Making Of A Kawai Grand Piano Pt.1

Koichi Kawai founded a company in 1927 that has, for 3 generations, sought to combine traditional craftstmanship with the efficiencies of computer-aided manufacturing in building an excellent piano.

Making Of A Kawai Grand Piano Pt.2

A few good examples of Kawai’s quest for excellence:

• In 1997, Kawai became the first company in the piano industry to receive the ISO 14001 certification for excellence in environmental management.
• Kawai uses ABS Styran instead of wood for several action parts that are most susceptible to breakage or swelling due to humidity.  While I have historically opposed the use of plastics in piano actions, this one (actually a polymer composite) has several decades of evidence to support that it does work.
• “Circle of Refinement”- This is what sets Kawai apart for me.  One of the first times I saw a Kawai was around 1980.  The Baldwin dealer I was working with had just started carrying Kawai also.  I was used to a Baldwin coming from the factory needing five or six tunings and a small amount of regulation to be ready for the sales floor.  This first Kawai was shipped from Japan to Houston, Texas, then trucked to San Antonio before being uncrated.  It was then shipped about another 100 miles to a store in Kerrville, Texas, where it only required touch-up of a few unisons to be ready for the sales floor.  I have seen this a few more times, and heard of it many more times since then.  The Kawai craftsmen invest the extra time and effort needed to make sure that one of their instruments is ready when it leaves the factory.

The Kawai Legacy. http://www.kawaius.com/main_links/legacy_home.html

You Might Also Want to Read:

• Mason & Hamlin – A History
• Highlights in Piano History – November 25,2008
• Piano Bibliography Just Posted
• Quick Reference Guide for Piano Owners and Prospects
• Memories of an Old Friend

I recently found this book in my local public library and checked it out, more from curiousity than anything.  What I found is a book that should be required reading for aspiring piano teachers and highly recommended for parents considering either starting their children on the piano or resuming their own studies of the piano that might have fallen by the wayside at some point since their childhood.

Thad Carhart, the author, tells of his experience while living in Paris with an obscure piano shop in his neighborhood.  He had studied piano as a child, with mixed success, and was considering taking it up again.  Carhart was intrigued, and a bit mystified, by this shop, well away from the prominent music conservatories of Paris, and became even more so when he went in and learned that a reference from a previous customer was required for him to deal with them.  Once that was achieved he began a journey of learning and passion that most people cannot imagine.  Luc, the proprietor of the piano shop, began to educate him on the mechanics of what makes a piano good, and what makes a good piano great.  Part of this process, at first, is aimed at helping Carhart find and buy the piano that is right for him.  After that is accomplished, he progresses to learning about piano maintenance and all that that involves.  He also gets several lessons in piano history and a few on the current state of the piano industry, including a visit to the factory in Italy where Fazioli pianos are made and an interview with the company’s founder, Paolo Fazioli.

But along the way, one of the biggest lessons Carhart received was in passion.  Just a few examples here:

• Luc on wealthy people who buy fine pianos as symbols of wealth instead of sources of music:  “‘They might as well park a Mercedes at the end of their grands salons,’ he would rail, ‘for all they know of music!  Today I tuned a Steinway concert grand in an apartment that was at least four hundred square meters and I swear it hasn’t been played in years.  The owner told me it made him feel good to see it in the morning, and there it sits with the cover open as if Horowitz himself were about to enter and play.  He might as well look at his Swiss bank book or his stock certificates!’”
• Luc on the pianos that suffer the fate above: “‘It’s like a great conversationalist who is put in solitary confinement,’ he once told me, and I better understood how for him a piano could suffer a kind of death, even though it was wholly intact and well maintained.”
• Carhart on his ideal piano teacher: “Years later, when I rediscovered the importance of the piano in my life, I imagined some like her, an intuitive teacher who could draw out the music from within rather than drilling it into me. Instead of relying on a chance encounter, though, I saw that I would have to seek out such a person and make clear my needs and expectations if I were to enjoy playing as an adult.”

Although I have never been to Paris, don’t speak French, and have never totally quit playing, I saw several things in this book that were familiar to me.  The last shop I worked for reminds me somewhat of Luc’s.  I have met teachers that remind me of every teacher described in the book.  Most importantly,  although I have lost it several times, I have been able to regain, at some point, my passion for music.

