1
00:00:00,000 -->
00:00:14,700
Have you ever wanted to experience what it's like to play a piano that has narrow keys?
2
00:00:14,700 -->
00:00:20,920
Keys that could cut your practice time in half and make stretches feel easy?
3
00:00:20,920 -->
00:00:27,360
My name is Hanna Reiman and I'm delighted to introduce you to the world of stretto pianos.
4
00:00:27,360 -->
00:00:35,200
Stretto means narrow in Italian.
5
00:00:35,200 -->
00:00:39,760
Last couple of months I've had the great joy of working on a keyboard which has a six inch
6
00:00:39,760 -->
00:00:41,920
octave rather than the standard six and a half.
7
00:00:41,920 -->
00:00:50,800
Immediately I noticed a difference, such a freeing experience to play what I wanted.
8
00:00:50,800 -->
00:00:56,840
And so I think just having that experience really convinced me that perhaps piano technology
9
00:00:56,840 -->
00:00:59,840
needed to evolve a little bit, it still had some ways to go.
10
00:00:59,840 -->
00:01:05,580
I have found that on this smaller keyboard I've been able to execute various musical
11
00:01:05,580 -->
00:01:14,920
ideas and technically challenging sections with much more ease and control.
12
00:01:14,920 -->
00:01:17,240
Welcome back to another episode of The Piano Pod.
13
00:01:17,240 -->
00:01:19,560
I am your host, Yuki Miso.
14
00:01:19,560 -->
00:01:24,320
You know this show, The Piano Pod, is all about bringing the classical music industry
15
00:01:24,320 -->
00:01:27,120
forward into the next generation.
16
00:01:27,120 -->
00:01:33,800
And so far I've interviewed incredibly talented pianists and composers, educators, psychologists,
17
00:01:33,800 -->
00:01:39,800
and entrepreneurs working tirelessly to do so by thinking outside the box.
18
00:01:39,800 -->
00:01:42,060
Today's guest is no exception.
19
00:01:42,060 -->
00:01:47,800
She is someone whom I consider one of the pioneers or innovators of our industry.
20
00:01:47,800 -->
00:01:51,080
So before introducing you to my guest, please hear me out.
21
00:01:51,080 -->
00:01:57,560
A recent study at the University of North Texas found that 75% of their piano students
22
00:01:57,560 -->
00:02:00,940
wished they had larger hands.
23
00:02:00,940 -->
00:02:07,180
The current piano keyboard was actually not really designed to suit most pianists.
24
00:02:07,180 -->
00:02:15,840
It dates from the 1880s and suited certain famous European male virtuosos of that time.
25
00:02:15,840 -->
00:02:21,360
And before then, piano keyboards generally had narrower keys and different sizes were
26
00:02:21,360 -->
00:02:22,960
available.
27
00:02:22,960 -->
00:02:30,720
So that got me thinking, how many of us pianists worldwide are not reaching our full musical
28
00:02:30,720 -->
00:02:36,480
potential due to a keyboard being too big or too wide?
29
00:02:36,480 -->
00:02:44,840
According to PASC piano.org, PASC stands for Pianists for Alternatively Sized Keyboards.
30
00:02:44,840 -->
00:02:51,840
Recent research into pianists' hand spans shows that over 50% of adults have hand spans
31
00:02:51,840 -->
00:02:55,600
that are too small for the conventional keyboard.
32
00:02:55,600 -->
00:03:03,480
About 87% of women and 24% of men have hands that are too small for the current sized keyboard.
33
00:03:03,480 -->
00:03:09,480
Children are currently forced to learn on the instrument designed for men with large
34
00:03:09,480 -->
00:03:10,480
hands.
35
00:03:10,480 -->
00:03:19,040
And lastly, given a choice of keyboard, around 75% of adults would most likely choose a smaller
36
00:03:19,040 -->
00:03:20,040
size.
37
00:03:20,040 -->
00:03:26,440
So, after all the struggles you might have as a pianist are not because of your shortcomings,
38
00:03:26,440 -->
00:03:31,920
but maybe the wrong sized keyboard you've been practicing and performing for your size.
39
00:03:31,920 -->
00:03:35,560
Today I invited Ms. Hannah Ryman.
40
00:03:35,560 -->
00:03:41,280
She is a fellow New Yorker and a pioneer and advocate of stretto pianos.
41
00:03:41,280 -->
00:03:46,360
Before getting started, I want to welcome everybody listening to or watching the Piano
42
00:03:46,360 -->
00:03:47,880
Pod for the first time.
43
00:03:47,880 -->
00:03:52,400
I'm a classical pianist and educator from New York City, passionate about creating a
44
00:03:52,400 -->
00:03:58,000
thriving and meaningful community of the classical music industry through this podcast.
45
00:03:58,000 -->
00:04:02,760
Please visit Yukimisongsstudio.com to find out more about my work.
46
00:04:02,760 -->
00:04:07,640
In each episode of the Piano Pod, I interview a guest speaker who has been breaking exciting
47
00:04:07,640 -->
00:04:09,640
new ground in the industry.
48
00:04:09,640 -->
00:04:13,240
Before getting started, I want to thank everyone for tuning in.
49
00:04:13,240 -->
00:04:18,800
Please rate the show and review it on your favorite podcast platform because every rating
50
00:04:18,800 -->
00:04:21,400
review will help people find my show.
51
00:04:21,400 -->
00:04:26,640
Please stay with me till the end of this episode to learn about stretto pianos from the very
52
00:04:26,640 -->
00:04:32,160
person who convinced Steinway and Sons to build stretto pianos.
53
00:04:32,160 -->
00:04:39,560
So here we go dear friends, please enjoy the show.
54
00:04:39,560 -->
00:04:43,840
You are listening to the Piano Pod where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry
55
00:04:43,840 -->
00:04:49,840
about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century.
56
00:04:49,840 -->
00:04:56,800
I am honored to welcome Hannah Ryman, pianist, vocalist, composer, actor, filmmaker and educator
57
00:04:56,800 -->
00:04:58,160
from New York City.
58
00:04:58,160 -->
00:05:03,680
She is also advocate of stretto pianos and creator of International Stretto Piano Festival
59
00:05:03,680 -->
00:05:06,400
and Stretto Piano Concerts.
60
00:05:06,400 -->
00:05:11,400
Nearly 30 years ago, Ms. Ryman felt the need for a different type of piano to accommodate
61
00:05:11,400 -->
00:05:12,720
her hand size.
62
00:05:12,720 -->
00:05:17,840
So she independently rebuilt her Steinway piano and that's the beginning of her journey
63
00:05:17,840 -->
00:05:19,640
with stretto pianos.
64
00:05:19,640 -->
00:05:24,520
Since then, she has performed in Canada, in Japan with the stretto piano and contacted
65
00:05:24,520 -->
00:05:31,160
and presented proposals and materials directly to executives of all the major piano manufacturers
66
00:05:31,160 -->
00:05:38,600
including Steinway, Yamaha, Kawaii, Bosendorfer and Roland to build these pianos.
67
00:05:38,600 -->
00:05:43,400
After three decades of her effort, stretto pianos are now available from Steinway and
68
00:05:43,400 -->
00:05:50,400
Sons on a custom order basis making Ms. Ryman the only liaison for anyone wanting an original
69
00:05:50,400 -->
00:05:52,560
Steinway stretto grand piano.
70
00:05:52,560 -->
00:05:57,720
In addition, her success with this instrument has made her the face of the stretto as the
71
00:05:57,720 -->
00:05:59,560
producer of concerts.
72
00:05:59,560 -->
00:06:04,040
Ms. Ryman was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal and described as a
73
00:06:04,040 -->
00:06:10,360
quote musician on the mission to make the world safe for small pianists end quote.
74
00:06:10,360 -->
00:06:11,360
So welcome, Hannah.
75
00:06:11,360 -->
00:06:12,840
Thanks for being here today.
76
00:06:12,840 -->
00:06:13,840
Yay.
77
00:06:13,840 -->
00:06:16,920
It's a pleasure to be here with you, Yukimi.
78
00:06:16,920 -->
00:06:19,640
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you.
79
00:06:19,640 -->
00:06:20,640
Thank you.
80
00:06:20,640 -->
00:06:24,840
Now, I was introduced by our mutual friend, Ethan Janney.
81
00:06:24,840 -->
00:06:30,200
He is a wonderful piano technician from New York as well and then he owns a company floating
82
00:06:30,200 -->
00:06:31,200
piano factory.
83
00:06:31,200 -->
00:06:37,400
Now, he is the one who introduced us and until then, honestly, Hannah, I did not know anything
84
00:06:37,400 -->
00:06:38,840
about stretto piano.
85
00:06:38,840 -->
00:06:39,840
Shame on me.
86
00:06:39,840 -->
00:06:42,680
So I feel like I was born today.
87
00:06:42,680 -->
00:06:48,360
Please don't feel like there's any mistake if you don't know about pianos with narrower
88
00:06:48,360 -->
00:06:54,680
keys because they are just emerging as a large movement now.
89
00:06:54,680 -->
00:07:01,120
It's taken a very long time for individuals to embrace this technology.
90
00:07:01,120 -->
00:07:07,400
So most people don't know about pianos with narrower keys to accommodate small hands,
91
00:07:07,400 -->
00:07:13,600
which is why pioneers like myself and some other lovely people who I'll tell you about
92
00:07:13,600 -->
00:07:19,520
have taken it upon themselves to raise awareness by collaborating with different people in
93
00:07:19,520 -->
00:07:24,960
the industry and creating concerts and rebuilding their pianos.
94
00:07:24,960 -->
00:07:31,240
So it's taken many years for there to be a kind of visibility and still most people don't
95
00:07:31,240 -->
00:07:32,240
know about it.
96
00:07:32,240 -->
00:07:33,680
So that's why we're doing this.
97
00:07:33,680 -->
00:07:38,360
That's why I'm talking to you and that's why I created a concert platform.
98
00:07:38,360 -->
00:07:39,360
Wonderful.
99
00:07:39,360 -->
00:07:46,840
So when I visited your website, stretto piano concerts dot org, and there were several small
100
00:07:46,840 -->
00:07:51,280
video clips and one of them, especially one quote struck me.
101
00:07:51,280 -->
00:07:56,840
You mentioned that this piano creates creativity, equality and joy for people.
102
00:07:56,840 -->
00:07:59,720
The word equality just meant everything.
103
00:07:59,720 -->
00:08:05,600
This is one of the reasons I do this podcast and that's the 21st century way of thinking
104
00:08:05,600 -->
00:08:09,600
about not just only music, but also piano, right?
105
00:08:09,600 -->
00:08:14,360
Piano is the only instrument that doesn't come in multiple sizes in terms of keys for
106
00:08:14,360 -->
00:08:16,920
a wood and metal piano.
107
00:08:16,920 -->
00:08:21,560
And this, even though it does not seem like an issue to most people, there really is a
108
00:08:21,560 -->
00:08:26,880
history of pianists as they play more and more difficult repertoire, getting injuries.
109
00:08:26,880 -->
00:08:33,520
I mean, imagine playing a violin or a viola with a really small hand for years and years
110
00:08:33,520 -->
00:08:36,160
and playing extremely difficult music.
111
00:08:36,160 -->
00:08:39,760
Even if you have a perfect technique, you're much more comfortable with something that
112
00:08:39,760 -->
00:08:40,960
fits you.
113
00:08:40,960 -->
00:08:46,640
And lots of pianists have not had that opportunity yet, including the smallest children who are
114
00:08:46,640 -->
00:08:47,640
virtuosos.
115
00:08:47,640 -->
00:08:53,840
So, you know, this just opens up a whole other market and a whole other way of thinking as
116
00:08:53,840 -->
00:08:55,780
it becomes embraced.
117
00:08:55,780 -->
00:09:00,720
So dear piano pause listeners, here we are today to focus on the topic of stretto pianos.
118
00:09:00,720 -->
00:09:04,000
What is a stretto piano and why stretto piano?
119
00:09:04,000 -->
00:09:09,760
And these questions will lead us to more philosophical discussion later today and why Hannah is here
120
00:09:09,760 -->
00:09:12,120
promoting and advocating for stretto piano.
121
00:09:12,120 -->
00:09:16,440
So maybe you already answered this question, but let's start with this simple question.
122
00:09:16,440 -->
00:09:18,440
What is a stretto piano?
123
00:09:18,440 -->
00:09:19,440
Okay.
124
00:09:19,440 -->
00:09:27,640
So a stretto piano is any instrument with keyboards that has keys that are narrower
125
00:09:27,640 -->
00:09:33,760
than the conventional size of piano keyboard, which can be calculated different ways.
126
00:09:33,760 -->
00:09:38,800
You know, most piano keyboards with 88 keys are 48 inches.
127
00:09:38,800 -->
00:09:43,380
My reduced width keyboard is 44 inches with 88 keys.
128
00:09:43,380 -->
00:09:47,920
But my colleagues around the world and other people have established a new way of measuring
129
00:09:47,920 -->
00:09:50,800
and that is with an octave span.
130
00:09:50,800 -->
00:09:56,000
So the octave span of the conventional keys is 6.5 inches.
131
00:09:56,000 -->
00:10:04,800
Stretto pianos are different dimensions, but 6.0 or 5.9 or 5.5.
132
00:10:04,800 -->
00:10:07,720
And there are even some people making smaller ones.
133
00:10:07,720 -->
00:10:13,820
They can be in any kind of keyboard instruments, electronic instruments, wooden metal pianos.
134
00:10:13,820 -->
00:10:16,080
They don't have to have 88 keys.
135
00:10:16,080 -->
00:10:23,680
I asked my co-artistic directors, Rhonda Boyle and Carol Leone, who participated in creating
136
00:10:23,680 -->
00:10:29,720
the festival with me so it can become an international phenomenon, asked them, you know, let's, why
137
00:10:29,720 -->
00:10:35,320
don't we think of a name, a generic term, so we don't have to keep saying pianos with
138
00:10:35,320 -->
00:10:36,320
narrow keys.
139
00:10:36,320 -->
00:10:38,320
It's just, you know, it's kind of awkward.
140
00:10:38,320 -->
00:10:43,400
We need to define it and give it a brand so that people can understand right away that
141
00:10:43,400 -->
00:10:45,520
this is something that's here to stay.
142
00:10:45,520 -->
00:10:52,960
And Carol Leone, who is a fantastic pianist, virtuoso and professor at Meadows School of
143
00:10:52,960 -->
00:10:59,560
Music at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, she volunteered the word Stretto.
144
00:10:59,560 -->
00:11:00,720
She speaks Italian.
145
00:11:00,720 -->
00:11:02,800
We all know what Stretto means in musical terms.
146
00:11:02,800 -->
00:11:07,140
It means narrow in physical terms in Italian.
147
00:11:07,140 -->
00:11:12,480
So I thought it sounded great and we all agreed that we would use that word.
148
00:11:12,480 -->
00:11:17,280
And then I asked her if it was all right if I, as I formed Stretto piano concerts as an
149
00:11:17,280 -->
00:11:20,880
entity that could receive funding, I could use the word.
150
00:11:20,880 -->
00:11:25,040
And we just all agreed that it was a very catchy way to communicate what we needed.
151
00:11:25,040 -->
00:11:26,040
Wow.
152
00:11:26,040 -->
00:11:32,000
So actually the word Stretto piano is your creation, your...
153
00:11:32,000 -->
00:11:33,480
Well, our team.
154
00:11:33,480 -->
00:11:35,160
And we decided it together.
155
00:11:35,160 -->
00:11:36,680
We had different words.
156
00:11:36,680 -->
00:11:42,120
And yeah, it just, it makes, it makes more sense than saying narrow keys because it's,
157
00:11:42,120 -->
00:11:45,320
you know, for some people, they're not narrow.
158
00:11:45,320 -->
00:11:47,880
They're just normal for the other pianist.
159
00:11:47,880 -->
00:11:48,880
Fat.
160
00:11:48,880 -->
00:11:55,080
So it's, I don't know, it gives the, it gives the definition a little bit more of an artistic
161
00:11:55,080 -->
00:11:56,080
flair as well.
162
00:11:56,080 -->
00:11:59,080
You know, Italian is the language of music, right?
163
00:11:59,080 -->
00:12:00,080
Yeah, exactly.
164
00:12:00,080 -->
00:12:02,560
Do you want to continue with the presentation?
165
00:12:02,560 -->
00:12:03,840
I can share the screen.
166
00:12:03,840 -->
00:12:04,840
Yes.
167
00:12:04,840 -->
00:12:05,840
So that's my piano.
168
00:12:05,840 -->
00:12:12,720
I, my parents bought me a seven foot four grand piano that was originally built in 1900
169
00:12:12,720 -->
00:12:15,360
when I became a professional pianist.
170
00:12:15,360 -->
00:12:20,320
And in 1997, I had it rebuilt to have narrower keys.
171
00:12:20,320 -->
00:12:23,480
And you can see that the cheek blocks are fatter.
172
00:12:23,480 -->
00:12:27,160
And you know, if you zoom in on your computer, you can see that the black keys are a bit
173
00:12:27,160 -->
00:12:30,860
narrower than, they look narrower than normal ones.
174
00:12:30,860 -->
00:12:32,940
So that's my, that's the keyboard of my piano.
175
00:12:32,940 -->
00:12:44,560
So the next one is a chart of pianos from the 1500s until now showing what the key width
176
00:12:44,560 -->
00:12:51,440
is, how narrow they are and how, as you go down the list, you see that the piano has
177
00:12:51,440 -->
00:13:00,260
become more and more close to having a 6.0 or a 5.9 width octave.
178
00:13:00,260 -->
00:13:06,040
And as we move towards the 20th century, the keys get fatter and fatter with the advent
179
00:13:06,040 -->
00:13:08,160
of the industrial revolution.
180
00:13:08,160 -->
00:13:12,560
And you know, people like Franz Liszt who influenced how the piano was built and the
181
00:13:12,560 -->
00:13:17,280
size the piano was built, and we get closer and closer to a 6.5 inch octave until there's
182
00:13:17,280 -->
00:13:18,280
standardization.
183
00:13:18,280 -->
00:13:23,720
But you can see if you look closely at this table that there are very many, many varieties
184
00:13:23,720 -->
00:13:28,720
of key size before standardization occurred in the 20th century.
185
00:13:28,720 -->
00:13:35,520
I got this table from the curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the, you know, Historical
186
00:13:35,520 -->
00:13:40,080
Musical Instruments Collections back in the 1990s, because I just wanted to know what
187
00:13:40,080 -->
00:13:42,720
exactly had happened with key size.
188
00:13:42,720 -->
00:13:49,120
And here are some zones of hand spans showing that males and females have different size
189
00:13:49,120 -->
00:13:50,120
hands.
190
00:13:50,120 -->
00:13:53,480
I mean, everybody knows that, but here's a graph that can show you if you look at it
191
00:13:53,480 -->
00:14:02,680
closely that females really, their hand doesn't fit the 6.5 octave piano keyboard the way
192
00:14:02,680 -->
00:14:04,660
that it fits men.
193
00:14:04,660 -->
00:14:11,840
And here are the current situation of who has large hands, who has small hands, and
194
00:14:11,840 -->
00:14:17,400
what's comfortable for people in the current situation and what would be comfortable if
195
00:14:17,400 -->
00:14:20,100
pianos with narrow keys were embraced.
196
00:14:20,100 -->
00:14:25,680
You know, there's like many, many more females would be playing things that fit their body
197
00:14:25,680 -->
00:14:28,480
as we embrace this new technology.
198
00:14:28,480 -->
00:14:29,480
This is very interesting.
199
00:14:29,480 -->
00:14:37,280
And I just want to remark that this data came from Rhonda Boyle and Carol Leone, who are
200
00:14:37,280 -->
00:14:41,200
two pioneers of what we now call Stratto pianos.
201
00:14:41,200 -->
00:14:45,820
They have examined statistics around piano competitions.
202
00:14:45,820 -->
00:14:51,400
And unless you're competing with pieces by Mozart and Bach, most of the prize winners
203
00:14:51,400 -->
00:14:58,520
are men who fit the larger repertoire like Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, post-romantic
204
00:14:58,520 -->
00:15:03,800
material that has much stretchier stuff, that has bigger intervals, different kinds of physical
205
00:15:03,800 -->
00:15:04,800
challenges.
206
00:15:04,800 -->
00:15:07,960
And it's not that women can't play those things.
207
00:15:07,960 -->
00:15:11,120
It's just it's easier with an instrument that fits you.
208
00:15:11,120 -->
00:15:12,120
Right.
209
00:15:12,120 -->
00:15:16,560
But this really shows, you know, I used to think, oh, there's no way I can play this
210
00:15:16,560 -->
00:15:17,560
literature.
211
00:15:17,560 -->
00:15:22,000
I mean, obviously, it's not about my ability.
212
00:15:22,000 -->
00:15:25,600
It's a lot to do with the instrument that you're using, right?
213
00:15:25,600 -->
00:15:26,600
That's right.
214
00:15:26,600 -->
00:15:33,080
If a violinist was asked to play a really difficult concerto by Bruch or, you know,
215
00:15:33,080 -->
00:15:38,320
20th century composers on an instrument that was too big for them, they may not win the
216
00:15:38,320 -->
00:15:39,320
competition either.
217
00:15:39,320 -->
00:15:40,320
You know?
218
00:15:40,320 -->
00:15:41,320
Right.
219
00:15:41,320 -->
00:15:47,560
And here is a comparison of string competition winners and piano competition winners by their
220
00:15:47,560 -->
00:15:48,960
ages.
221
00:15:48,960 -->
00:15:58,560
And as pre-teens to adults in string competitions get older, the females are the ones who are
222
00:15:58,560 -->
00:16:00,360
winning more prizes.
223
00:16:00,360 -->
00:16:03,200
But with pianos, it's the opposite.
224
00:16:03,200 -->
00:16:09,300
So you know, as you play more and more advanced material and you play stretchier stuff as
225
00:16:09,300 -->
00:16:14,860
an adult and you don't have an instrument that fits you quite right, you have to compromise.
226
00:16:14,860 -->
00:16:16,760
I think that's what Graff communicates.
227
00:16:16,760 -->
00:16:17,760
Yeah, exactly.
228
00:16:17,760 -->
00:16:23,040
Oh, this is the cover of Piano Today magazine also back in the 1990s.
229
00:16:23,040 -->
00:16:24,520
I wrote an article.
230
00:16:24,520 -->
00:16:30,280
I think the next page probably will show the article that says, A Modest Proposal.
231
00:16:30,280 -->
00:16:35,200
And you can see the two keyboards that I have for my one piano.
232
00:16:35,200 -->
00:16:39,960
And you know, I wanted to discuss this and present this idea to people.
233
00:16:39,960 -->
00:16:45,560
It actually was executives at Steinway & Sons that made introductions for me to things like
234
00:16:45,560 -->
00:16:51,440
Piano Today magazine and other people who were involved with pianos with small keys
235
00:16:51,440 -->
00:16:53,120
back in the 1990s.
236
00:16:53,120 -->
00:16:56,280
So you know, I really did get help from Steinway & Sons.
237
00:16:56,280 -->
00:17:01,380
I'm an official Steinway educator and I've known all of the presidents since the 90s.
238
00:17:01,380 -->
00:17:03,960
And that was how I connected with this journalist.
239
00:17:03,960 -->
00:17:08,600
And he was very interested in knowing the editor and the journalist who publishes this
240
00:17:08,600 -->
00:17:09,600
magazine.
241
00:17:09,600 -->
00:17:11,860
He's very interested in knowing my take on this.
242
00:17:11,860 -->
00:17:18,800
So I wrote an article and then I think the next slide probably is another article.
243
00:17:18,800 -->
00:17:23,960
So after writing articles and networking with people and talking about it, another journalist
244
00:17:23,960 -->
00:17:26,520
wanted to interview me for the Wall Street Journal.
245
00:17:26,520 -->
00:17:29,240
And lo and behold, my face was on the front page.
246
00:17:29,240 -->
00:17:31,920
I was complete shock.
247
00:17:31,920 -->
00:17:33,900
And I started getting letters.
248
00:17:33,900 -->
00:17:38,820
This was back in the days when people actually wrote letters and put them in envelopes and
249
00:17:38,820 -->
00:17:40,820
put stamps on them.
250
00:17:40,820 -->
00:17:44,480
I started getting letters from all over the world.
251
00:17:44,480 -->
00:17:49,820
I started getting phone calls and there were people in Italy and California who were they
252
00:17:49,820 -->
00:17:58,120
were so grateful that I had rebuilt my piano because they wanted pianos like this too.
253
00:17:58,120 -->
00:18:01,640
So this was really exciting for me.
254
00:18:01,640 -->
00:18:09,440
And I just knew after this article came out that there was some validation and I had to
255
00:18:09,440 -->
00:18:11,280
continue on this quest.
256
00:18:11,280 -->
00:18:17,160
I mistakenly thought, you know, in a few years we're just going to have pianos with small
257
00:18:17,160 -->
00:18:19,120
keys all over the place.
258
00:18:19,120 -->
00:18:24,800
And I wrote a global plan for the development of the narrow width keys for boosting pianos.
259
00:18:24,800 -->
00:18:28,320
I sent it to people, but it really didn't happen.
260
00:18:28,320 -->
00:18:33,720
I just had to keep doing research and keep pressing the piano companies for many more
261
00:18:33,720 -->
00:18:34,720
years than I thought.
262
00:18:34,720 -->
00:18:35,720
Wow, this is incredible.
263
00:18:35,720 -->
00:18:38,400
Oh, what is this?
264
00:18:38,400 -->
00:18:44,240
So one of the things that happened when I talked to Frank Mazzurco, one of the presidents
265
00:18:44,240 -->
00:18:48,640
of Steinway & Sons in the 1990s, he said, do you have a patent?
266
00:18:48,640 -->
00:18:51,520
If you don't have a patent, we can't do business with you.
267
00:18:51,520 -->
00:18:56,480
And I wasn't exactly interested in going into business, but then I realized that was what
268
00:18:56,480 -->
00:18:58,640
somebody had to do to make this work.
269
00:18:58,640 -->
00:19:01,320
So I acquired a U.S. patent.
270
00:19:01,320 -->
00:19:06,600
I spent years and thousands of dollars making this, working with technicians.
271
00:19:06,600 -->
00:19:10,320
You could go to the next slide and you'll see some of the images and what the technology
272
00:19:10,320 -->
00:19:11,320
actually is.
273
00:19:11,320 -->
00:19:12,320
Oh my.
274
00:19:12,320 -->
00:19:16,840
A certain amount of time, unless the patent is licensed, it becomes in the public domain.
275
00:19:16,840 -->
00:19:19,280
It's not a business proposal anymore.
276
00:19:19,280 -->
00:19:24,000
Steinway told me that they would license this and we were about to start working on it together,
277
00:19:24,000 -->
00:19:25,880
but then it expired.
278
00:19:25,880 -->
00:19:28,040
And they always got a little bit too busy.
279
00:19:28,040 -->
00:19:29,280
They've got their timeline.
280
00:19:29,280 -->
00:19:31,560
They have the things that they need to do.
281
00:19:31,560 -->
00:19:38,640
So this is a technology for converting one piano to have another size of key and the
282
00:19:38,640 -->
00:19:40,880
technical things that have to happen.
283
00:19:40,880 -->
00:19:46,240
It's about the key pins that hold the keys into place that are connected to the key frame.
284
00:19:46,240 -->
00:19:49,360
Anybody can access it online now.
285
00:19:49,360 -->
00:19:52,120
It was a huge effort.
286
00:19:52,120 -->
00:19:59,240
After that, I went to Score New York, which is a small business advisory, a city run agency
287
00:19:59,240 -->
00:20:03,920
down in the financial district, and I got a mentor, a business mentor, and I said, I
288
00:20:03,920 -->
00:20:05,100
need help with this.
289
00:20:05,100 -->
00:20:09,080
How am I going to make pianos with small keys mainstream?
290
00:20:09,080 -->
00:20:11,000
The industry doesn't want to embrace it.
291
00:20:11,000 -->
00:20:12,120
What should I do?
292
00:20:12,120 -->
00:20:18,960
And my mentor, who is the developer of the first Star Wars action figures, he wanted
293
00:20:18,960 -->
00:20:23,240
me to go to the toy fair because he thought it needed to start with kids.
294
00:20:23,240 -->
00:20:31,320
So I went to the toy fair and I found this red piano on display that Shoen Hut toy piano
295
00:20:31,320 -->
00:20:32,760
had made.
296
00:20:32,760 -->
00:20:34,080
It's not a toy piano.
297
00:20:34,080 -->
00:20:40,240
It's a real string hammer pedal piano, but it's sized down so that a four year old or
298
00:20:40,240 -->
00:20:42,920
five year old can put their feet on the ground.
299
00:20:42,920 -->
00:20:44,200
It has narrower keys.
300
00:20:44,200 -->
00:20:46,640
I think it has 63 keys.
301
00:20:46,640 -->
00:20:48,520
And I just sat down and started playing it.
302
00:20:48,520 -->
00:20:54,560
And for several years, they hired me to come to the toy fair and, you know, advocate this
303
00:20:54,560 -->
00:20:56,040
little piano.
304
00:20:56,040 -->
00:21:01,520
Unfortunately, it was so expensive to make in China that they had to stop production.
305
00:21:01,520 -->
00:21:07,420
It was just more expensive to make because pianos are expensive to make and to sell them.
306
00:21:07,420 -->
00:21:11,720
They would have to charge so much money to sell it retail.
307
00:21:11,720 -->
00:21:13,920
They had a very limited production run.
308
00:21:13,920 -->
00:21:18,720
So this taught me a lot about what people need to do to make pianos and what a challenge
309
00:21:18,720 -->
00:21:22,980
it is to change the way things are.
310
00:21:22,980 -->
00:21:27,720
This episode is presented in collaboration with our good friends at Forte, a free alternative
311
00:21:27,720 -->
00:21:30,600
to Zoom purpose-built for music teachers.
312
00:21:30,600 -->
00:21:36,320
Forte offers features optimized for classical music lessons, including audio quality far
313
00:21:36,320 -->
00:21:41,480
superior to existing platforms and allowing you to hear every nuance of your students'
314
00:21:41,480 -->
00:21:42,480
instrument.
315
00:21:42,480 -->
00:21:47,360
Their colleagues at the Royal College of Music, Aspen Music Festival, Curtis Institute, and
316
00:21:47,360 -->
00:21:51,600
Berklee College of Music have even used Forte in their own programs.
317
00:21:51,600 -->
00:21:57,960
Forte's mission is to radically expand access to high quality music education worldwide.
318
00:21:57,960 -->
00:22:01,240
Forte always puts teachers and their students first.
319
00:22:01,240 -->
00:22:06,240
This means you can use Forte with your own students for free forever.
320
00:22:06,240 -->
00:22:10,880
And Forte will soon introduce paid features allowing you to connect with new students
321
00:22:10,880 -->
00:22:12,520
around the world.
322
00:22:12,520 -->
00:22:17,880
Sign up for free today at ForteLessons.com or click the link in the description.
323
00:22:17,880 -->
00:22:24,400
The size of the octave, so conventional size is 6.5 inches, but then the dreaded piano
324
00:22:24,400 -->
00:22:28,200
can come in 5.5 or 6?
325
00:22:28,200 -->
00:22:38,600
Yeah, 5.5 and 6.0 are the two largely selling sizes that a small company in Titusville,
326
00:22:38,600 -->
00:22:42,600
Pennsylvania has been making since the 1990s.
327
00:22:42,600 -->
00:22:46,240
They're called Donison Steinbuehler DS keyboards.
328
00:22:46,240 -->
00:22:52,700
I had my keyboard made by Kluga, which is the company in Germany that makes keyboards
329
00:22:52,700 -->
00:22:56,000
for Steinway & Sons and many other companies.
330
00:22:56,000 -->
00:23:01,080
The technicians I was working with wanted me to have the Steinway standard, so I was
331
00:23:01,080 -->
00:23:06,120
also very complicated to do this, to communicate in the 1990s with Germany pre-internet.
332
00:23:06,120 -->
00:23:09,120
But we all, we had did things via fax.
333
00:23:09,120 -->
00:23:12,680
We had to do charcoal rubbings of different parts of the piano.
334
00:23:12,680 -->
00:23:15,120
It was really like a very elaborate effort.
335
00:23:15,120 -->
00:23:19,960
So my keyboard is 5.9 inch octave, I'm pretty sure.
336
00:23:19,960 -->
00:23:25,560
I had the smallest size that Kluga was willing to make for me back then.
337
00:23:25,560 -->
00:23:31,480
But my colleagues, Rhonda and Carol and a group of other people, including David Steinbuehler,
338
00:23:31,480 -->
00:23:38,920
who makes the keys himself, they settled on 5.5 and 6.0 and lots of people around the
339
00:23:38,920 -->
00:23:42,600
world are purchasing the size that they want from him.
340
00:23:42,600 -->
00:23:43,600
Oh, wow.
341
00:23:43,600 -->
00:23:44,600
Okay.
342
00:23:44,600 -->
00:23:46,040
It comes in different types.
343
00:23:46,040 -->
00:23:52,060
Let's say one can be built, rebuilt, you know, just like you rebuilt your piano.
344
00:23:52,060 -->
00:23:57,080
And also, as I introduced you, you are the Steinway piano liaison.
345
00:23:57,080 -->
00:24:04,800
So if you want, if you have the financial means, you can build your own original Steinway.
346
00:24:04,800 -->
00:24:08,440
You can custom order a piano that has narrower keys.
347
00:24:08,440 -->
00:24:12,800
Now, I haven't communicated with Steinway in quite a while because I've been very busy
348
00:24:12,800 -->
00:24:16,160
with the festival and there are supply chain issues.
349
00:24:16,160 -->
00:24:18,320
So people should know about that.
350
00:24:18,320 -->
00:24:23,000
Everything has supply chain issues these days and their back orders, even for custom art
351
00:24:23,000 -->
00:24:26,000
case pianos, people have been waiting a year.
352
00:24:26,000 -->
00:24:29,920
I'll get back in touch with them to find out what's going on now.
353
00:24:29,920 -->
00:24:36,400
But you know, there are not that many people who can spend 120 or 130 thousand dollars
354
00:24:36,400 -->
00:24:42,040
for a piano and the custom orders an additional bit of work and time.
355
00:24:42,040 -->
00:24:50,440
So if anybody who is listening to this wants to have a custom built new piano made by Steinway,
356
00:24:50,440 -->
00:24:55,980
they should contact me and I will get in touch with the right people and let them know that
357
00:24:55,980 -->
00:24:57,560
there are people interested.
358
00:24:57,560 -->
00:25:03,240
I did get when we first let the world know about that on this and our network of people
359
00:25:03,240 -->
00:25:09,760
who love small keys, I did get two orders, but both of the orders were people who wanted
360
00:25:09,760 -->
00:25:15,300
Spirio pianos, which most people know are like player pianos, digital player pianos.
361
00:25:15,300 -->
00:25:20,120
You can listen to Lang Lang or Horowitz or even Rachmaninoff playing your piano like
362
00:25:20,120 -->
00:25:22,940
a ghost and you can record yourself.
363
00:25:22,940 -->
00:25:27,240
But Steinway was not willing to combine the two technologies at once.
364
00:25:27,240 -->
00:25:29,600
They thought, you know, we have to perfect this.
365
00:25:29,600 -->
00:25:32,860
We don't want to put it out until we have it just right.
366
00:25:32,860 -->
00:25:39,120
So innovation takes time in a big company like Steinway that's owned by a billionaire.
367
00:25:39,120 -->
00:25:40,440
It's not a simple thing.
368
00:25:40,440 -->
00:25:45,340
It's like an electric car that you're asking for a special order before electric cars are
369
00:25:45,340 -->
00:25:47,560
available everywhere.
370
00:25:47,560 -->
00:25:53,160
It just goes so much into it and I don't realize.
371
00:25:53,160 -->
00:25:54,160
Right.
372
00:25:54,160 -->
00:25:57,080
Then I'm also curious about the history.
373
00:25:57,080 -->
00:25:59,560
Can we talk about the history of piano?
374
00:25:59,560 -->
00:26:06,500
Let's say piano, the size of the keys were not this big or fat like this conventional
375
00:26:06,500 -->
00:26:08,240
modern piano, right?
376
00:26:08,240 -->
00:26:12,720
Mozart and Chopin and Beethoven did not play a 6.5 inch octave.
377
00:26:12,720 -->
00:26:17,520
I can't imagine Mozart could have written his operas at age five or six and all those
378
00:26:17,520 -->
00:26:21,840
piano pieces in the way that he did with the big keys that we have today.
