Saturday, March 08, 2008

Signs


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems like anything will do it these days, but signs in particular really make me go a big rubbery one.

Alex said...

Such a grotty warehouse for such expensive pianos. Was that part of your social comment, or were you contrasting brick with the rust stained gasometer and the anti-cyclonic blue sky?

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

More the latter. I like the composition.

I've not considered the positioning of the Steinways, though they are actually not in the brick building, but the one to the right of it.

Anonymous said...

Social comment? That is beyond Eolake. Then again, the pretentiousness of it probably appeals to him.

Anonymous said...

Steinways! Now there is a reason why everyone should become wealthy -- to be able to afford a Steinway grand piano.

Even if you can't play, hitting just one note on these boxes will make you "go a big rubbery one". They are that good.

It is not enough to merely picture the building, you need to go inside. Without pretentiousness.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

TTL, I don't understand your last sentence.

---
Anyway, how do they get a grand piano into a house?

Anonymous said...

"TTL, I don't understand your last sentence."

I was just randomly picking words from the comment immediately above. It's the rhythm of the sentence, not the meaning of the words. A cadence of sorts. :-)

"Anyway, how do they get a grand piano into a house?"

Good question. From what I've seen, they often lift it in through a balcony (wasn't there even a Coca-Cola ad on the TV showing that operation?) Sometimes they even make a hole in the wall.

There are also "baby grands" that are easier in this sense.

Finally, a grand piano is not as big as you might think. After you remove the legs its really no different from a kingsize bed or something. Of course, it is much heavier, so you need professional people to move it from place to place.

Anonymous said...

After you remove the legs its really no different from a kingsize bed or something.

What, a concert grand? Those things sure look bigger than a king size. Of course, most people don't have a big enough place for a concert grand.

Bert said...

In my late teens & early twenties I worked as a sound man, and I've seen and heard many pianos up close. I simply cannot picture a concert grand, which can be up to 10 feet deep, in a "common" house.

Those behemoths are loud, for starters. Imho, you would need at the very least a 10x15x5m room to make it worth having a concert grand, and that's more than your average dwelling!

A baby-sized grand piano, with a roughly square footprint, is usually much easier to lodge, and lot more enjoyable in smaller rooms.

Alex said...

Surely you guys remember "Right Said Fred", the humourous song by Bernard Cribbins. Possible one of the earliest pop videos. This is related to the old Joanna issue.

Anonymous said...

I have not seen any kind of grand piano up close, but have heard from people who know about this kind of thing...well, basically what you just said. Thing is, if you can afford one of those bad boys you can probably afford the house to put it in.

There is a danger in getting too attached to any one piano. Glenn Gould took his favorite Steinway with him to concerts, and one time they dropped it. It was rebuilt but was never quite the same. If you're ever in Canada they have a couple of his pianos set up that you are allowed to play. Me, I don't play, and am completely tone deaf anyway.