Sponsored Review: Lindeblad Piano Restoration

This is a review of the web site and services of the Lindeblad Piano Restoration company. It should be noted that I have not used their services personally, so my opinion is based upon the professionalism and attention to detail as portrayed on the web site.

The Lindeblad Piano Restoration company has been restoring quality acoustic pianos since 1920, and prides itself on using only the finest materials in order to restore an instrument to its former glory.

The company is wise enough to point out that not all pianos are worthy of restoration, and only the likes of Steinway, Mason & Hamlin, Knabe, Chickering, Baldwin, or Sohmer are likely to be able to withstand restoration.

There’s an excellent video on the site which walks you through the meticulous process of restoring a Mason & Hamlin grand piano. It really does show what’s involved in the labour of love that is restoration.

It takes about three or four months to restore a piano, including transportation times, and a replacement piano can be supplied by the company while another is being restored. Alternatively, new customers can approach Lindeblad to find them a restored piano.

If you’re in the market for a restored piano and are looking for a company that cares about the instrument, Lindeblad may be worth considering.

Walkie-talkie Theremin: if only it was all this easy

I got really excited when I read the headline over at Music Radar — after all, creating cool-sounding stuff from cheap, everyday gadgets is great.

However, it doesn’t sound much more revolutionary than a guitarist standing a bit too close to their amplifier.

Gordon Charlton uses a pair of Binatone Latitude 150 walkie-talkies, of which there’s really nothing special, and just moves them closer together and further apart, altering the pitch of the feedback.

Actually, having watched the video, it is quite neat. What weird instruments have you made from everyday tech?

New bite splint allows paraplegics to control piano damper pedal

A new “bite splint”, which is operated by placing it in the mouth, could make it possible for those without use of their legs/feet to control the damper (sustain) pedal on a piano.

For more than 20 years, there have been electromagnetic pedal controls for paraplegic pianists - mostly accident victims - that were invented by Bayreuth piano manufacturer Steingraeber & Söhne and are custom made.

Pulse generators such as light sensors, headrests, back cushions, neck braces, and mouth tubes make it possible for disabled pianists to play pieces that include pedal work, but the magnets only allow the pedal to be switched on or off.

Heidelberg Univeristy researcher Ing Rüdiger Rupp and team developed a bite splint with a pressure-sensitive sensor that the pianist can hold in his mouth to control the pedal. It uses a highly sensitive strength or pressure sensor, embedded in the chewing surface of a bite splint attached to the upper jaw. It works wirelessly, without any visible cables or devices.

“The disabled patient can thus control the entire range of pedal action - including intermediate positions and the speed with which the pedal is depressed,” explained Rupp.

No word on when the device might be commercially available.

Christmas carol concert: ten tips for preparing pianists

So, you’ve been asked to accompany the carol singing at your local school, church, social club, in the community, or even on the streets?

Here are ten tips to ensure you’re prepared and confident for the big day.

1. Be prepared

Most people like to know well in advance exactly what’s expected of them, so find out as soon as you can what you’re being asked to do, what format the carol concert will take, what rehearsals are planned, and how the whole thing will run.

Your stress levels will be lower if you have enough time to prepare for the event.

2. Know your skill and commitment levels

Be honest about your level of proficiency. Presumably, you’ve been asked because someone thinks you’re good enough to play, but don’t be afraid to keep things simple if you’re not confident playing more complicated pieces / arrangements, or if you don’t have a lot of preparation time.

If you’re provided with sheet music, and you know it’s too complicated, ask if there are simpler arrangements available.

Conversely, if you’re provided with chord sheets and lyrics, but you work better from manuscript, ask if you can have that instead.

3. Become friends with the organiser

You need to develop a good working relationship with the organiser of the event so that you can discuss how the event will run, flag any problems, and be kept “in the loop” if there are any new developments.

Particularly for more formal services, such as in a high church where there may be readings, liturgy, etc., the service organiser should be able to offer strong leadership so you’re not worried about when and how you should be performing.

4. Playing, singing, leading?

Are you going to accompany a choir or congregation by simply playing piano/keyboard, or are you expected to sing and play at the same time?

Are you “leading” others through your singing and playing, or is someone else directing from the front, or simply leaving it to the group’s knowledge of the music to carry it through?

Don’t be afraid to say if you’re not comfortable / able to play and sing at the same time. You may be able to work with a vocalist who can lead the rest of the group, leaving you to concentrate on playing the right notes.

5. Solo or group?

Are you going to be playing on your own, or with other instrumentalists? This will affect how and when you practice, what arrangements you use, and may require some diplomacy and group-building skills.

If you’re asked to play in a group and are prepared to either lead, or participate in that, be ready to work at honing musical arrangements and performance, dealing with possible creative conflicts, helping less confident musicians, and ensuring everyone knows what they’re doing on the day.

