The bridge normally positioned nearest the wrest pins and opposite the soundboard bridge. Traditionally covered with ivory, they are now made from celluloid or plastic. A lower set of keys that equate to notes C to B including the accidental keys. A term given to an instrument that is placed on the sales floor, not to be sold, but to sell off of. Standardized computer connections that enable synchronized communication between computers and digital pianos. Musical instrument digital interface (MIDI). Operated by the middle pedal on most upright piano’s, it can also be called the celeste or practice pedal. A stop that places a thin strip of celeste felt between the hammers and the strings to soften the volume. (Example: Model 122 often means the piano is 122 cm tall, or 48″.) Often, a model with three numbers represents the centimeters of height or length of the piano. Descriptive combination of numbers and letters unique to its manufacturer that usually denotes the size, cabinet style, and finish of the instrument. It is chosen for its stability and flatness under veneers. High quality, fine grained, particle board frequently used in upright piano cabinets. A very small upright with a ‘drop’action (with the mechanism placed below the level of the keyboard), first produced in England in 1934. The bottom was lined with moose hide to protect the piano and moose hide straps came up from the bottom to secure the piano.Minipiano. Joe Lawton describes that Alaskan piano board. Irv Griffin from Eagle River built a piano board for that use. Moving a one-ton piano requires special equipment. Its uses dictated frequent moving and it was also loaned to area churches during the fair years. However, storage was unheated and the piano was subjected to extremes of weather and moisture. Joe Lawton, who worked at the State Fair for many years, noted that it was difficult to maintain the piano at the fair. The venue and its wonderful piano also hosted piano recitals and Alaska State Fair concerts, including such performers as Johnny Rivers, Three Dog Night, and Ronnie Milsap. The new Valley Performing Arts group used the piano for theatrical performances. At that time, the structure was rustic and unheated. The former Lutheran Church was relocated to the fairgrounds from its city home and the piano was housed there. At that time, the piano moved to its next home, the Alaska State Fair. When the new Palmer High School was built in 1976, Central School, now Central Junior High School, moved into the older high school. The Bailey piano was owned and loved by Palmer. Community bands and choirs used the stage for performances. “Miss Alaska” pageants were held in the Borough gym. I remember it clearly.”Īccording to research by Bridgette Preston, stories from the local Frontiersman newspaper archives report use during the “Alaska Music Trails” series of performances that featured musicians who performed in communities around Alaska. I spent the entire afternoon, just me, playing all my favorite songs. He tuned that piano within an inch of its life, just perfectly. One day the traveling piano tuner came to tune the Bailey piano. Sally also remembers the joy of playing the instrument. I know that piano suffered some serious hard knocks at Central.” It may be during that stay the piano bench and music stand were destroyed. There were lots of times I caught students banging out Chopsticks or some other song way, way, way too vigorously… or just horsing around on the piano. Sally Hitchcock, a frequent substitute teacher and longtime local piano teacher, reflected, “It was in an open, common area of the school and teachers couldn’t patrol it constantly. ![]() Dutch and Julie were married in Palmer in November 1949, reportedly saluted by neighbors who pounded rifle butts in approval. The piano made the long trip from the Baldwin factory in Cincinnati OH, probably by train, to San Francisco or Seattle, then by boat to Seward, Alaska and again by train to Palmer. This was certainly the largest piano in Palmer at the time, and perhaps the only instrument of its kind in the Territory of Alaska. ![]() So soon after the war, Baldwin pianos were among the best in the world since the war in Europe destroyed so many piano factories. ![]() Then Dutch apparently decided to lure Julie to Alaska by purchasing a 9 foot Baldwin SD Concert Grand Piano. A WWII veteran, Clarence established a practice in Kodiak AK. She met the handsome doctor in Bremerton WA. Jewell, a nurse in her early 20s, was an accomplished pianist. Alaska wasn’t a very inviting place at that time and Palmer, a city only 15 years old, posed its own challenges. Clarence Bailey, aka Dutch, World War II veteran and Alaska physician, wanted to bring his fiancée, Jewell Dean Griffith, “Julie” to Palmer, Alaska. The 1949 Baldwin D Concert Grand Piano represents a love story.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |