LEGO Ideas 21323: Grand Piano: In-depth Review, Speed Build & Parts List

[@malro7878]

22:48 Now that makes me wanna see pianos drifting. Just had a thought that perhaps it may be possible by motorizing a person who is playing the piano.

[@nmanbamboo1980]

When ever I see the internals of a Grand Piano I always remember that one episode of Tom & Jerry with Jerry messing with the hammers inside the piano.

[@HvV8446]

Now i do too, thanks...

[@SodorStudiosAndCoProductions]

It was called The Cat Concerto I believe

[@nmanbamboo1980]

@@SodorStudiosAndCoProductions Ah yes

[@panzerjagertigerporsche]

You said "why is everything jet black?" Well the answer is because most Grand Pianos are jet black

[@manheer5825]

He’s talking about the box ;-;

[@panzerjagertigerporsche]

@@manheer5825 oh

[@panzerjagertigerporsche]

@@manheer5825 I guess the box designer loves black

[@blobba5442]

Manheer Singh black suits the box theme.

[@manheer5825]

Yes i know

[@AHYL88]

This is a brilliant looking set with major caveats. This is the most expensive Lego set I've ever purchased and built and it does partially live up to that, which I'll get back to later on. This is a fantastically detailed and beautifully designed set and feels bigger than it suggests on paper; it was a very interesting build process to see through to the end. It is cool learning how the keys, as repetitive as they got, are arranged and set up, how the curvy shaping and sides were formed and seeing it all come together is very satisfying. I already know of the flaws this set has which I will not repeat here. However, my main issue with this set is the price itself and where it is positioned; I actually do understand why it costs as much as it does and it is justified due to the amount of pieces, granted a lot of which are tiny, but there are plenty of unusual ones like the curved pieces as well as a few large pieces, plus the Powered UP motor and hub. But despite all that and it feeling relatively large, its size pales in comparison to so many other impressive sets that are not only a lot bigger than this, but also either costs the same or are even less costly; the Disney Castle and a fellow Ideas set Pirates of Barracuda Bay to name a few, the latter of which is only just over half the price of the Grand Piano and is a lot larger despite having around a third less pieces. Granted most other sets don't have the Powered UP functions and components of course but it gives an idea of what other impressive sets are available; even stuff like the older but massive sets like the massive 42100 Liebherr R9800 which has a higher RRP and lots of motors has been discounted to a low £250. Not as good looking but highly playable and functional. And two very large Harry Potter sets, Hogwarts Castle and Diagon Alley cost very slightly more. Make no mistake, the Grand Piano is a fantastic looking set in its own right and does justify its price, but you have to REALLY want this and acknowledge its flaws and quirks. And must also bear in mind that there is a lot of other sets that are equally, if not more fantastic which are less costly as well as bigger, even if personal tastes on themes like Harry Potter, Technic and Star Wars will vary.

[@the911collection]

The technic porsche gt3 rs is a way better set for the money

[@AHYL88]

@@the911collection Exactly, and I do have that as well; this is the problem, there is so many sets like that one which when it first came out was less costly, but was still large and ultra complex that made it worth while despite its own flaws. Even the Rollercoaster is less costly (in the UK at least), as are all the Modular Buildings series of sets. Honestly, any one of those sets would be better bets including those we've discussed are better bets.

[@zuanverreynne8301]

Nice book

[@basedguns8218]

You uh making your own review?

[@basagliuz]

I really appreciate how you carefully divide each video into chapters, it's so convenient. The set is very cool, but I don't like how LEGO is making their boxes so minimalist. The minimalist design felt special as long as it was exlusive to the big 1:8 lego technic cars, but now I just feel like the thing is starting to get out of hand.

[@suspense_comix3237]

Let me just say that as a pianist, I am very impressed. The quality and attention to detail is on the piano and the functions are very accurate. Even the function where you can pull out the whole Piano keyboard is very accurate. I have seen professionals fix pianos, and they pull out the keyboard mechanisms similarly to how you see on the LEGO model.

[@cuesv8091]

I am actually surprised you haven’t made a lego hamster for the intro yet

[@tinglydingle]

he has, he submitted in to Ideas

[@cocoemelie8541]

It's cool, but sooooo expensive!!!!!

[@illzzu]

I see what you did there

[@AnonymousGuyyyy]

Expensive*

[@zuanverreynne8301]

@@AnonymousGuyyyy that is the exact same spelling

[@zenkiee7399]

Yes...😯

[@Petr0Balabanov]

22:47 I laughed on drifting pianos. I didn`t think about them earlier but now i want to see a few ones)))

[@thewinenut9800]

Great detailed review as always. Re lag I have minimal if any lag between key press and sound on my model. This is using an iPhone Xs. I think this is an outstanding set, both as a display model and a means of demonstrating how a piano works. I enjoyed the build as well.

[@bas8732]

The bottom white part of the box does look really cool in my opinion

[@99seaweed]

is the Piano playing the music for the video. ;) Very nice review. Thanks again. Glad to see it was supplied by Lego.

[@hopethehusky7410]

between the song comparison (Despacito - most excellent choice) and the dog paws, definitely most humorous Sariel review to date! guess the very serious box, ver serious instructions, and ver serious build called out for it. well done.

[@MarcMas07]

27:15 that is basically music from now , the same 4 chords

[@DrWhom]

canon in D

[@TheOfficialCzex]

I believe that the box design suits the aesthetics of the product.

[@Dannyfalussy]

Got the set on day 1, being a lego+piano enthusiast. The building was amusing, especially working with such a large model, and it looks awesome when finished. But the playing features are funny for exactly 3 minutes top. It's great to show this to some friends and make them play a little, but that's about it. I'll probably get the motor parts out and use it for something more interesting.

[@ambiva]

I could imagine some MOC mad man will create a full sized 88-key grand piano with midi-key mapping

[@kartofel24724]

It would be cool!

[@olivervojtechb.4354]

The funniest moment is when the dog plays! 🤣🤣🤣

[@oqibidipo]

11:27 Are there other LEGO sets that come with spaghetti?

[@ItsHonski]

Lol

[@RingerPeter]

This is super clever. Looks complicated as well, good job.

[@jlai036]

Best video on TY and very informative as always Sariel. Well done 👏. Note that two black keys and two white keys do not move in the Listen function.

[@msk6003]

At least thay need to align song's BPM and key's moving speed...

[@TheOfficialCzex]

If you can figure out a way to regulate a non-back-EMF-sensing motor, go for it.

[@msk6003]

TheOfficialCzex Don’t need exactly same speed. Just need similar speed and this can possible doing like controll profile in pu app.

[@TheOfficialCzex]

@@msk6003 From the motor to the camshaft, the gears are the 12-tooth and 20-tooth ones, respectively. There are 4 possible key cam positions. So, for each revolution of the motor, 2.4 keys can be activated. The WeDo 2.0 Medium Motor is rotating at about 76 RPM (per my measurement). The motor is capable of 400 RPM, but it is being limited by the Powered Up app to a slower speed. If the motor speed varies by just 1%, over the course of 30 seconds, the keys will be out of sync by a full beat.

[@bbqotpewi]

@@TheOfficialCzex If I'm not completely wrong, the new motors all have a rotation sensor so you have a feedback

[@jamesmcmahon7091]

The music you used for this video is beautiful

[@BarneySaysHi]

That keyboard sounds like an old fashioned typewriter!

[@adrian_zombturtle148]

Woah 25 keys, that's as much as a minecraft noteblock

[@gonzalodemiguelcastillo3179]

Amazing build! Thanks for bringing it up on your channel!

[@Tractors101]

God KZbin is so ad hungry, I had to sit through 20 ad breaks watching this... All of them were 2 are each, and most i couldn't skip. Overall 40 ads on a 35 minute video? Thats insanity!

[@searme]

Sorry, I'll see what I can do about it.

[@DaLordStageII]

"so don't expect piano drifting competitions anytime soon" Mr Beast: ARE U CHALLENGING ME??

[@artyjaycayairlines]

This set makes sense for me

[@artyjaycayairlines]

29:05 Tip: Make your phone never sleep

[@user-rs1990]

I could keep this in an enclosed cabinet with draught strips to keep the dust out!