379
00:26:21,840 -->
00:26:23,240
Well, everything got bigger.
380
00:26:23,240 -->
00:26:24,440
Oh, it's a God.
381
00:26:24,440 -->
00:26:26,120
I could just talk about this for hours.
382
00:26:26,120 -->
00:26:30,480
Let me zero in on the most salient facts, the things that are important.
383
00:26:30,480 -->
00:26:36,560
What I learned from the Metropolitan Museum and examining things and talking with the
384
00:26:36,560 -->
00:26:42,540
curator and doing some reading, reading books and things, the size of the inch was actually
385
00:26:42,540 -->
00:26:47,460
different in different European countries, which is one of the reasons the metric system
386
00:26:47,460 -->
00:26:48,460
came to be.
387
00:26:48,460 -->
00:26:53,200
Like, you know, I think the inch was either this part of your thumb or some part of your
388
00:26:53,200 -->
00:26:59,000
body they called an inch and fingers, bodies, thumbs were a different size in Italy than
389
00:26:59,000 -->
00:27:02,360
they were in Norway or England or Germany.
390
00:27:02,360 -->
00:27:10,120
So the Italian inch was smaller than the inch in Denmark and they had different sizes of
391
00:27:10,120 -->
00:27:15,320
keys because they were measuring in inches and they were also just accommodating their
392
00:27:15,320 -->
00:27:16,320
bodies.
393
00:27:16,320 -->
00:27:23,920
So as people became more spread out and as industry began to grow and more and more instruments
394
00:27:23,920 -->
00:27:30,360
were made in factories and as people like Franz Liszt told the companies, I need a bigger
395
00:27:30,360 -->
00:27:35,440
piano, I need more keys, I need a cast iron plate, I need a bigger sound.
396
00:27:35,440 -->
00:27:41,000
He was the first person to say, you know, the concert c'est moi, I am the concert and
397
00:27:41,000 -->
00:27:44,040
I need this piano to fit me.
398
00:27:44,040 -->
00:27:47,720
And he was a very large Caucasian man from Hungary.
399
00:27:47,720 -->
00:27:50,400
He was like a rock star before there were rock stars.
400
00:27:50,400 -->
00:27:57,600
He traveled all over the place and all of many, many countries in boats and horses and
401
00:27:57,600 -->
00:28:01,140
then trains eventually, you know, the world changed.
402
00:28:01,140 -->
00:28:03,300
So the piano changed.
403
00:28:03,300 -->
00:28:09,160
And by the time the 20th century came around, companies like Steinway said, we just want
404
00:28:09,160 -->
00:28:10,920
one size.
405
00:28:10,920 -->
00:28:14,800
However, there were always disruptors to this.
406
00:28:14,800 -->
00:28:21,160
There were always people saying, I need smaller keys, including the great Joseph Hoffman,
407
00:28:21,160 -->
00:28:25,000
who was my inspiration when I was a student.
408
00:28:25,000 -->
00:28:29,040
Well Joseph Hoffman was a diminutive pianist.
409
00:28:29,040 -->
00:28:31,040
He was a small man.
410
00:28:31,040 -->
00:28:32,300
He was a great composer.
411
00:28:32,300 -->
00:28:33,720
He was a close friend of Rachmaninoff's.
412
00:28:33,720 -->
00:28:35,600
They were alive at the same time.
413
00:28:35,600 -->
00:28:40,320
So you know, there's Joseph Hoffman and here's Sergei Rachmaninoff.
414
00:28:40,320 -->
00:28:42,540
They had different sized hands.
415
00:28:42,540 -->
00:28:48,680
And Steinway built a number of pianos for him that had narrower keys.
416
00:28:48,680 -->
00:28:53,080
I think he was credited to have developed the windshield wiper and other inventions.
417
00:28:53,080 -->
00:28:54,500
He was an inventor.
418
00:28:54,500 -->
00:28:57,240
His name was on many patents with Steinway and Sons.
419
00:28:57,240 -->
00:29:00,680
He was very much a part of the company.
420
00:29:00,680 -->
00:29:02,920
And I believe he used to travel with his pianos.
421
00:29:02,920 -->
00:29:05,900
He had several around the country.
422
00:29:05,900 -->
00:29:09,960
And he could play Rachmaninoff's music with the ease that Rachmaninoff played his own
423
00:29:09,960 -->
00:29:10,960
music.
424
00:29:10,960 -->
00:29:17,720
I didn't know who he was until one of my teachers said to me towards the end of my being a student,
425
00:29:17,720 -->
00:29:19,240
he said, you know, Hanna, you're playing great.
426
00:29:19,240 -->
00:29:20,720
You can play whatever you want now.
427
00:29:20,720 -->
00:29:23,880
I'm proud of you, but your hand is a little small.
428
00:29:23,880 -->
00:29:26,720
Why don't you find a Joseph Hoffman piano?
429
00:29:26,720 -->
00:29:32,200
So I called Steinway and I asked them to help me find one.
430
00:29:32,200 -->
00:29:36,760
And it was impossible.
431
00:29:36,760 -->
00:29:41,560
Frank Mazzurco, who I adored and who helped me so much, he would send me on this wild
432
00:29:41,560 -->
00:29:43,400
goose chase all over the country.
433
00:29:43,400 -->
00:29:44,400
Oh, there's one here.
434
00:29:44,400 -->
00:29:45,400
Oh, there's one there.
435
00:29:45,400 -->
00:29:50,420
And I would call up and have Ephraim Zimbalist, you know, an actor in California measure the
436
00:29:50,420 -->
00:29:52,040
keys on his Hoffman piano.
437
00:29:52,040 -->
00:29:56,000
But they were all the same size as the conventional keys.
438
00:29:56,000 -->
00:30:00,880
So I kept, you know, like it was taking a lot of time to do this work while I'm teaching
439
00:30:00,880 -->
00:30:02,960
and practicing and performing.
440
00:30:02,960 -->
00:30:06,520
I'm wondering, you know, why is this so difficult?
441
00:30:06,520 -->
00:30:09,840
And eventually I talked to Henry Steinway.
442
00:30:09,840 -->
00:30:12,880
I had to get to the top of the food chain.
443
00:30:12,880 -->
00:30:15,840
And I said, where are the Hoffman pianos?
444
00:30:15,840 -->
00:30:20,320
And he said, oh, we burned all of those after Hoffman died.
445
00:30:20,320 -->
00:30:23,600
We wanted to make sure there was nothing out there.
446
00:30:23,600 -->
00:30:27,440
So we didn't want to have to deal with making this size for this person and that size for
447
00:30:27,440 -->
00:30:28,640
that person.
448
00:30:28,640 -->
00:30:31,360
Standardization is what we needed.
449
00:30:31,360 -->
00:30:33,960
I was in such shock when I heard that.
450
00:30:33,960 -->
00:30:36,120
Now I can't remember exactly.
451
00:30:36,120 -->
00:30:41,720
I think that might have been why I really wanted to rebuild my piano.
452
00:30:41,720 -->
00:30:46,360
Either that or I had already put it into motion and I knew for sure that it was the right
453
00:30:46,360 -->
00:30:49,160
thing to do to do it myself.
454
00:30:49,160 -->
00:30:53,800
Since then, what a long journey, but you've come this far.
455
00:30:53,800 -->
00:30:55,640
It's like 30 years.
456
00:30:55,640 -->
00:30:56,640
Wow.
457
00:30:56,640 -->
00:30:57,640
Yes.