From my experience, many guitarists find all but the simplest carols (and hymns, too) quite difficult to play and make sound good, not because they’re poor musicians, but because many were composed on and for keyboard instruments. Don’t be surprised if guitarists wish to take more of a back seat when it comes to providing volume/body to carols. Solo instruments (cellos, violins, bass guitar) are often easier to work in, and can sound very good.

6. Singing from the same song sheet

Find out from the organiser exactly which carols are to be sung, obtain all the words, and ensure the same tune is being used (some carols have more than one version, particularly British and American variations).

If you have sourced your own music and/or words, ensure that it fits with what’s printed on the programme/hymnbook. Find out if certain verses are to be missed out, or repeated.

7. Practice! Practice! Practice!

If playing/singing solo, find enough time so you’re confident to accompany/lead the singers.

If working with other musicians, schedule in at least two rehearsals, or as many as required so everyone is confident, plus your own solo practices.

Find out whether you will be able to practice in the venue before the event — this can help to familiarise yourself with how you and/or a group of musicians will sound, particularly if you’ve never played there before.

8. Practicalities

Find out whether you will need to provide your own keyboard/digital piano, or whether an acoustic/digital piano will be provided for you.

If playing and singing outside, ensure there’s protection from the elements for you and your equipment, and a safe way to provide electricity for any amplification.

Ensure you’re able to get yourself and any equipment to the venue in plenty of time to set up, particularly if you’re working with a group, and if you will be using a PA system.

If using PA, find out who is setting it up and ask if there will be time to “sound check” everything, even if briefly.

Ensure that you can hear yourself playing and singing in the venue. See if the volume levels of any audio monitors (speakers) can be set at a slightly higher volume than is necessary, when practising, particularly when a large number of choir/congregation is expected — their singing will drown out or soak up your own sound and you may find it hard to hear what you’re playing.

Ensure you have enough light to be able to read the music/words comfortably.

9. Confidence

Be confident! You’ve been asked to do this, so someone believes in you.

Now you’ve accepted, trust in your abilities. If you’re nervous, don’t over-stretch yourself — play within your comfort zone.

With the right amount of preparation and practice, there’s no reason why the carol concert won’t be a great success.

10. Learn and Grow

After the event (maybe not right away) assess how you thought it went as a musician.

Did everything work as it should have? Were you happy with how you performed? What went well? What could have been better?

Make some notes so that, if you do another event, you’ll be even better prepared.

Have fun!

What tips would you add? Share in the comments below.

Sponsored Review: Virtual Sheet - Sheet Music Downloads Membership web site

This is a review of an online sheet music web site which also serves up MIDI and MP3 audio tracks of the available music.

Finding affordable and high-quality transcripts of classical music for a variety of instruments can be difficult, and buying individual pieces can get expensive.

The Virtual Sheet site aims to offer a wide variety of music for a low subscription. For $37.75 per year (around three dollars a month), the site offers virtually unlimited access to over 6,000 single sheets and collections. Non-subscribers can also download music on a pay-per-use basis.

Although I didn’t sign up for the complete service, the site helpfully allows some single page previews of the music to be viewed. Taking a look at some of Chopin’s work, for example, the print quality is of a high standard. Of course, it will depend on how good your printer and paper is as to how good the finished output is, but for home use, even a cheap inkjet printer should yield good results.

The range of music is fairly impressive, with plenty of music from well-known classical composers (Albinoni, Bach, Beeethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Elgar, Grieg, Handel, Mendelssohn, Strauss, Verdi, to name but a few) and for a variety of instruments.

Of course, I was most concerned with the availability of music for piano. A search shows that there are currently 237 piano solo items, 736 piano solo with other instrument items (many of these can still be played alone), and eight “piano for four hands” pieces. There are even 28 pieces for organ solo.

If you’re after high-quality, legally available printable manuscripts for classical music, with the inclusion of audio files so you can hear how it sounds, this may be a good site to try out.

Virtual Sheet

Yamaha introduces two new home keyboards: YPT-210 and YPT-310

Yamaha has introduced two new keyboards aimed at the home user. The YPT-210 and YPT-310 both offer 61 fully touch-sensitive keys, 32 notes of polyphony, Yamaha’s “Portable Grand” feature, Yamaha Education Suite including nine-step piano lesson, and a wide variety of instrument voices.

The lower-end YPT-210 features 375 voices including the stereo grand piano, XGLite voices, 12 drum kits, and sound effects.

The higher-end YPT-310 ups that voice count to 482, offering 108 standard and 361 XGLite voices, plus the drum kits and sound effects.

The 310 also adds a music database of over musical styles, plus a two-track music sequencer and Flash memory storage.

Both are aimed very much at the budding musician just starting out on a keyboard instrument, with plenty of exercises to aid learning as well as fun accompaniments for sounding like a pro during “time out”.

Usual Yamaha quality abounds in these keyboards which supersede the YPT keyboards from a few years back.