<WBR>There always has been, and will continue to be, a demand for three levels of pianos: High end performance, mid level teaching, and low level in home use. (with exceptions, of course). To that end, there will always be a demand for high end and mid level pianos, although on a lessor scale. But there has always be a demand for  cheaper pianos. Even when pianos were first starting to be made, there were cheaper made pianos. Piano manufacturing shifted to areas of the country, and the world, where the price of labor and land are cheaper. Look at our own industry. In the late 1800, piano manufacturing was mostly in the Northeast. Then it shifted to the Midwest and the South. After WWII, it shifted again to Japan, Korea, and now China, Indonesia, etc. My prediction is that Africa and the Middle East, after the conflicts are settled, is where the new inexpensive pianos will be made. <br> <br> In my book is a chapter dealing with the shift of piano manufacturing. Here are the last 2 paragraph of that chapter. <br> <br> <div class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Calibri size=3>A Cultural Side Benefit</FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"><FONT face=Calibri size=3> </FONT></SPAN></div> <div class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Calibri size=3>There is a second, but very important side benefit of the low-end piano manufacturer situation. When the piano factories moved away from the cultural centers, first from the big cites to the country, and then to other countries, for the first time in their lives many of the people making these pianos were introduced to music in general, and piano music in particular.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </SPAN>People learned to play and listen to music of Western culture. As the people in Japan, Korea, and now China, are exposed to this music, they learn more and more about Western Culture. As they learn about “our” culture, they begin to understand it. As they learn to understand it, they will embraced it and become our friends.</FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"><FONT face=Calibri size=3> </FONT></SPAN></div> <div class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Calibri size=3>It is my belief that over the next 50 years, piano manufacturing will be introduced to other third world countries around the world, including Africa and the Middle East. As these people learn about the piano, they will learn and understand Western Culture. This, I believe, will add greatly to the unification of our world. Music is not only a universal language, it will also have a great influence in bringing about world peace. </FONT></div> <br> <br> <div style="CLEAR: both">Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT<br> Piano Tuner/Technician<br> Honolulu, HI<br> Author of <br> The Business of Piano Tuning<br> available from Potter Press<br> www.pianotuning.com</div> <br> <br> -----Original Message-----<br> From: Elwood Doss <edoss@utm.edu><br> To: College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org><br> Sent: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 7:26 am<br> Subject: Re: [CAUT] endangered European piano- newspaper article<br> <br> <div id=AOLMsgPart_0_b82932f6-f608-4fb4-b509-83fc5223b485 style="FONT-SIZE: 12px; MARGIN: 0px; COLOR: #000; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff"><PRE style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><TT>As the Asian market takes over more of the piano production, the workers will demand more income and a more lavish lifestyle. That will continue to raise the price of overseas pianos. The energy crisis will make it more expensive to ship overseas pianos to the US. All of this will cause the piano manufacturers to move their operations back to the US. The electronic keyboards will be made more and more cheaply which means that, instead of having a life of 50 to 100 years, consumers will only get 5 to 7 years out of one, and the cost of repair will be prohibitive, let alone trying to get parts for them, and the consumer will continue to purchase new and used pianos. The cost of purchasing a keyboard that has the same touch as an acoustic piano will continue to go up and be comparable to a used upright so the consumer will opt for the instrument that will last the longest...I could go on.... Is the acoustic piano doomed? Not on your life! Joy! Elwood Elwood Doss, Jr., M.M.E., RPT Piano Technician/Technical Director Department of Music 145 Fine Arts Building The University of Tennessee at Martin Martin, TN 38238 731/881-1852 FAX: 731/881-7415 HOME: 731/587-5700 -----Original Message----- From: <A href="mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org">caut-bounces@ptg.org</A> [<A href="mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org?">mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org</A>] On Behalf Of Richard Brekne Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 1:07 PM To: <A href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</A> Subject: [CAUT] endangered european piano- newspaper article It is as I have said many a time... the acoustic piano is doomed. Sooner or later the public market will not be large enough to be able to support the industry.... and factories will close. The public... too huge a majority will opt for cheaper and, to their ears.... just as good an option be it the cheaply made asian instruments or later on in our immediate future inexpensive, highly versatile, portable and maintenance free electronics. The piano industry... and the acoustic industry as a whole will be reduced to what is left of the Harpsichord industry today.... if that much. Its a Brave New World out there folks... few seem to be very much aware of whats just around the next corner. You think the Matrix movies were all that far fetched ??? Think again, and ponder the consequences. Cheers RicB </TT></PRE></div> <div id='u8CA790DC9FF4BDE-B64-1857' class='aol_ad_footer'><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Plan your next roadtrip with <A title="http://www.mapquest.com/?ncid=mpqmap00030000000004" href="http://www.mapquest.com/?ncid=mpqmap00030000000004" target="_blank">MapQuest.com</A>: America's #1 Mapping Site.</FONT> </div>