German Piano Centres

What is German Piano Tone ?

A refined piano tone is not a matter of chance !  We hope that the following pages will give you an insight into the way that fine quality pianos are made.

 The Merit of a Piano.

The merit of a piano is often measured by the ‘grade of materials used in its construction’ and ‘know how’ relating to robust design. In many forms of manufacturing these two criteria will suffice, however musical instruments beg to have a third criteria included. This third (and most important ) criteria is the understanding and development of acoustic tone. 

For those wishing to know more about design, please view our Technical page.

 History

By comparison to today's instruments, early pianos had a very 'thin' tone, this due to low string tension and the use of just two strings ( Bi Chord )  for the pianos Tenor and Treble sections.  

( The tone of a Grand Piano dating from 1772 can be heard on an interesting  BBC News article 'Britain's oldest Grand Piano' )

BBC LINK:  bbc.co.uk/news/uk

Therefore, from the time of the pianos invention, technicians from many countries have endeavoured to improve or change its tonal characteristics. The distinguished German made Steinway, Seiler and Ronisch are amongst the most famous of  all pianos. During the 19th century, all three manufacturers began production of high quality instruments. The pianos that they produced reflected the Victorian’s desire for a 'warm, sweet, rounded and refined tone'.  Their collective innovations gave a new, and full range of tonal expression to the Piano Forte. 

Recent Times

Since the 1960’s there has been a trend by some companies to market digital and budget priced acoustic pianos that generate a rather ‘metallic’ sounding tone'. These instruments are well suited for jazz or pop but they do not lend themselves so well to melodic music.

Families who favour classical or folk music might be somewhat down hearted to hear this report, however the good news is that during recent times some very capable Asian companies have begun to work together with a number of German factories. Their enthusiasm for German Design has rekindled public awareness of the ‘German Piano Tone’.  Today, one can find German technicians working not only in Hamburg or Leipzig but in cities as distant as Seoul and Jakarta.

The availability and affordability of  ‘German Toned’  instruments is therefore much better than before.

Families can now purchase a relatively low priced acoustic ‘German Toned’ piano, designed to the German standard. These pianos, manufactured in Indonesia or Korea represent excellent value.

German made pianos

Seiler

Reid Sohn Academy

Ronisch

German designed Pianos

Samick

Reid Sohn

Purchase a new German made or German designed piano and you will become the proud owner of an instrument that  has been manufactured to the highest standard