[@PhoenixClank]

For the "play" part, they shoulda done what I think the Nintendo Labo keyboard does: place a distance sensor so that its line of sight is parallel to the crankshaft that plays the keys in "listen" mode, and that the sensor sees the opposite wall by default but the hammer of a key when that key is pressed. By measuring the distance it knows which key was pressed. This still doesn't detect multiple key presses at once, but neither does the official mechanism. Also you have a mighty large zucchini there :o

[@amilaprabath1642]

It works without problems in iOS

[@McKrushi]

28:30 in your video the app never froze. The interface has a slide function (the menu with "listen" and "play" is actually a list of items, that can be scrolled through) -> if you move and not only tip, it does not interprete the gesture as "click" but as "drag" instead. The threshold is usually given by the system and not the app. If you try out the batman interface or anything else with two or more "sub-modes" it should behave the same.

[@qoodles4032]

For that price it should work flawlessy and actually be enjoyable

[@Void_s]

It shouldn't, it MUST!

[@SiegfriedGlina]

Nice music.... thanks for the review!

[@nidalenieve]

Relevant music😁

[@magnusderwagnus]

Thanks for the review. The functions look quite interesting and the model idea is great, but unfortunately mobile phone app connection is a nogo for me, so I'll skip this set.

[@magnusderwagnus]

@Tesla Lover The "for me" part is key. My Lego motivation is the manual building, so needing an app to fully use a set is nothing that interests me. For others that may be different.

[@3_Circles]

A piano player here, yep those songs in the app are just the same thing for every song. I listened for a bit and almost none of the notes lined up from what's heard to what's being shown. Dammit, how hard is it to get the real piano scores for every song?!

[@PatriceGremeau]

Great review, thanks! In other reviews, there were several comments that the keys never rest properly, so it's not your build... Also I'd love a sound module, but then, doesn't it mean a full round trip from action on the set, sent to the app, processed then sound command sent to the speaker? The lag would be worse...

[@omfgmouse]

I think Sariel's idea was that if LEGO made a sound brick of some sort, the Technic hub could be programmed to play sound instantly when it detected a keypress, without any communication with the phone. Personally, I'd prefer if LEGO didn't make any phone apps, didn't use Bluetooth, and achieved all their functionality with cleverly interacting LEGO pieces, but I know that's less likely than hell freezing over.

[@MegaMike1]

At midnight I'm watching 😂😂

[@nvl2691]

1:40 I'm nitpicking but not all Ideas boxes open this way. The Pirates of Barracuda Bay has a conventional Lego box that opens on both sides.

[@ThinkCleverAndSmart]

Yeah. Neither does the old fishing store nor the ship in a bottle

[@SAFTH0DEN]

@@ThinkCleverAndSmart neither did the Saturn V if I remember correctly

[@nvl2691]

@@SAFTH0DEN That is true, being the owner of one I can vouch for this statement.

[@searme]

Thanks for the correction.

[@nvl2691]

@@searme Always a pleasure to watch your videos. You have a level of precision and knowledge of mechanical components I appreciate a lot.

[@WolfGamesHD]

31:34 a lego sound brick you say.... hmm interesting idea but would you program sounds in yourself or would it be preprogrammed by Lego? if you did have to program sounds your self you could essentially create an Electric Keyboard with multiple different soundbites for each key

[@PublicBus09]

Piano drifting competition- Me: EUROBEAT INTENSIFIES

[@HvV8446]

Maybe lego will patch its app so it doesnt freeze anymore and blocks the sleep function, maybe even include new songs. And im pretty sure that in a few weeks time someone will upload a version of your proposed modification of the gear ratio's to rebrickable or something

[@zuanverreynne8301]

I like the stool the most😂

[@claudiobizama5603]

I wonder if they could've made the hammers hit the smartphone screen to play the piano.

[@cmdrdisulfiram]

If they had stripped all the electronic parts, made it a bit better looking (slimmer) as a result and lowered the price I would have totally already bought one.

[@cbmsysmobile]

29:43 - You're not looking at it wrong, the sheet music on the app is complete rubbish.

[@emilellenius]

Well it isn't _complete_ rubbish. The notation is valid but questionable. It definitely isn't the sheet music for the song it's playing though.

[@isaiahmelena3280]

I wish Lego had still kept the original mechanism as the guy who designed the piano did.

[@paullaurance1991]

Surprised you went without gloves, given the approach you took with the 1989 Batmobile. It's a very nice set, if a little expensive (especially given no license fees).

[@gab_v250]

22:49 me, who was ready to play Initial D piano adaptations: sad piano drift noises

[@clevmagyk770]

probably just me, but i feel like the moving background (the triangle one) should be used only on sets like the Lamborghini, incredibly special ones. or limited edition sets. and, maybe make the color change a bit? like say lego made a pink technic ultimate, pink moving background?

