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chrisw

Well done.

chrisw

Bill, Your description of the celeste rail activation mechanism could equally apply to my 25 year old Kemble. However the felt does lower and retract correctly in front of the treble strings, even though the felt is glued to a relatively flimsy aluminium bar. I have had to repair the celeste felt th...

chrisw

Following the post on the Steingraeber silent system I have been on the Steingraeber website and it appears they are another "traditional" manufacturer that still seem to prefer open wrest planks. I can only draw the conclusion that they do not have the machinery to drill through both a frame and wr...

chrisw

Quality of the sound comes over quite well. By coincidence I am aiming to play the first movement of the Moonlight sonata on the new bass strings of the SA piano (provided my nerves don't get the better of me and I chicken out). I am hoping to bring out the left hand tune.

chrisw

I would like to know what they mean by physical modelling. Are they drawing a distinction with mathematical modelling which would be used in physics to describe the decaying vibration of a string in all of its complexities ?

chrisw

Hello Bonettil, Thanks for keeping us updated with your search for a new piano. It wouldn't surprise me if the c88 key problem with the Kawai has been caused by lack of use and cleaning the contact puts it to right. I might be tempted to get back in touch with the seller asking if the problem has be...

chrisw

Found myself looking at a Bosendorfer grand selling for £78000 today. Luckily it is too big for our house and certainly way outside any budget I would have for a new piano. What surprised me was that it had an open wrest plank, if that is the correct way to describe it.

chrisw

"Google Documents" is more or less just a word and image processor that you can find on the web. You can type in words or copy in a picture. When finished there is a command on the side menu to enable the document to be published to the web. This merely gives it an internet address (the URL) which c...

chrisw

One method of attaching photographs would be to copy the pictures into Google Documents and then paste the URL into your post.

chrisw

In my edition it is bar 40 where I perceive you are having difficulty. If it is any consolation my hand isn't large enough to play this measure comfortably. I think I would omit the bflat. Edit. Or I might use 1,2 and 5 on the first chord and just omit the bflat in the second by slipping my thumb do...

chrisw

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2P ... PzVtvc/pub

chrisw

You can find photographs showing the position of Kemble's serial number, and also images of my piano in this post; https://www.piano-tuners.org/piano-forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9763 These pianos are a different model to the one you have but I would expect the serial number to be in the same position...

chrisw

Post deleted after I couldn't be sure of the information that it was based on. I was trying to link to a picture of a K121 with its front panel removed to show the position of the serial number. I realised that the piano shop had got its photographs mixed up and the piano it said was a Kemble was no...

chrisw

I don't know the difference. Most likely to be size of one of the components. What is important is that your piano has the English action, which I believe are good quality. Langer actions are the successors to Herrburger Brooks actions and you can find an article on their history on this forum. My p...

chrisw

I believe that Kemble acquired their own strings, not Yamaha strings. This was partly to give the piano an English sound. When the copper wound strings are replaced they are usually made specially for each individual piano and hopefully you will never have to replace them. Is there a label on the ac...

chrisw

Kemble produced pianos in the UK until 2009 when the Yamaha Corporation moved production to Indonesia. They did send pianos to other countries but relative to Yamaha or Kawai, only in small numbers. Please see the attached video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gx2YrjHiWc

chrisw

Correction after looking at your photographs in more detail. I would doubt that the number photographed is the serial number of the piano. On my piano the serial number can be seen on the very top of the iron frame on the right hand side and it is painted on. I can see my number just by lifting the ...

chrisw

The Kemble Oxford is shorter than your piano and if yours is 121 cm high it is a K121C. The shape of the Kemble logo did change over the years and perhaps the shape of the pedals also. The logo on my piano is a brass oval plate. I couldn't find the height of the piano displayed by Yorkshire pianos a...

chrisw

If your piano is black polyester it could be the Oxford, the Traditional or the K121C. If it has a wood veneer it could be the Empire. It depends on the height of the piano as follows; Oxford 110cm Traditional 116cm K121C 121cm Empire 116cm. It sounds as though you have found the serial number. Kemb...

chrisw

Whereabouts in Yorkshire ? I have visited Yorkshire Pianos a number of times and can vouch for the people who run it. With regard to the action not being as responsive, I wonder if the same applies to both factory fitted and retro silent systems. I think it is due to the rail which prevents the hamm...

chrisw

This is unlikely to be relevant to you but I have come across someone who fits silent systems to acoustic pianos. I have no idea how much is charged and I get the impression it is sometimes done without taking the client's piano away. Seems to be run by a chap called Lee Cooper and called The Silent...

chrisw

Your enthusiasm for selecting a piano well and truly comes through and it is a pleasure to respond to questions on this forum when the original poster then enters into a dialogue. I am not absolutely certain but I think I remember reading somewhere that the Yamaha P112 models were built in England a...

chrisw

Both Yamaha and Kawai have good reputations although some people will say that the Yamaha sound is too bright. My feeling is that this criticism is often over emphasised and in any case it can be made to be more mellow if that is what the owner wanted. When my piano teacher bought a new Yamaha G1 gr...

