Re: Player Piano Purchase Question
By Larry Fisher
> From: Joan Dessert <jdessert@erinet.com>
>
> I am new to this group, and hoping to learn from all of you so I can make an
> intelligent purchase of a new player piano. Any information which could help
> to this end would be greatly appreciated. We have looked at both the piano
> disc and the Yamaha disklavier. Any recommendations?
> Thanks for your help.
> Joan
In the new player piano market you have choices. RAM out of LA makes a retro fit unit that they install in pianos with some modification to the cabinets. It's primarly a pneumatic based system. (runs on vacuum)
Pianomation makes a retro fit kit that is installed in virtually any piano. It works ok but you could do better for the same money.
PianoDisc makes a retro fit kit that has virtually the same capabilities of the Yamaha Disklavier. Most differences aren't that noticeable even under close scrutiny. Being a retro fit kit, you can run into some really terrible installations that don't work very well at all. When installed properly, the PianoDisc functions really well. It's designed for the person who wants automatic piano music played well, for background, dinner music, and what have you. It also serves as an alternative for the factory installed, found in Yamaha pianos only, Disklavier. I've installed this kit in many fine pianos, vertical as well as grands. Record function is an option that can be added at any time after the basic playback unit is installed. Symphony is a feature that adds symphonic voices, reeds, strings, percussion, brass, etc, to the piano. This option is also something that can be added at any time. The newest control head includes a CD based media along with the 3 1/2" floppy disc format. Some of the newest CD's have the real symphony voices instead of the usual synth MIDI type voices.
Disklavier is a very nice unit. It's top of the line and comes factory installed in Yamaha pianos exclusively. You can get in a few of their best selling grands and some of their vertical pianos. Record is included and is not an option. Some of it's features I feel are over engineered, but I'm sure there are some people out there that just gotta have that sort of thing, and perhaps that's the only reason those features are on there... to get one more sale. That's ok. That puts one more piano in a home and off the sales floor. That means more work for people like me.
All the units mentioned are meant to increase the width of the piano market. If any of these units puts a piano in someone's home that wouldn't normally have one, then they've done their job.
I'm an independent technician and have been in the piano business for 25 years. I've been attracted to automatic musical instruments ever since I was quite young and I follow them and their progress from an easy chair prospective mostly. PianoDisc happen to plop in my lap and I've been very busy installing them for the last three years. Should you need any additional input, or perhaps my opinions regarding your venture into the automatic piano market, feel free to email me.
Lar
Larry Fisher RPT, Metro Portland, Oregon's
Factory Preferred Installer for PianoDisc Products
phone 360-256-2999 or Email larryf@pacifier.com
If at first it doesn't fit, get a bigger hammer
[ Editor's Note:
[ Larry, I've never heard about the "RAM" system. Can you get us additional
[ information about the company and/or the product ?
[ Jody |
(Message sent Mon 12 Feb 1996, 03:49:52 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.) |
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