[@BrickDepot-video]

Wow, the music in this video...

[@rotatingcat1957]

22:48 lol piano drifters

[@tonythemango9749]

Very nice

[@weebify8432]

Very nice

[@paulvillemocs]

Great review as always! I take it you’ll be designing a better self playing mechanism like your diagram in the video?

[@searme]

Nope. I don't have time and it's not my job to clean up after LEGO.

[@speedbitgaming4124]

The build took me 9 hours And there are 20 songs to listen

[@searme]

Yeah, they've added some since this set was released.

[@speedbitgaming4124]

@@searme oh hey thanks for the reply

[@mdmcurrie4165]

Hamster is SOOOOO CUTE

[@EXECUTI0N619]

How did you get the top to close all the way? When I try the stand that hold it up is in the way and I can’t close it all the way

[@searme]

Sound like you built something wrong.

[@EXECUTI0N619]

Sariel's Bricks & Pets got cha.

[@CaitlinC.22]

Does anyone know what the background music is?

[@neiljosephbennett9119]

All grand pianos have brass wheels - why didn't LEGO pick up on that?

[@gab_v250]

31:01 baby Lego tester awwww

[@polarlicht4758]

Build a Fighter Jet out of the black parts LOL :D

[@tallmantoo]

I was wondering during the video how he would repurpose the parts. Guess we will have to wait and see.

[@nicolassuprin8260]

33:16 Where can we find the Danny Chen's original ideas project ?

[@searme]

Here, took me 5 seconds to find it using Google: ideas.lego.com/projects/a4e4413f-8488-4551-ac9d-9e7f8c35154e

[@nicolassuprin8260]

The guy is called Donny Chen, there were a mistake on his surname on the video... So, I found the sources here : ideas.lego.com/projects/a4e4413f-8488-4551-ac9d-9e7f8c35154e And here : www.flickr.com/people/sleepycowslegocorner/ Wonderful !

[@levsmolsky8354]

i love new intro :D

[@jreitsema6461]

will there be an august workshop report?

[@searme]

Nope.

[@rexcadral3468]

The fact that the sheet music does not match the sound is a complete deal breaker for me, particularly when the notes "bounce" to tell you where you are, but what you're playing isn't what's written!.

[@KastaRules]

Looks great but I'd rather get another 42100 for that price.

[@devanshshah8399]

VERY NICE

[@weebify8432]

VERY NICE

[@toddwz]

My takeaway is the good belongs to Chen and the bad is added by Lego. :)

[@ghoti41628]

This seems to be of those sets that look particularly attractive as an in-store demo unit, then upon taking it home, it becomes a huge letdown after you realize the shallowness of the functions. I agree that a smaller, static display version would have been a better offering for the target audience here, who are probably more interested in an accurate display piece than the (arguably forced inclusion of) powered up system. I wonder how many customer returns there will be due to mismatched expectations- after all, lego’s marketing team did advertise this set as being “playable”- just evidently not nearly to the extent most of us hoped for. Then again, creating a fully functional piano with LEGO parts is not possible with this set’s part budget, so I suppose this is lego’s marketing taking things too far once again. I’m also not really a fan of the new box designs, like you mentioned. LEGO has been trying to draw in new adult fans especially after their record-breaking Q1 this year, where they saw a huge increase in online sales. Apparently a sizable population still thinks of LEGO as nerdy or a kid’s toy, so they are trying to avoid that connotation by using monotone, low-profile box designs on many of their D2C sets to save self-conscious (if insecure) adults from the potential embarrassment of being caught red-handed with a lego set.

[@adamzeman4787]

Does anyone know name of the song during the speedbuild?

[@melaniawong8783]

You are polish, i was expecting a frederic Chopin music ahehehhehe! 😊

[@johanrosenberg6342]

And then there's Nintendo, which made a cardboard piano with nightvision for about the same price. But at least it works like an actual piano.

[@sebastienlecoq3956]

Thank you for your review... I was very hyped for this one, but your review somehow calmed me. I mostly agree that the electronic is not interesting enough to compensate the price. A version without any electronic for 100/150$ less would probably be better and serve the same purpose behind the first week. Or on the other hand a more complex key movement with more apparent randomness and a longuer sequence could make me accept the electronic price. The major downfall is probably the fact that in active mode, any key act the same way, with a delay. I really thought that it would work like a real piano and each key will produce a different (and correct sound), so you can play your own music. Long story short, you probably saved me 350€ here.

[@SadSadDeadM]

Everything is jet black because it's a damn grand piano, if you haven't noticed ;)

[@searme]

And how is that related to the box being black exactly? Did the paint spill or something?

[@rishabjoseph8423]

When r u making more of your incredible Mocs

[@searme]

When time allows.

[@tallmantoo]

I mean the guy is busy. He now has a family. A number of pets. A job and he also does all these reviews. Can't imagine it allows for a lot of free time.

[@rishabjoseph8423]

Yeah just asking thnx for replying

[@hbb7931]

So this piano comes with pasta

[@bradhickman1225]

Uthats so cool

[@alexkerr306]

Cool..

[@ducpham88]

Im ok with everything even it can not be play as everyone ễpcted since i know it’s not a real piano but to me it’s still a brilliant set in term of technic and detail… the only thing that stop me from buying this set is the sound of plastic when we hit the key and even when it played by itself via the app,, that annoying plastic sound still not disappear.. since i never have it in hand,, so i dont know how it sound like in person

[@searme]

It sounds like 30:45

[@octowuss1888]

You'll need a 12 inch pianist to play this!

[@jorgeloo3131]

Guess it's the Worst Sariel's rating ever for a Lego set at this price point and I totally agree

[@ianchen4998]

also: why a zuchinni? why not a banana?

[@Phoenix-Saika]

Because I don't know I like bananas bot don't like zucchinis so I am with you

[@tallmantoo]

Maybe just to change it up! Perhaps no banana available. Variety is good! I mean maybe he'll use a potato sometime.

[@Phoenix-Saika]

Or a hamster....

[@omfgmouse]

The phone was a far better sense of scale, and it was introduced earlier in the video anyway!

[@blammers]

Because it’s zucchini season. Got to do something with them.

[@ludoclem_brick]

Quite rare to motorize this type of set, the LEGO effort should be emphasized

[@The_RC_Dude]

22:50 😂😂

[@jorgeloo3131]

Now that I know "Despacito" is included in the repertoire Lego can take my money away from me

[@99seaweed]

Also Sariel, Where is the Monthly report?

[@Vasyok9288]

Lego has become a video game

[@Vasyok9288]

for kids

[@DrWhom]

"quipped" with roller coaster wheels? Surely you must be quipping!

[@mx2000]

It still pisses me off that there is no speaker in the hub. Really, how much money did that save? It would add so much to immersion, but noooo....

[@mx2000]

They should really have considered adding actual strings. I mean the mechanics are all there.

[@DanielMahu]

legos are extremely unlikely to withstand the required string tension

[@imthefunnyone5448]

Its cool but kinda disappointing in features lego could have easily thought of making the keys work, ect

[@lars1711]

Monthly Workshop Report?

[@tallmantoo]

I have felt as you mentioned that I might have been way more enticed to purchase this as a model without all the functions. Now knowing all the issues it cements my decision even further to pass up on this set as much as I wanted originally to buy it. I don't see the functionality really making this model that much better. Like how many times are you actually going to fire up the app and make the piano play? It would have made it more affordable for many I think as well. I still like the appearance overall. I have heard that it's not really that authentic however I feel it's close enough. Thanks for the great and thorough review as always.

[@philp8872]

Hi Sariel, great video as usual! But I have to say about the set: Next piece of junk, although good looking! For the price tag it would have easily been possible to make the keys moving the hammers hit tensioned strings to actually physically produce a sound! This smartphone sounds are just dissapointing: Whats the point of producing any sound via the phone, like in the recent technic sets? There is no acctual connection of the sound of the phone and the physical set! I can build a Piano like this out of cardboard, glue and paint for under 10 Euro! If the according sound doesn´t come from it, but from any electronic device, able to replay every music ever recorded! Heck there are even toy grade music instruments hitting tensioned strings and thus poducing "music" for under 20 bucks!

[@krzysztoftrzesicki4154]

Consistently - the notes don't match, so the keys don't have to either. :D

[@jocking3]

The key movement is not even close to being in sync with the song. Lame.

[@JohnDoe-zw6to]

For its price you could buy a *real* (cheap-ish) electronic piano.