What do you all think of brown pianos?

[thalberg]

Hi all,

let's talk about brown pianos.

[Tash]

my piano's brown. but not boring brown, like this dark reddish colour, except it varies so it's really nice, like the texture and all- it's the best thing about my piano- when it officially dies because the strings have broken (which should be happening within the next few years) i'm going to pay someone to make some really cool piano table out of it- how COOL would that be! but those kind of lightish browns are kind of ugly...better than the really plasticy looking black ones...

[ted]

My piano is mahogany - a deep reddish brown with lots of visible grain in the wood. One side has lost its red colour through being exposed to the sunlight but overall it's still nice to look at after thirty-four years. I can't say I hold that strong an opinion about colour, it's just what I have become used to.

[pianonut]

i cannot play well on brown pianos (just kidding).  actually a friend of mind had a piano similart to ted's - with beautiful polished mahogany. 

plain brown is yukky.  much prefer black.

swarovki crystal, black satin, black polished, mahogany polished     brown

[Waldszenen]

I of course prefer plain black pianos because they're more... "modern".


However, woodgrain finishes are really beautiful, such as rosewood, bubinga and mahogany.

I suppose it's just got to do with the overall colour and atmosphere of the room it's in.


Woodgrain finishes are eventually worth more than black pianos, too.

[pianonut]

what if you built a room around the piano.  sort of like architects have done around a tree.  you put it in the center of the room, stand back, hem and haw, and then plant a bubinga tree next to it.  deciding on a jungle theme, you next buy parrots.  liking bright colors (as i do) - you then decide this room will be the bedroom (yes, in the center of the house) and paint it macaw reddish orange.  then, you hire a mural artist to actually paint things all over the  piano in a sort of watercolorish way so that the bubinga wood does not disappear (maybe camoflage green, brown, tan).  going on, from there, you make a canopy above the piano for your spouse (since you will be residing on the expensive piano bench - with cushion of parrot feathers.  around this location there is a firewall.  next is the kitchen (built around indoor bbq), then sunken bathroom (yes, not just the tub, the whole bathroom is sunken) with a sort of jungle feel (steam misting up).  recorded bird calls replace the normal ringtone of your phone. 

going on, livingroom (raised) to feel like you are living in a tree.  which can look down upon waterfall (falling into bathroom shower from above).  recycling water up and down.  house happens to have aviary behind it, so when you go into the backyard, you can hear more birds. 

[Waldszenen]

what if you built a room around the piano.  sort of like architects have done around a tree.  you put it in the center of the room, stand back, hem and haw, and then plant a bubinga tree next to it.  deciding on a jungle theme, you next buy parrots.  liking bright colors (as i do) - you then decide this room will be the bedroom (yes, in the center of the house) and paint it macaw reddish orange.  then, you hire a mural artist to actually paint things all over the  piano in a sort of watercolorish way so that the bubinga wood does not disappear (maybe camoflage green, brown, tan).  going on, from there, you make a canopy above the piano for your spouse (since you will be residing on the expensive piano bench - with cushion of parrot feathers.  around this location there is a firewall.  next is the kitchen (built around indoor bbq), then sunken bathroom (yes, not just the tub, the whole bathroom is sunken) with a sort of jungle feel (steam misting up).  recorded bird calls replace the normal ringtone of your phone. 

going on, livingroom (raised) to feel like you are living in a tree.  which can look down upon waterfall (falling into bathroom shower from above).  recycling water up and down.  house happens to have aviary behind it, so when you go into the backyard, you can hear more birds. 

ewww man

I don't want a jungle surrounding my piano =)

[jonjon]

I know piano color has nothing to do with my playing but I don't know I feel that brown pianos are not intended for classical music. Black pianos are more classical - as to match with the in black and white piano keys.  Brown pianos are like home furnitures...

[Waldszenen]

Precisely - brown pianos are more used for decoration than for playing.

[Tash]

better yet, i want a blue piano

or a white piano, and then paint on the entire thing some really cool image. and then put it in an huge art gallery and spend my days doing 'performance art' by playing on it. ahh what a life....

[Bouter Boogie]

Lol, I haven't play that often on brown pianos 

[pianonut]

there's some interesting brown pianos on www.pianomax.com/20thc.htm

i think #00188 is bubinga wood

my jungle piano is #00192

and favorite black is #00160

[yamagal]

LOL, this is a funny thread.

I wonder what pianos looked like in the olden days.  Weren't they always brown, back in Beethoven's time for example?  If so, then a purist would want a brown piano.   

I like brown the best and I disagree that brown means "home furniture".    Brown also means school auditorium, broadway play, ballet studio, my piano teacher's baby grand, my grandma's antique piano, etc. 

Tell ya what color piano I despise - white lacquer.  Bleahhh!!!!!

[Tash]

oooh interesting pianos

i like some of the Artcase Steinways
https://www.steinway.com/steinway/artcase_collection/northstar.shtml
this one is cool
https://www.steinway.com/steinway/artcase_collection/stcroix.shtml
and this one- you can never be too elaborately colourful!
https://www.steinway.com/steinway/artcase_collection/summertime.shtml
my blue piano!!!
https://www.steinway.com/steinway/artcase_collection/rhapsody.shtml
the symphonic symmetry has interesting stools too...

[Waldszenen]

No offence to your unique tastes, Tash, but those artcase Steinways make me puke...

[thalberg]

I know a rich guy who bought an artcase steinway.  He got a 7-foot, but because of the artcase, he paid much more for it than for a nine-foot.  People like him just make me want to tear my clothes, much like people did in Biblical times when they were extremely upset.

[Waldszenen]

LOL that's funny Thalberg.


There's this Steinway dealer I know of that's told me that most of his customers are rich snobs who buy pianos just for furniture, never to be played for decades....


aah what a shame.

[rc]

I really dig the woodgrain finish... It's what I chose for my piano.

I associate most classical music with the outdoors.

The older part of town where I lived when I came to love classical is full of great beautiful trees... The kind of area where the branches form a canopy of leaves over the streets, it looks like a forest from a 3rd story window and in the autumn you're ankle deep in fallen leaves. Sunset and twilight were treats to anyone who would notice.

It's images like these I was immersed in as I was listening to recordings of Beethoven sonatas, first getting into classical music, and to me classical music sounds best outdoors... So woodgrain finish is the most natural choice for me. Black is for the halls far removed from the trees I love to see as I'm hearing piano sonatas.

I also like to think my physical appearance and personality are more akin to a woodgrain finish than black 

[Tash]

No offence to your unique tastes, Tash, but those artcase Steinways make me puke...

lol it's ok, in the end i'll always prefer good old black