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Thu 4 Aug, 2005 03:15 am
I have been trying to figure out if there is a reason that many grand pianos are painted (or stained rather) black.
Is it something like black objects are visually dull to the eye, and therefor increase the ears sensitivity to sound, or is it the same reason that so many barns are red...ask a farmer why he painted his barn red and they'll say its because red paint is so cheap, and if you ask the paint store why red is so cheap, they'll say its because farmers buy so much of it.
"Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black" -Henry Ford
Pianos were traditionally made of from ebony wood. It is expensive and somewhat rare. Lesser quality pianos were painted black to look like ebony wood. You know the term "ebony and ivory" from the song by Stevie Wonder - well, those are the ingredients of a good piano.
I thought he was referring to the colors of the keyboard...
Yes Joe - the black keys were also made from ebony wood. The whites were once made with ivory veneer, today they are mostly plastic.
I grew up in the days when most middle-class little girls "took" piano.
Painting a piano any color was a major sin--the paint interferes with the resonance of the wood.
Follow Up
So why was ebony chosen for piano frames?
Because it was so expensive?
I really doubt it was used much except for the keys, just on the cost factor, but I could be wrong.
Here are pianos not painted black.
:wink:
I'm always looking for old Pianos on the way to the dump to check for ivory - you know it's almost a controlled item.
Here is a piano in rosewood.
(Steinway)
Could be that ebony was more resonant and more durable. Dense tropical woods tend to be favored for guitars (and other string instruments, I'm sure) for these reasons; I don't see why the same reasoning wouldn't apply to pianos.
Ebony schmebony.
It's because of their name; grand pianos. If they were painted or stained in pastel colours, they would have to be called silly pianos.
And, how many top concerts have a piano soloist in a red suit?
Black. You know it makes sense.
Harpsichords, though totally different from pianos, are usually not painted black, but decorated elegantly.
By François Etienne Blanchet
Paris, ca. 1740
patiodog wrote:Could be that ebony was more resonant and more durable. Dense tropical woods tend to be favored for guitars (and other string instruments, I'm sure) for these reasons; I don't see why the same reasoning wouldn't apply to pianos.
Older manufacturers of keyboard instruments were farmiliar with ebony, as they often used ebony to make the black keys of harpsichords.
Here's a link for a book I enjoyed a lot - with a great deal of information about pianos imparted gracefully:
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank
Saw the darndest thing on the Crystal cruise; a crystal grand piano. I'll post a picture if anybody wishes to see it.
Young ladies sometimes favor playing the crystal grand piano. :wink:
Although the design seems different only slightly from that of other pianos, here are ones of Italian piano Fazioli.
I have only listened to a Fazioli in tracks of a sample CD, but I like the way it sounds very much.
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