Well folks, the day is here - in a few short hours, we'll be receiving our (new-to-us) Blüthner Model 1! And yes, you read that right - it's going into a closet. At least partially. Before I go any further, here's the floorplan:
The Piano
We've been planning this piano purchase for quite some time, ultimately settling on a Steinway D being rebuilt by PianoCraft. The timing of the purchase coincided with a relocation for work, and I had assumed that with our housing budget, we'd have no problem finding a house large enough to accommodate the D. What I hadn't anticipated was record-setting low housing inventories in the rural area we're moving to. There were no suitable homes on the market large enough for a concert grand, so we ended up renting a small townhouse while searching for a long-term house.
At first, it didn't look like there would be enough space for the D, and we thought we were going to have to abort the piano purchase altogether. But we discovered that if we removed the closet doors in our front office/living room, it would provide just enough extra space for the tail of the piano to make it feasible. We consulted with two piano moving companies and were told that they thought it was doable. We decided to proceed, with the understanding that the acoustics would be very challenging and the fit would be tight. Fortunately, this will only be temporary.
While touring their factory/workshop, I was transfixed by a Bluthner 1 they had on the floor. It had a such a unique touch and tone... very different from the Steinway sound, and ultimately not really what I was looking for. But it was a pretty magical experience, and even after leaving, I couldn't get it out of my mind. As the D still has several months of work left before it will be complete, I came to an agreement with PianoCraft to purchase the Bluthner and exchange it for the D once the rebuild was complete (or keep the Bluthner, if I ended up preferring it). I'm extremely pleased with how professional and accommodating PianoCraft has been and thrilled about the opportunity to have two world-class pianos come through our home.
The Room
Although the room is very small, only 8.5' x 10' (with 8' ceilings), it has a 72" opening into an adjacent hallway that is contiguous with our decently sized open-concept living room / kitchen. This should help prevent buildup of omnidirectional lower bass frequencies, but I'm anticipating issues with reflection of higher, directional frequencies off the hallway wall.
We've made some initial acoustic treatments to the space to help control the anticipated volume. There's a 7' x 10' rug + thick rug pad essentially covering the entire floor, thick velvet curtains hanging inside the closet and at the room entrance, filled bookshelves, padded bench + pillows, and three 2' x 4', 5" thick acoustic panels along the opposing wall. Hopefully it helps, but I understand we'll have to (literally) play it by ear and adjust the treatments after it arrives based on the problem areas. I may end up adding floor-to-ceiling bass traps in the top-right corner of the room (where there is currently a large synthetic plant). If this proves insufficient, I'll add acoustic paneling inside the closet and potentially abutting the bottom windows.
Based on my measurements, there should be just enough room to swing the piano in through the 72" opening. Flipping the piano from its side to upright will be tight. I may end up having to remove the bookshelves (which are currently full and anchored to the wall) to make it work. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, as I don't think I'd be able to get them back in once the piano is set up...
Concluding Thoughts
A rational person would have either just bought a smaller piano, or waited to buy the concert grand until we were in our forever home. Indeed, we did strongly consider buying a 7' piano, particularly when it looked like it was going to be impossible to make a concert grand fit. But this is one of the few significant life decisions we've made where we put rationality aside and decided to go with our gut. 🙂
I'll update this thread with photos once the piano has arrived, and eventually post some recordings! I'm excited to share with you this very special Bluthner sound.
