@raagamuffin Congratulations! And in terms of the price you paid, unless money is very tight, I wouldn't worry about a couple of thousand dollars; you will have the piano for years!
Baby grand - 5' vs 5'4"
Thanks for all your wishes.
I received the piano and it looks quite nice. Initially I was a bit concerned, the piano was sounding disjointed, notes slightly sharper or flatter in relation to each other. This apparently was temperature driven, since a few hours later, after acclimating, it sounded quite creamy in the mids and bell like in the tops (I'll get the bottom keys) with good relationships between notes.
I wasn't expecting the sound to be so loud, that was a revelation. Interestingly its not so loud when one is sitting and playing it, it gets louder a few feet away.
I have read that Cunningham has its own unique features from its manufacturing company, Hailun pianos, but I wasn't able to discern any differences visually inspecting the strings, layout of the frame etc. in relation to online pics of a Hailun piano.
I have an issue with my C2-F2 keys, they have a weird (out of tune) ringing after press almost like a ghostly sustain. I assume it has to do with the dampener not stopping fully onto the strings after a key press. Also, there are 2 keys that sound a bit different, almost muted. Cunningham will be sending a piano tech to take a look.
Overall, very impressed with a live breathing (heavy) wooden machine. Hopefully the small issues can be addressed easily and then on to playing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'
raagamuffin Cunningham will be sending a piano tech to take a look.
You bought your piano new, right? It's totally normal for a new piano to have a sort of "settling in" period. Actually, anytime a piano is moved, whether it's new or used, it needs to adjust to the new climate and so on. Which is of course what you experienced with the temperature thing. Anyway, I'm sure the techs will help your piano get settled in and get rid of that ghostly sustain.
May you have many years of happy playing!
raagamuffin congratulations on getting the piano! Just to reiterate ShiroKuro;a point, it’s very normal for pianos to have a period of adjustment when they move between locations. This is also a tricky time of year with weather swings — I wouldn’t be shocked if the tuning goes out as the weather fluctuates. This is a real difference between acoustic pianos and digital pianos — they will go out of tune. Also, since it is a new piano, don’t be shocked if it takes a couple years for the tuning to stabilize (you likely will want to tune it 3-4 times a year the first couple of years).
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raagamuffin the piano looks beautiful in that space and congratulations again! I hope your daughter (and the rest of your family) enjoys it for many years!
One not-so-little thing, though… If you’re using the long lid prop, it should fit into the other cup. If you use the long lid prop, it should fit into the cup that is farther away from the rim of the lid. If you place it in the cup closest to the rim (as in the photos) it is susceptible to slipping and other bad things. That lid cup is for the shorter lid prop.
Anyways, I just want to reiterate my congratulations!
@Sgisela thanks for that tip about the lid! Will be sure to tell my daughter also.
While it has a soft close lid, I'd be loath to take any chances.
raagamuffin that looks absolutely gorgeous!! Your furniture/interior style, color scheme and the shiny black piano go soooo well together!! And having the piano there by the doorway is just fine, it looks fine and it wouldn’t bother me to sit there and play. And more importantly, the way the sofa and chairs are arranged, the whole layout works really well together!
Congratulations!!
@Sgisela good catch on the lid, I was too taken in by the beauty of the room to notice!
raagamuffin While it has a soft close lid, I'd be loath to take any chances.
I am pretty sure that the “soft close lid” is not the actual piano lid but the fallboard, the lid that covers the keyboard. A piano’s lid would be much too heavy
No, wait, I googled… there are actual slow close mechanisms for piano lids! I had no idea!! How cool is that!
Wow, I actually wish I had that on my piano! the lid is so heavy, I often think that I wouldn’t be able to open it all when when I get old(er)
Ok, wait #2 I thought the slow close mechanism just prevents it from slamming down. It doesn’t make it easier to lift does? Or does it?