458
00:30:57,640 -->
00:30:58,640
That's really amazing.
459
00:30:58,640 -->
00:31:05,760
Then also there is a group of people or organization, Christopher Donison and David Steinbuehler.
460
00:31:05,760 -->
00:31:09,720
Yes, that's earlier DS.
461
00:31:09,720 -->
00:31:12,940
That's Donison Steinbuehler, DS keyboards.
462
00:31:12,940 -->
00:31:17,480
They started a business together, but Chris Donison is not part of it now.
463
00:31:17,480 -->
00:31:22,160
David Steinbuehler kept the name and he has a foundation.
464
00:31:22,160 -->
00:31:27,040
The most important thing to know about DS keyboards is that they're a small outfit in
465
00:31:27,040 -->
00:31:31,960
Titusville, Pennsylvania that makes keyboards that are narrower width than the conventional
466
00:31:31,960 -->
00:31:32,960
ones.
467
00:31:32,960 -->
00:31:39,040
David has helped dozens of people all over the world rebuild their existing instruments
468
00:31:39,040 -->
00:31:41,200
to have narrower keys.
469
00:31:41,200 -->
00:31:43,800
It's really been a very noble effort for so many years.
470
00:31:43,800 -->
00:31:49,160
I met them back in the 1990s and I'm just so impressed with how productive they've
471
00:31:49,160 -->
00:31:50,320
been.
472
00:31:50,320 -->
00:31:55,520
They're not part of the manufacturing industry per se, the piano manufacturing industry.
473
00:31:55,520 -->
00:32:00,240
They're a small cottage industry and they can build what I last heard is they can build
474
00:32:00,240 -->
00:32:02,200
and install one per month.
475
00:32:02,200 -->
00:32:07,960
So 12 pianos a year, that's not really enough to make the impact that we need for everybody
476
00:32:07,960 -->
00:32:11,000
to know about it, which is why you didn't know about it.
477
00:32:11,000 -->
00:32:12,000
Right.
478
00:32:12,000 -->
00:32:13,000
Of course.
479
00:32:13,000 -->
00:32:17,760
Hey TPP friends and listeners, the PianoPod is in its third season.
480
00:32:17,760 -->
00:32:23,480
Thanks to all of you for watching or listening to every episode since its launch in 2020.
481
00:32:23,480 -->
00:32:29,240
I started this show with a simple question I had in mind for quite some time, which is
482
00:32:29,240 -->
00:32:33,720
how can we as classical pianists and music educators present the beautiful classical
483
00:32:33,720 -->
00:32:39,000
music tradition to the 21st century audience in a fun, contemporary and engaging way?
484
00:32:39,000 -->
00:32:42,080
It's been an incredible journey for the last three years.
485
00:32:42,080 -->
00:32:48,880
I love what I do through this podcast, providing a platform for pianists and educators to reflect
486
00:32:48,880 -->
00:32:54,480
and discuss freely how we can keep the classical music industry thriving and relevant in this
487
00:32:54,480 -->
00:32:56,800
rapidly changing world.
488
00:32:56,800 -->
00:33:01,680
Now more than ever, I need your support so that I can continue my work by bringing you
489
00:33:01,680 -->
00:33:07,800
highly valuable content bi-weekly by interviewing groundbreakers in the industry.
490
00:33:07,800 -->
00:33:13,920
Your support will go directly to all the costs of the PianoPod, such as a yearly subscription
491
00:33:13,920 -->
00:33:20,320
to the podcast hosting platform, the software I use for high quality recording sessions
492
00:33:20,320 -->
00:33:27,400
and tech gear, as well as all the hours I spend researching and audio and video editing.
493
00:33:27,400 -->
00:33:32,080
You can make a one-time donation or monthly pledge by clicking the PayPal link in the
494
00:33:32,080 -->
00:33:37,760
show notes or going to TPP's website at thepianopod.com.
495
00:33:37,760 -->
00:33:42,640
As a thank you, you will receive the PianoPod's fun logo sticker in the mail.
496
00:33:42,640 -->
00:33:48,840
So please support my show today and don't forget to subscribe, continue listening and
497
00:33:48,840 -->
00:33:52,120
tell your friends and colleagues about the PianoPod.
498
00:33:52,120 -->
00:33:54,420
Let's continue with the episode.
499
00:33:54,420 -->
00:34:01,520
I want to talk about the challenge to make these, the stretch piano known and eventually
500
00:34:01,520 -->
00:34:06,040
become, I wouldn't say, but why not mainstream?
501
00:34:06,040 -->
00:34:07,040
Why not?
502
00:34:07,040 -->
00:34:15,680
Because I was reading the articles, 75% of pianists say they prefer to have narrow keys.
503
00:34:15,680 -->
00:34:16,680
That is insane.
504
00:34:16,680 -->
00:34:20,120
Then there's something wrong with this modern piano, right?
505
00:34:20,120 -->
00:34:22,920
Well, you know, it's useful.
506
00:34:22,920 -->
00:34:25,560
I love all pianos and I play it.
507
00:34:25,560 -->
00:34:27,160
I haven't stopped performing.
508
00:34:27,160 -->
00:34:28,920
I've never had any injuries.
509
00:34:28,920 -->
00:34:35,100
I don't, you know, I don't hate the big fat keys as I sometimes call them, but you know,
510
00:34:35,100 -->
00:34:40,600
I really enjoy playing my little keys if I'm playing difficult music.
511
00:34:40,600 -->
00:34:45,520
What's been like to convince a big company like Steinway to build them?
512
00:34:45,520 -->
00:34:47,520
What was the journey like?
513
00:34:47,520 -->
00:34:54,000
Oh, well, I mean, it was fascinating because they were supportive.
514
00:34:54,000 -->
00:35:00,920
They really helped me, but they're afraid of upsetting the industry.
515
00:35:00,920 -->
00:35:06,800
You know, I think the electric car is a very good analogy because we don't want to vilify
516
00:35:06,800 -->
00:35:12,240
big companies for caring about their stake in business, you know, and it's a complex
517
00:35:12,240 -->
00:35:15,360
issue because Steinway is a luxury brand.
518
00:35:15,360 -->
00:35:20,000
You know, they are catering to the top 2% of the world and they want to be known as
519
00:35:20,000 -->
00:35:24,640
a luxury brand and they want all of their products to succeed.
520
00:35:24,640 -->
00:35:30,600
So on the one hand, Ron Lozby, who has been one of my advisors and who I also adore, he
521
00:35:30,600 -->
00:35:34,320
was a CEO and the president for many years.
522
00:35:34,320 -->
00:35:37,120
He's retired, but he's still related to the company.
523
00:35:37,120 -->
00:35:39,400
I've known him since 2016.
524
00:35:39,400 -->
00:35:43,800
He took my proposals to China, to Germany.
525
00:35:43,800 -->
00:35:45,680
I made a PowerPoint presentation.
526
00:35:45,680 -->
00:35:49,320
I mean, I really did everything that all these presidents asked me to do.
527
00:35:49,320 -->
00:35:50,320
I got the patent.
528
00:35:50,320 -->
00:35:51,320
I made the presentations.
529
00:35:51,320 -->
00:35:54,880
I got myself on the front page of the paper, whatever.
530
00:35:54,880 -->
00:36:00,160
I did everything I could as an individual, but they just kept telling me, Hannah, you
531
00:36:00,160 -->
00:36:01,160
do it.
532
00:36:01,160 -->
00:36:02,160
You do it.
533
00:36:02,160 -->
00:36:03,160
You do it.
