Piano Design Question

[Farrell]

Yeah, but...

My shop has no marketing department!   :-)

If you want a real race car, do you go down to your local Chevy dealer?
No, you go to your local small high-performance custom engine/chassy 
shop.....

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sarah Fox" <sarah@graphic-fusion.com>
> Entirely from a *commercial* standpoint, I would suggest that the pinnacle 
> of piano evolution (thus far) is represented by the baby grand and even 
> more, the odious spinet.  From that point, we have speciated into a new 
> class of pianos, the digitals, that will doubtless undergo an evolution of 
> their own.  I'm not suggesting that any of these pianos are actually 
> decent in any way that you and I would recognize.  I HATE small pianos. 
> But I'm in a minority.  It's the buying public that drives piano 
> evolution, and common folx want smaller and lighter, even at the cost of 
> performance and depth of tone (which I think most people don't appreciate 
> anyway).
>
> Of course the relevance of this is that overstringing allows manufacturers 
> to squeeze a larger (longer-stringed) piano into a smaller package, and 
> something like a baby grand or a spinet probably wouldn't even be possible 
> without overstringing.  Even making the nose of a 7-footer skinnier makes 
> it easier to arrange furniture!  Builders generally allow about 2 ft along 
> the wall for where they think furniture will fit.  This defines the 
> ultimate dimension of a piano.  The gentle curve on the right side of a 
> grand is put there so that people can get in and out of doorways and snake 
> their way around other pieces of furniture!  It's sooo much more practical 
> than the shape of those old squares!  (Please note tongue in cheek!)  And 
> remember that the baby grand fits beautifully, nose-first, in any corner 
> of the room, taking up no more room than a love seat.  I may be wrong, but 
> I doubt ANYONE is going to be able to change this equation for any 
> instrument to be used in people's homes.
>
> Why aren't there enormous bulbous, flat-strung concert instruments?  I 
> haven't a clue.  Perhaps concert-goers would think they look too funny --  
> not like the long, sleek big cousins of the baby grands in the corners of 
> their living rooms.  This entire question should NOT be directed to the 
> design or R&D departments, but rather to the marketing departments. 
> They're the ones in charge, and only they know the answers.  We mortals 
> can only guess at their Divine Plan!
>
> My guess:  If it makes the piano larger, it will be met with resistance.
>
> Peace,
> Sarah