I took those pics of the doorway (and a panorama) to give you and @pianoloverus an idea of the geography so you can critique. My wife was (mildly) unhappy with the piano coming into that room, I told her, what's a furniture rearrangement when our daughter starts composing for the next 'Lord of the Rings' movie
The soft close lid makes it easy to also open it in addition to closing softly.
raagamuffin My wife was (mildly) unhappy with the piano coming into that room
Well, of course I don’t know the “before” arrangement, but it looks really great now and nothing looks out of place, nor does it look crowded or “overstuffed” to me.
raagamuffin The piano is beautiful, but I think you will end up moving it from that position near the doorway - it's problematic on so many levels. Your daughter is very lucky that you have indulged her by buying this lovely instrument, but how are her practice sessions going to work out if people are regularly walking behind her through the partly obstructed doorway? Also, is it possible to shut that door when she's practising? If not, are you happy with the prospect of hearing her endless repetitions of lesson pieces?
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
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Nightowl The piano is beautiful, but I think you will end up moving it from that position near the doorway - it's problematic on so many levels. Your daughter is very lucky that you have indulged her by buying this lovely instrument, but how are her practice sessions going to work out if people are regularly walking behind her through the partly obstructed doorway? Also, is it possible to shut that door when she's practising? If not, are you happy with the prospect of hearing her endless repetitions of lesson pieces?
I also think the location is problematic but mostly from an aesthetic viewpoint. I must have seen hundreds or thousands of photos of pianos in rooms and don't recall seeing anyone placing it in that kind of position. It's hard to tell from your photos but it seems like it might be other places for the piano. It looks like there might be a big empty space on the other side of the doorway across from the couch near the guitar? Of course, if you like it there that's all that matters. If you do decide you want to try other locations it should be relatively easy to move the piano safely because your floors are wood and the piano isn't some 1000 lb. monster.
raagamuffin Even with a soft close lid, the prop stick may not fit properly into the hole if it's going at the wrong angle or the soft close mechanism might not work if the lid is too high.
Nightowl how are her practice sessions going to work out if people are regularly walking behind her through the partly obstructed doorway?
I don't think we can know how this will feel for the daughter or the rest of the family without knowing the rhythm of the family, the rest of the house etc.
It may become an issue, it may not. And if it does become an issue, having to relocate a piano within the same room isn't the end of the world. That's actually what I did, about three months after I got my grand. (I wrote a lot about that over at PW back then! )
pianoloverus I also think the location is problematic but mostly from an aesthetic viewpoint.
Again, this is individual. I think it looks lovely!
pianoloverus @Nightowl You make some good points and suggestions.
Regarding space, the 'large' space near the guitar is actually a wide entrance way to enter that room. The door in the pictures links this room to the family room and its a very low traffic passageway. (We usually enter the family room through the other larger entrance. ) We tired a bunch of configurations before settling on this one (for now). Let's see how it pans out, we will recalibrate if needed.
@Nightowl I'm a bit weird in the sense of practice etc., I actually relish hearing her play the piano. We have discussions around chords etc she's playing and how it fits on the guitar, as one example. I'm conditioning her to not just 'play' the music, rather, analyze the chord structures and tones she's producing.
BTW, I didn't expect the piano to be this loud compared to the prior digital keyboard, so that is one adjustment.
As for the piano itself, a technician came to work on it and now it sounds quite nice after his tweaks. A number of issues were resolved. I'm looking forward to playing this instrument for years to come.
raagamuffin Sounds like you considered everything very carefully. Your daughter is very lucky to have a grand piano and even more lucky to have a musical father who actually enjoys listening to her practice. (My own father was fond of using the expression "children should be seen and not heard" when I was young - the polar opposite of your attitude.)
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
What a gorgeous piano and piano room! Congrats!
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raagamuffin BTW, I didn't expect the piano to be this loud compared to the prior digital keyboard, so that is one adjustment.
If the piano still seems too loud after a while, there are many things you can do to quiet it down. If you are playing with the lid raised at all, you can lower the lid and just fold the fly lid back. It's even possible to close the lid completely and put the music desk on top of the lid which is apparently quite common in Europe where the residences are often quite small. You can probably have the piano voiced at least somewhat softer although you don't want to do that to an extreme that ruins the tone of course. If there's not an area rug under your piano, you can add that which should lower the volume because a lot of sound comes out under the piano. You can also install acoustic foam either underneath or on top of the soundboard or in both places. That's what I did when my neighbor started complaining about my practicing and it worked quite well.
raagamuffin did the technician take out the action? My only concern about the placement of the piano was whether there would be enough space to pull out the action. If they were able to do this, great! If not, this may be an issue in the future, for specific maintenance issues.