What is the tone played by the world's largest piano 'Klavins-Piano Model 370' with a total height of 3 meters and a weight of 2 tons?
Musical instruments and pianos born in the 18th century have undergone various improvements over the long history of more than 300 years. It seems that the piano has reached the stage of completion, but in reality it seems that it has not yet reached the ideal shape, and the piano ' Klavins-Piano Model 370 ' produced in Germany was designed for the best tone. It is a huge piano with a total height of 3 meters and a total weight of 2 tons, and its size is comparable to that of a small pipe organ.
Model 370 --Klavins Piano
This image shows the world's largest piano 'Model 370' produced by the German piano studio ' KLAVINS PIANO MANUFAKTUR '. At first glance, you may not be able to feel the size, but if you look at the chair for the performer placed in the handrail at the top, you can see how big it is.
Of course, it is impossible to carry the Model 370, which has a total height of 3 meters or more and a total weight of 2 tons. In order to play a piano 'built' in a space that cuts through two floors, you need to climb the stairs attached to the back to reach the performance floor on the second floor, which looks like Christianity. Like a pipe organ in a church. The strings that make the sound are stretched perpendicular to the floor.
Contrary to its appearance, the keyboard part that the performer actually touches is almost the same as an orthodox piano. Even if the piano itself is huge, the number of keys is 88, which is the same as a normal piano, and the range does not change.
Model 370 is a piano that was unveiled in 1987, and was produced by David Klavins , a piano builder in the German city of Bonn. Regarding the reason for making this piano, Mr. Klavins says that there is no piano in the world that can be called 'perfect', and he made it to make the ultimate piano. Furthermore, in the present age when material science has advanced, it seems that he is enthusiastic about making pianos using new materials that are different from the conventional ones.
It is said that the reason why the size exceeding 3 meters is required is the relationship between the range of the piano and the length of the strings. In principle, the longer a string is, the lower the sound will be produced in a stringed instrument, but the piano that is most widely used today is completely short of that length, and the tension of the string should be relaxed when tuning. It is said that it is 'compromise' so that the necessary bass can be reproduced. As a result, the overtones of the sound that should be originally obtained have been removed, and it seems that the current situation is that it is far from the ideal state, and the string length is about 2 meters and it is generally said to be the largest size. Even a full-size grand piano is still far from ideal.
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The Model 370 is a model that pushes the limits of such a piano, and the length of the bass strings is a whopping 3 meters and 3 centimeters. It is said that the soundboard that reverberates and enriches the sound reaches 2 meters and 75 centimeters, which is twice the size of a general piano. You can see and listen to the appearance and tone of the Model 370 in the following movie.
David Klavins and the world's biggest piano | Euromaxx --YouTube
Mr. Klavins who adjusts the piano. Klavins is a long-time owner of a piano repair and adjustment workshop in Stuttgart, Germany.
Where Klavins 'boards' to play the Model 370. It is an angle that clearly shows the hugeness of Model 370.
Climb the stairs on the back of the main unit ...
Mr. Klavins sitting in front of the keyboard. The action mechanism around the keyboard, which is usually covered with a cover, is exposed.
The tone played from the Model 370 is light and sharp, contrary to what you can imagine from its giant body. Actually, it seems that an extremely low sound of 25Hz is produced, but since the string length designed for the ideal is added with rich overtones, a vivid tone that can not be reproduced with a normal piano is reproduced. Seems to be a feature.
Mr. Klavins who hits the bass keyboard to check the tone. 'Isn't this A (la) sound good? But if it goes down an octave, it's still not the best,' he explained by playing the lowest note A0 and the A1 one octave higher. Certainly, compared to the A1 tone, which has a core and is gorgeous, the A0 tone, which is one octave lower, sounds somewhat muffled and firm. However, both of them seem to be far more gorgeous than ordinary pianos.
Many signs are written on the panel of Model 370. These are all autographs by well-known pianists who have played this piano. Polish-born Slavomir Stanislawski, Thomas Duis,
The latest recording using such Model 370 is a work called '–solo–' by pianist Nils Frahm. You can listen to it from the link below.
It was also possible to download the full album for free from the following official sites.
Piano Day »Happy Piano Day» welcome to the first holiday which celebrates the piano
The following movie is a performance of 'Chopin: Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor' by Thomas Duis. It is difficult to make a judgment just by listening to the recorded sound, but you can feel that it has the same timbre balance as the high range even in the low range.
F. Chopin --Scherzo b-moll op. 31 --YouTube
Performance of 'Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 (Passion) ' by Dois. If you dare to express it in an easy-to-understand manner, you can feel the attack, lightness, and crispness of an acoustic guitar with a new string, especially in the bass range.
L. v. Beethoven --Sonate op. 57 'Appassionata' --YouTube
When playing a concerto, it seems that the co-stars also climb up to the same second floor and play as shown in the movie below.
Klavins-Giant-Klavier /// wir testen das größte Klavier der Welt (3.70) in Tübingen --YouTube
In addition, Native Instruments has released a collection of materials, 'THE GIANT,' which is a full sampling of the sounds of the Model 370, so anyone can create music using those tones.
Komplete: Keyboard: The Giant | Product
http://www.native-instruments.com/jp/products/komplete/keys/the-giant/
Klavins, who is not satisfied with the Model 370, is planning a further ultimate piano ' MODEL 450i '. The blueprint is displayed on the monitor.
As you can see from the model name, the huge piano with a total height of 4.5 meters has a maximum string length of 3.9 meters, which is slightly higher than the Model 370. Still, the planned weight is about 800 kg, which is likely to be a very 'lightweight' piano. It is also interesting that the frame part that supports the strings is made of stainless steel.
Model 450i
In addition, Mr. Klavins seems to be planning a piano ' Grand 408 ' with an original and beautiful design that is different from the conventional one, even though it is a horizontal type grand piano. It was a model that I couldn't help but expect what kind of tone would be played from a piano that looked like a yacht floating in the sea.
Klavins Pianos --Grand 408
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