[pianotech] Changeable pitch action

[Thomas Cole]

David Boyce wrote:
> Irving Berlin had a key-change piano: "Berlin was a self-taught 
> pianist and one who reputedly restricted himself mainly to the black 
> keys of the piano. Eventually he bought a special piano with a lever 
> under the keyboard, enabling him to transpose his music mechanically" 
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Berlin )
The Smithsonian National Museum of American History has a picture of 
this piano and the following caption on 
http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object.cfm?key=35&objkey=59 .

"This upright transposing piano was made in 1940 by Weser Brothers, New 
York, for Irving Berlin (1888–1989). Like many Tin Pan Alley pianists, 
Berlin was self-taught, preferring to play on the black keys. 'The key 
of C,' he once said, 'is for people who study music'. The transposing 
mechanism shifted the keyboard to allow him to stay on the black keys 
but produce music in other keys."

Tom Cole