Interview with Piano Maker Wayne Stuart

Rare Piano - Factory
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Wayne Stuart from Stuart and Sons Pianos chats to Fiona Joy Hawkins during a live-stream concert about the four pedals on his pianos and how to use them.

[@jisyang8781]

Awesome! But these pianos are inaccessible to Mome Raths and Moochers.

[@fionajoymusic]

Privately owned ones most definitely are not accessible :). For exactly the same reason I wouldn't ask to do a review of a Ferrari and expect to take one for a spin from someone's personal garage. :)

[@jisyang8781]

@@fionajoymusic Though I fully understand one of the prime function of modern craft piano is being expensive and exclusive for the filthy riches, what I don’t understand is choosing to be hated and ridiculed by the masses of real practitioners, oddly positioning the craftman himself to be mocked as a one-trick pony who’s genius was adding more keys. Odd way to build a reputation.

[@fionajoymusic]

@@jisyang8781 Im not filthy rich. My piano cost the same if it's a Yamaha concert grand, a little more for a Steinway and a little less for a Stuart - expensive either way, but essential to the trade if you are a professional. I think you are totally on the wrong track, but we can agree to disagree.

[@jisyang8781]

@@fionajoymusic so many things to comment about, but don’t you think it’s kind of inconsistent when you say these pianos are ‘essential tool for profession’ but at the same time they’re inaccessible because they’re ‘Ferraris’? Btw, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against you. I’m just bewildered by the manufactured snobbiness from Mr. Stuart as if he thinks acting as pompous ass can appeal to somebody.

[@fionajoymusic]

@@jisyang8781 Nothing inconsistent there. Pianos are not cheap - Pianists need one in order to play. Your negative attitude is getting tireseome. I'm close to deleting you - grow up.

[@blindboyblake]

All of us here are Mome Raths and Moochers!

[@fionajoymusic]

Im sure I am too.... :)

[@AL-pu7ux]

Steinway has perfected the piano. I’ll never understand the point of adding notes. They sound more like the striking mechanism than the note itself. Plus they’re never used. How much Busoni is being played today? Why aim to increase sustain when a Steinway has perfected this too. No piece warrants whole notes held for 30 seconds nor would anyone want to listen to a single note for that long. As a concept these instruments just don’t make sense. That being said I would find it very interested in seeing the opinion of an Andras Schiff or Alfred Brendel.

[@fionajoymusic]

As a composer, I can assure you it equates to more tools in the box. I can give you a clear example of how to use the high end (without being gratuitous with the use) in this track open.spotify.com/track/0IKGLQtE3AKuzOxBKYBNM6?si=PvvRUBYpQJSEL6-sL3_EQQ called Fair Not. The issue with high end is going to be that as we get older we lose our top end hearing and sorry to say this, but males over 50 go first! :). I also use the low end and the sympathetic reverberation of those strings is simply stunning. Steinway are lovely, but like any product, surely innovation is welcome. The high end notes can be called 'colour' and yet when you play the chord through to those top end notes they are clearly in the same key. I hope listening to Fair Not gives you a little insight into how a composer can spread their wings with these extra offerings.

[@blindboyblake]

Lol "Steinway has perfected the piano" Steinway is not nearly the giant of piano perfection they would like you to believe. Much better pianos around than Steinway these days. (coming from piano technician.)

[@fionajoymusic]

@@blindboyblake I agree, and the bottom line is that everyone will choose a different piano as their favourite. Mine, clearly is Stuart and Sons. Thanks for weighing in, have a lovely day.

[@Biozene]

Are you a composer? Because, as a composer, what I see (or, rather, hear) is possibility. Are you sure that no piece warrants notes held for 30 seconds? I'm sure they exist, though I don't suppose there are many that have just one note sustaining that long. And that's not the point. The top F sounded quite clearly like an F to me, in isolation. The lower notes seem much less musical without context, but in context they have a lot of valid uses. They work best in combination with others notes when played as background notes though, because their power is just too much to play them ordinarily, in most cases.

[@vinsgraphics]

Hard to concentrate on the music with all those chatty birds in the background! Which happens everywhere in Australia… budgies, cockatoos, kookaburras, often at 6 in the morning. 😲

[@fionajoymusic]

Yeah, it was crazy! We recorded in a tin shed, so no hope with that many birds around. My bedroom first thing in the morning is worse!

[@Mark959]

Wonderful piano, but only 4 pedals :( I'll stick to my 5-pedal baby grand for now! ;)

[@arslanpower]

@@Mark959 5 pedals?

[@Mark959]

@@arslanpower kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIjOfIdvhM9jo7s

[@sclogse1]

Problem with this is obvious. Dynamics from the voices to the keyboard is too severe. You have to use headphones to here the conversation, but the are subject to the sudden much more louder piano, of which neither the host or Wayne play anything but fortissimo.

[@fionajoymusic]

Yep, its a live-stream on an iphone in a factory with Australian birds taking centre stage and a Concert grand piano. The logistics were against us. Its not that we are playing fortissimo, but rather that its a a 102 key Grand Piano with a big sound compared to un-mic'd voices. Thanks for pointing this out.

[@fionajoymusic]

This video has nothing to do with the #MomeRathsandMoochers argument. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and in the spirit of good humour I'll dare to say we are all Mome Raths and Moochers. :)

[@ComradeWatermelon]

Speak for yourself. These are pieces of furniture with a piano added as an afterthought. I'll stick to my M&H and Fazioli.

[@fionajoymusic]

That’s a cheap shot! Five of my albums have been recorded on one with million of plays - never once has anyone suggested I’m playing a piece of furniture.

[@Biozene]

This is the most exciting piano brand I've seen, but I would request they add a bass sustain pedal and a harmonics pedal if I ordered one. 6 pedals is a lot, but this isn't an ordinary piano! I might even ask them to add an extra keyboard that plays octaves on top of the primary one!

[@mattbod]

They look amazing. If and when I am down under I will pay him a visit if he will let me though not got the space or the money sadly to buy. Those low notes are like a 32 ft reed organ stop.

[@jisyang8781]

You don’t got space or money? Then you’re one of the folks Mr. Stuart derided as Mome Roth and Moocher. This guy is the snobbiest of the piano snob.

[@fionajoymusic]

Yes, they are amazing - I'm sure you would love them, even if just to listen to and appreciate. Have a lovely day.

[@mdlindsey]

Yikes, this thing sounds like trash compared to a Steinway

[@fionajoymusic]

Quite the contrary. The Stuart piano is stunning. That is coming from a professional pianist who is familiar with both. They are very different and I enjoy playing a good Steinway, but the Stuart has its own magic.

[@richardharrold9736]

@@fionajoymusic actually, Stuart and Steinway have one major thing in common - a triumph of style and marketing over substance. Steinways are overhyped, overpriced, poor-quality rubbish. Yamahas are far better at half the price, and for similar money to Steinway, Bösendorfer will make you the finest piano in the world.