534
00:36:03,160 -->
00:36:08,560
And I finally figured out from looking at all of my own literature and my own analysis
535
00:36:08,560 -->
00:36:16,040
of the industry that the way in is with performance and that all of us who have pianos and if
536
00:36:16,040 -->
00:36:21,280
we can perform on them, you know, there's only so much talking and presenting and graphs
537
00:36:21,280 -->
00:36:25,100
that you can do that the proof is really in the playing.
538
00:36:25,100 -->
00:36:30,760
So if I have my piano in a public space, if I found my own concert hall and, you know,
539
00:36:30,760 -->
00:36:35,160
raise money to have a hall for two or three years and invite as many people as I can of
540
00:36:35,160 -->
00:36:41,560
all ages to just sit down and make music, we don't have to have these arguments anymore.
541
00:36:41,560 -->
00:36:45,920
All of us all over the world, we were there, there are 40 to 50 people all over the world
542
00:36:45,920 -->
00:36:51,920
on five continents, many of whom have been on our online festival once a year.
543
00:36:51,920 -->
00:36:55,240
We all know this is happening.
544
00:36:55,240 -->
00:36:58,660
It's not something we're waiting for or praying for.
545
00:36:58,660 -->
00:37:00,300
We live with our instruments.
546
00:37:00,300 -->
00:37:01,480
We know the difference.
547
00:37:01,480 -->
00:37:02,480
We know the comfort.
548
00:37:02,480 -->
00:37:06,240
We know the joy and the creativity and the expression.
549
00:37:06,240 -->
00:37:13,160
We just need to have a little bit more media exposure and have a lot more playing.
550
00:37:13,160 -->
00:37:19,360
So that's how I feel the industry will be affected.
551
00:37:19,360 -->
00:37:25,000
I am not interested in knocking on people's doors and trying to persuade them of something
552
00:37:25,000 -->
00:37:29,340
that I know in my heart is just wonderful.
553
00:37:29,340 -->
00:37:36,040
So I decided to, you know, take it upon myself to create a space in New York City where people
554
00:37:36,040 -->
00:37:40,920
can come from all over the world and have the experience to play pianos with narrower
555
00:37:40,920 -->
00:37:43,040
keys or have a choice of key size.
556
00:37:43,040 -->
00:37:44,040
Right.
557
00:37:44,040 -->
00:37:46,200
So people with big hands can come and play too.
558
00:37:46,200 -->
00:37:47,560
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
559
00:37:47,560 -->
00:37:54,440
So you know, it's really the success is within changing people's perspectives and mindset
560
00:37:54,440 -->
00:37:55,440
toward it.
561
00:37:55,440 -->
00:37:56,440
Right.
562
00:37:56,440 -->
00:37:57,440
Yeah.
563
00:37:57,440 -->
00:38:03,200
Just like you compared this situation with electric car and how our mindset has changed
564
00:38:03,200 -->
00:38:07,480
and then electric car is more becoming more mainstream.
565
00:38:07,480 -->
00:38:12,240
The only way people could really know that is by experiencing that, not by talking about
566
00:38:12,240 -->
00:38:13,240
it.
567
00:38:13,240 -->
00:38:14,240
Right.
568
00:38:14,240 -->
00:38:19,760
If electric car was just noisy and clunky and horrible and, you know, uncomfortable,
569
00:38:19,760 -->
00:38:21,620
it wouldn't be accepted.
570
00:38:21,620 -->
00:38:24,600
But once and there were a lot of prejudices against electric cars.
571
00:38:24,600 -->
00:38:27,520
The first electric car was introduced in 1890.
572
00:38:27,520 -->
00:38:30,240
You know, that was a long time ago.
573
00:38:30,240 -->
00:38:32,640
Pianos with narrow keys have been around forever.
574
00:38:32,640 -->
00:38:38,520
They've never they've never been eliminated and they will continue to be around.
575
00:38:38,520 -->
00:38:41,400
It's just the words you use mainstream.
576
00:38:41,400 -->
00:38:42,840
How does that happen?
577
00:38:42,840 -->
00:38:48,840
There are a lot of challenges, but I really do believe that new technologies, new materials,
578
00:38:48,840 -->
00:38:53,680
you know, ideas that my colleagues and I have that stem from the experience of playing,
579
00:38:53,680 -->
00:38:56,120
it's all happening right now.
580
00:38:56,120 -->
00:38:57,120
This is exciting.
581
00:38:57,120 -->
00:39:01,040
So speaking of that, so next step in your straddle journey?
582
00:39:01,040 -->
00:39:09,040
Well, is I'm raising money if anybody wants to donate an active fundraising page and we'll
583
00:39:09,040 -->
00:39:15,160
launch our campaign end of April, beginning of May, knock on wood to, you know, I'd like
584
00:39:15,160 -->
00:39:20,200
to raise half a million dollars or more to rent a space in New York City and put my both
585
00:39:20,200 -->
00:39:26,280
of my pianos in there and invite people from all over the world to come and play concerts.
586
00:39:26,280 -->
00:39:29,360
So you know, there are two steps right now.
587
00:39:29,360 -->
00:39:36,280
I'm looking for a dedicated space that's temporary, either in a university or a gallery or someplace
588
00:39:36,280 -->
00:39:42,960
where we can share the piano with an existing space or we'll rent one for the for the festival.
589
00:39:42,960 -->
00:39:47,840
I've had my pianos in recording studios and in churches and other places for years.
590
00:39:47,840 -->
00:39:53,400
I've done this to raise awareness and then to really have a dedicated space.
591
00:39:53,400 -->
00:39:57,400
I have to be willing to give up my teaching studio to give up a lot of other things.
592
00:39:57,400 -->
00:40:01,200
I mean, I've given up a lot over my whole career to pursue this because it really is
593
00:40:01,200 -->
00:40:02,200
time consuming.
594
00:40:02,200 -->
00:40:06,600
But I'm willing to do that really for the community and for the betterment of other
595
00:40:06,600 -->
00:40:12,120
people and also for myself so that I can play concerts on a on a piano that fits me in my
596
00:40:12,120 -->
00:40:13,360
town.
597
00:40:13,360 -->
00:40:18,600
And hopefully we can have venues like that all over the world and people can tour around
598
00:40:18,600 -->
00:40:23,160
in the designated spots and play on pianos that fit them.
599
00:40:23,160 -->
00:40:24,700
That's you know, step by step.
600
00:40:24,700 -->
00:40:29,880
We can put a system into place.
601
00:40:29,880 -->
00:40:35,400
That concludes the first half of this fun episode of the PianoPod with Hannah Ryman,
602
00:40:35,400 -->
00:40:41,080
pioneer and advocate of stretto pianos and creator of the International Stretto Piano
603
00:40:41,080 -->
00:40:43,560
Festival and Stretto Piano Concerts.
604
00:40:43,560 -->
00:40:50,400
If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review it wherever you listen to your podcasts.
605
00:40:50,400 -->
00:40:54,600
You can also watch this episode on the PianoPod's YouTube channel.
606
00:40:54,600 -->
00:41:00,120
And don't forget to follow the PianoPod on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
607
00:41:00,120 -->
00:41:02,600
The links are listed in the show notes.
608
00:41:02,600 -->
00:41:05,400
Once again, I'm your host, Yukimisong.
609
00:41:05,400 -->
00:41:11,880
Tune in next Tuesday, May 2nd at 8 p.m. Eastern to hear the rest of the interview with Hannah
610
00:41:11,880 -->
00:41:25,400
Ryman about stretto pianos.
