever, knee lever, or foot pedal. It is of importance to note here that many successful English piano builders had apprenticed with Silbermann in Germany, and then left for London as a result of the disturbances of the Seven Years War in Saxony. Among those who re-located to England were Johannes Zumpe, Americus Backers, and Adam Beyer.[27] Americus Backers, Adam Beyer, and John Broadwood, all piano builders in England, are credited as being among the first to incorporate the new feature. Americus Backers' 1772 grand, his only surviving instrument, has what are believed to be original pedals, and is most likely the first piano to use foot pedals rather than knee levers.[28] A square piano built by Adam Beyer of London in 1777 has a damper pedal, as do pianos built by John Broadwood, ca. 1783.[1] After their invention, foot pedals did not immediately become the accepted form for piano stops. German and Viennese builders continued to use the knee levers for quite some time after the English were using foot pedals. Knee levers and foot pedals are even used together on the same instrument on a Nannette Streicher grand built in Vienna in 1814. This piano had two knee levers which were Janissary stops for bell and drum, and four foot pedals for una corda, bassoon, dampers, and moderator.[29]

Beethoven and pedals

Throughout his lifetime, Ludwig van Beethoven owned several different pianos by different makers, all with different pedal configurations. His pianos are fine examples of some experimental and innovative pedal designs of the time. In 1803, the French piano company Erard gave him a grand, "[thought to be] the most advanced French grand piano of the time .... It had ... four pedals, including an unacorda, as well as a damper lift, a lute stop, and a moderator for softening the tone".[30] Beethoven's Broadwood grand, presented as a gift to him from the Broadwood company in 1817, had an una corda pedal and a split damper pedal one half was the damper for the treble strings, the other was for the bass strings.[31] In an effort to give Beethoven an instrument loud enough for him to hear when his hearing was failing, Conrad Graf designed an instrument in 1824 especially for Beethoven with quadruple stringing instead of triple. Graf only made three instruments of this nature. David Crombie describes this instrument: "by adding an extra string, Graf attempted to obtain a tone that was richer and more powerful, though it didn't make the instrument any louder than his Broadwood".[32] This extra string would have provided a bigger contrast when applying keyboardshifting stops, because this keyboard shift pedal moved the action from four to two strings. Crombie

states, "these provide a much wider control over the character of the sound than is possible on Graf's usual instruments".[32] This piano had five pedals: a keyboard shift (quad to due corde), bassoon, moderator 1, moderator 2, and dampers.[32] As a composer and pianist, Beethoven experimented extensively with pedal. His first marking to indicate use of a foot pedal in a score was in his first two piano concertos, in 1795. Earlier than this, Beethoven had called for the use of the knee lever in a sketch from 179092; "with the knee" is marked for a series of chords. According to Joseph Banowetz, "This is the earliest-known indication for a damper control in a score".[33] Haydn did not specify its use in a score until 1794. All in all, there are nearly 800 indications for pedal in authentic sources of Beethoven's compositions, making him by far the first composer to be highly prolific in pedal usage.[34]

Pedal piano
Along with the development of the pedals on the piano came the phenomenon of the pedal piano, a piano with a pedalboard. Some of the early pedal pianos date back to 1815.[10] The pedal piano developed partially for organists to be able to practice pedal work away from the organ. In some instances, the pedal piano was actually a special type of piano with a built-in pedal board and a higher keyboard and bench, like an organ. Other times, an independent pedal board and set of strings could be connected to a regular grand piano. Mozart had a pedalboard made for his piano. His father, Leopold, speaks of this pedalboard in a letter: "[the pedal] stands under the instrument and is about two feet longer and extremely heavy".[24] Alfred Dolge writes of the pedal mechanisms that his uncle, Louis Schone, constructed for both Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn in 1843.[35] Schumann preferred the pedal board to be connected to the upright piano, while Mendelssohn had a pedal mechanism connected to his grand piano. Dolge describes Mendelssohn's pedal mechanism: "The keyboard for pedaling was placed under the keyboard for manual playing, had 29 notes and was connected with an action placed at the back of the piano where a special soundboard, covered with 29 strings, was built into the case".[35] In addition to using his pedal piano for organ practice, Schumann composed several pieces specifically for the pedal piano. Among these compositions are Six Studies Op. 56, Four Sketches Op. 58, and Six Fugues on Bach Op. 60.[36] Other composers who used pedal pianos were Mozart, Liszt, and Gounod.[37] The piano, and specifically the pedal mechanism and stops underwent a lot of experimentation during the formative years of the instrument, before finally arriving at the current pedal configuration. Banowetz states, "These and a good number of other novelty pedal mechanisms eventually faded from existence as the piano grew to maturity in the latter part of the nineteenth century, finally leaving as survivors of this torturous evolution only today's basic three pedals".[13]

Location
The location of foot pedals on the piano was another aspect of pedal development that fluctuated greatly during the evolution of the instrument. Piano builders were quite creative with their pedal placement on pianos, which sometimes gave the instruments a comical look, compared to what is usually seen today. The oldest surviving English grand, built by Backers in 1772, and manyBroadwood grands had two foot pedals, una corda and damper, which were attached to the legs on the left and right of the keyboard.[28] James Parakilas describes this pedal location as giving the piano a "pigeon-toed look",[3] for they turned in slightly. A table piano built by Jean-Henri Pape in the mid-nineteenth century had pedals on the two front legs of the piano, but unlike those on the Backers

and Broadwood, these pedals faced straight in towards each other rather than out.[17] A truly unique design is demonstrated in the "Dog Kennel" piano. It was built by Sebastien Mercer in 1831, and was nicknamed the "Dog Kennel" piano because of its shape.[38] Under the upright piano where the modern pedals would be located is a semi-circular hollow space where the feet of the player could rest. The una corda and damper pedals are located at the left and right of this space, and face straight in, like the table piano pedals. Eventually during the nineteenth century, pedals were attached to a frame located centrally underneath the piano, to strengthen and stabilize the mechanism. According to Parakilas, this framework on the grand piano "often took the symbolic shape and name of a lyre", [3] and it still carries the name "pedal lyre" today.

Recent development in pedal configuration

See also: Innovations in the piano Although the piano and its pedal configuration has been in its current form since the late nineteenth century, there is a possibility that sometime in the future the pedal configuration may change again. In 1987, the Fazioli piano company in Sacile, Italy, designed the longest piano made until this time (10 ft, 2 in.). This piano has four pedals: damper, sostenuto, una corda, and half-blow.[8]

Sumber : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_pedals