Teachers- Strive to be the teacher described above by the author.  If the student, no matter the age, wants to make music and knows the excitement that can come from a good performance, nothing can stop them, in my opinion.  If, on the other hand, the student is so bound up by the regimentation of technique that even when they do a good performance they will still berate themselves because that “quarter-note D in the fifth measure” was a shade louder than the teacher had said it should be, and another student will be resigned to “I can never be good enough.”

You Might Also Want to Read:

• Quick Reference Guide for Piano Owners and Prospects
• Things To Think About When Shopping For A Piano
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• Care of Your Piano
• Memories of an Old Friend

A few comments:

• To remove the fallboard (key cover) many times this just lifts off, but in some cases there are set screws that must be loosened before removal.
• Most older pianos have the key slip held in place by screws.
• I have seen cases where the hammer might be raised as little as 1/16” and snap off on removal, usually in the top octave. On old pianos this much lift can happen by keys being in need of adjustment, so it is advisable for the technician to stand and visually check the hammers prior to sliding them under the pin block. This problem can also occur if the key frame is warped.
• Action regulation is the process of adjusting how the various action components for each note work together.
• Voicing is the process of adjusting the shape, hardness and position of the hammers.

• Tuning is the process of tightening or loosening strings to achieve the proper pitch, then setting the tuning pins correctly so that they will stay in place best possible.

[I hope this series has helped you better understand the workings of the grand piano.  As always if you have a question, please leave a comment.]

You Might Also Want to Read:

• How Your Grand Piano Works- Part 2
• How Your Grand Piano Works- Part 1
• My Piano Keys Make Noise-But My Tuner Can’t Find It!
• Lifesaver for your Piano
• Care of Your Piano

A few comments:

• The hammer is one of the major components of the sound of a piano, affected by varying qualities of felt and degrees of hardness, as well as the size and shape of the hammer.
• Contrary to statements in the video, lacquer is NOT commonly used in hammer manufacture.
• Hammers can be softened by needling if necessary to achieve the desired tone quality.
• The hammer must be adjusted and aligned so that it hits squarely and evenly on all the strings for the note.
• The center rail is the fulcrum of the key.
• Openings in the key for the center rail pin and front rail pin are bushed with felt to keep them from rattling and wobbling side-to-side and front to back.
• If the bushings swell because of humidity and become too tight they will bind, causing the key to stick. In that case the bushing can be compressed a small amount with a special tool. If the bushings wear down too thin or come unglued and fall out the key will rattle and wobble. In that case the bushing felt has to be replaced.
• The damper is the felt piece on all but about the top 1 ½ octaves that rests on the strings and stops the string from vibrating when the key is not depressed. Damper pedal (right pedal) lifts all of the dampers when it is depressed.

I hope this post has helped your understanding of the grand piano.  Part 3, in a few days, will take the action out of the piano and let you see it up close. See you then.

You Might Also Want to Read:

• How Your Grand Piano Works- Part 3
• How Your Grand Piano Works- Part 1
• My Piano Keys Make Noise-But My Tuner Can’t Find It!
• Lifesaver for your Piano
• Care of Your Piano

A few comments:

• As stated, in a grand piano action there are about 100 parts and 30 adjustments per key. With 88 notes, do the math and you will see how much work a regulating technician has to do to adjust the entire action.
• Felts and leathers, as well as the wool and cardboard punchings used to regulate key height and dip, wear and compact with use and weather changes over life of piano. They can also be devastated by rodents and insects.
• Contrary to statements in the video, key weight would usually be adjusted with the action in a regulating rack outside of the piano.
• The device usually used for measuring key dip (how far down the front of the key goes when depressed) is a wedge that sits on top of the key and is level with the adjacent key when the dip is correct).

Upcoming episodes will go into more detail on various aspects of the grand piano. Part 2 will look at hammers, dampers, pedals and key bushings. Part 3 will actually take the action and keyframe out of the piano and give you an up-close look. Stay tuned!!

You Might Also Want to Read:

• How Your Grand Piano Works- Part 3
• How Your Grand Piano Works- Part 2
• My Piano Keys Make Noise-But My Tuner Can’t Find It!
• Lifesaver for your Piano
• Care of Your Piano