chrisw

The Kawai K15 seems a little expensive for nine years old. (edit; price may be reasonable as I see Bonners sell them new for about £4900). Is it being sold by a reputable dealer? Are the Yamaha pianos brand new or second hand and if second hand must ask again if they are advertised by a good dealer....

chrisw

Are there any piano teachers in your locality ? If you can ask for recommendations. A real life teacher is best.

chrisw

Thanks Barrie,
You may also be interested to know that our recent piano group meeting was very successful and there seemed to be no issues with respect to the maintenance you are currently conducting on that piano.

chrisw

My Kemble upright is 25 years old and I have noticed a small amount of dust accumulated on the key bed. Is removal of the keys something I can attempt myself or should I leave it for the next time my tuner visits ?

chrisw

Alas, I am not a piano technician, but hopefully you will receive a reply from somebody better qualified than I in the near future. Your piano looks to be very old, although the casework appears in good condition and it may appeal to someone looking for an older instrument. If you want it valuing yo...

chrisw

Well done for transforming your piano into something that plays and sounds exactly as you want it to do. You are absolutely correct that we pianists are indebted to our local tuner technicians for keeping our instruments in tip top condition. Coincidently my piano was new in 1994 and I spent my care...

chrisw

I am afraid I cannot comment on the action of these pianos but hopefully a tuner technician will reply to give you the advice that you need. I have an acquaintance who has attended a piano teacher that placed her new Steinway in a conservatory, albeit the conservatory had been designed to house a pi...

chrisw

There is an entry in Wikipedia which says they were established in 1956 and were exporting pianos to the USA by the year 2000. I think if the Steinbach has an action that your son likes and is backed up by the three year guarantee it is likely to be ok. I'm sorry that I don't have personal experienc...

chrisw

I think you also need to throw into the mix the reputation of the dealer and if they come from different dealers which dealer is more likely to look after you should something go wrong. You could consider making contact with a local independent tuner to assess the condition of each piano before you ...

chrisw

Bravo. Please explain how you achieved this performance.

chrisw

I'm not tempted to get the black and white paint out to reverse the key colours on my upright ! I have enough trouble distinguishing between the natural notes as it is.

chrisw

Have seen organs and perhaps a harpsichord with reverse colour keys but don't recall seeing a piano.

chrisw

IF 69640 is a Kemble serial number it suggests the date of manufacture is 1939.

chrisw

I have never heard of Essenfelder and to my mind the piano in the photograph is rather older than post 1970. One of the other correspondents to this forum may be able to give you a more accurate date. I have owned a Kemble Classic for 25 years and can assure you they are suitable for a learner from ...

chrisw

I liked the second version of Rule Britannia. The words do not always start on the first beat of the bar. In fact the first word of the first verse starts on the fourth beat. Other lines start on the last quaver of the bar. The chorus on the other hand starts on the first beat and this is clearly he...

chrisw

Hello vladimirdounin, I have listened to three of the recordings this evening, all three being music to songs. With one of these I had a simplified score at hand and this was the first I listened to, Paul Anka's My Way. Speaking as a trained scientist who plays piano a little, I found the second rec...

chrisw

Thanks for your message. I will have another listen tomorrow. I am more comfortable listening to Youtube recordings rather than web sites I have never heard of. Sorry about the reference to songs. I did recognise that there were some songs in your list. Even a person speaking on the BBC tonight desc...

chrisw

Sorry but there are just too many recordings here to know 'what is what' and I am probably not a good enough pianist and musician to discern differences in interpretation or potential mistakes. I am interested to know however why people call pieces of music songs when there were never any words to b...

chrisw

Thanks for posting the video of another competent performance by your daughter. This is a piece I do not know but seems to have its fair share of ornaments which were well carried out. I also liked how the volume of the left hand part was controlled.

chrisw

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-englan ... goes-viral

chrisw

Looks like you forgot to post the link but I think I found it on your YouTube channel. I don't know this piece but I liked the way you played it.

chrisw

Yorkshire is a big county. If the piano is near Skipton you could contact Yorkshire pianos.

http://www.yorkshirepianos.com

If it is more west than Skipton it may be in Barrie Heaton's area.

chrisw

I wouldn't be keen on messing about with the steel strings besides the copper covered. Always a chance of getting them contaminated leading to stress corrosion cracking.

chrisw

I think it is difficult to comment on interpretations of piano music when viewed using computer media. For one thing I can't judge the dynamics. I did see your interpretation of the Mozart K545 and concluded that you had put in a lot of effort to learn it, probably much more than I did.

chrisw

The cabinet looks to be in very good condition and appears to have a rosewood veneer.
It is straight strung and has an over damped action. The serial numbers for Spencer pianos are listed on various websites and 48722 puts it between 1905 and 1910.

chrisw

Well done for making this video. I am not a teacher or graduate musician and indeed not much of a Chopin fan so I am afraid there is little I can say. I do have a book of the Chopin preludes however so I have just played through the piece a couple of times but I don't think for a number of reasons t...

chrisw

Very well done for memorising and playing this piece. It is a piece that I have played myself on a number of occasions although there was no way I could do it without the score. Many years ago I had a crisis of playing and concluded I couldn't play piano and gave up attending an adult college class ...

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