In past videos we have covered the different sizes of Upright Pianos and Grand Pianos. Today we will be covering something a little different; the biggest piano in the world!
The largest production piano in the world is the Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand which is nine and a half feet long. Is that the world’s largest piano? Not by a long shot.
The biggest piano that I’ve actually played is a twelve foot piano that was made by David Rubenstein. He has built two pianos – an eight foot piano and a twelve foot piano. Both of these are remarkably good pianos – especially considering these are the only pianos he has ever built. Both instruments were custom built – he did not use any parts from existing manufacturers. However, even the twelve foot piano is not the largest piano in the world.
An architect from Poland named Daniel Czapiewski created a piano that is 6 meters long – almost 20 feet – and weighs over two tons. Now is a piano this big going to be any better than a piano of only 9 feet long? Not necessarily. There is a lot of physics involved in creating sound with the piano and there is only so much energy your fingers can impart to a hammer. You could easily pass a point of diminishing returns and create something that is more of a novelty than an actual instrument. Now I have not had the opportunity to play this piano so I will have to reserve judgment for now but I am very interested to try it out one day.
Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729
2 thoughts on “What is the Largest Piano in the World?”
I define the largest piano a little differently than in the video. Czapiewski’s creation is three different pianos glued together, and its tessitura is uncertain over its 156 keys (standard scale? Organ notes? (above C8)). Its strings are about the same or shorter than a concert grand going by a quick look.
There are three pianos with longer strings than Rubenstein’s:
1. The Klavins Model 370, the world’s tallest upright, measuring at 3.7 meters tall and a low A 3.031m long. Coming back to your comment about the size not necessarily being better; There is a VST of this piano called “The Giant”, and the sustain of its lower notes leaves some to be desired, especially at the lowest D and A. Even the most horrible brickwall compression cannot save the sustain envelopes of these particular strings, and, even if it somehow did, very little energy is transmitted through their lower partials, problems which its maker, David Klavins, is looking to fix in his upcoming (delayed) 450i, an extended range upright 4.5m tall, employing the same coupling principle used by the Stuart piano. (88 notes)
Location; the Pfleghofsaal at the University of Tübingen, Germany
2. Steinmayer/Xinghai MIC once built a 4.5m piano in 1959 for the then-nascent Republic of China, as a demonstration of the new government’s magnificence. Unfortunately because of censorship and such, no audio recordings have been found or posted of its sound. (88 notes)
Location; Great Hall of the People
3. Adrian Mann was the first to build a piano with PLAIN WIRE ONLY!
Its case length is 5.7m, with a low A measuring some 16ft in speaking length. Its trichords end at a low contra D, and the lowest notes are plain bichord unisons. Unfortunately, due to the spatial acoustics of the instrument, recording it is an especially difficult challenge. The maker has a website – http://www.alexanderpiano.yolasite.com
The maker spoke at TEDx Auckland about the challenges of building such a large instrument in this video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7czXgB7BUY | (85 notes)
Location; Timaru, New Zealand
Hi,
If we restrict ourselves to “in production” pianos, we must include the Fazioli 308 which is just over 10′ 1″ in length.