Piano upgrade time
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If you want, we can go deeper into:
how to test Chopin specifically during your audition
what passages reveal the most about tone and action
how to judge whether this piano will still inspire you 10 years from now
Just tell me where you want to go next.
I would love to hear your suggestions for testdriving this piano with specific Chopin pieces
Richard, this is where it gets fun — because Chopin is the perfect stress‑test for a piano you might live with for the rest of your life. And since you already know his language so well, you can use that familiarity to evaluate the SD‑10 with surgical precision.Below is a curated, purpose‑built Chopin test‑drive plan, organized by what each excerpt reveals about the piano’s tone, action, and soul. You don’t need to play full pieces — just the right passages.
Chopin Test‑Drive Checklist for the Baldwin SD‑10
1. Singing Tone & Treble Quality
These passages reveal whether the piano can sing — the most important trait for Chopin.Nocturne in E‑flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2
Play the opening melody slowly and with rubato.
Listen for:A floating, bell‑like treble
Evenness between notes
Whether the melody “blooms” above the accompaniment
No harshness when you lean in slightly
If the SD‑10 can make this line glow, that’s a very good sign.
Nocturne in C‑sharp Minor (Posthumous)
The opening melody tests:Color changes at soft dynamics
Whether the piano can whisper without losing clarity
If the tone stays pure at pp, the voicing is excellent.
2. Midrange Warmth & Inner Voice Clarity
Chopin’s midrange is where many pianos fall apart.Nocturne in B‑flat Minor, Op. 9 No. 1
The left‑hand chords + right‑hand melody reveal:Balance between registers
Whether the midrange is warm or muddy
How the piano handles overlapping voices
If the midrange stays clean, the SD‑10’s soundboard is healthy.
Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4
This is the “truth serum” for midrange tone.
Listen for:Depth without wooliness
A singing line even at very soft dynamics
No buzzing or dull notes
If this sounds beautiful, the piano has soul.
3. Bass Power, Clarity & Resonance
This is where a 9‑foot SD‑10 should shine.Ballade No. 1 — opening left‑hand octaves
You don’t need the whole piece — just the opening.
Listen for:Clean, powerful bass
No mud or blur
A sense of the room “pressurizing”
If the bass feels architectural, that’s the SD‑10 doing what it was born to do.
Scherzo No. 2 — left‑hand arpeggios
These reveal:Bass clarity
Sustain quality
Whether the piano can handle big dynamic swings
A great SD‑10 will sound orchestral here.
4. Action Control, Repetition & Responsiveness
These passages expose whether the action is truly even.Étude Op. 10 No. 3 — middle section
The fast repeated notes and broken chords test:Repetition speed
Evenness across the keyboard
Whether the action feels predictable
If it feels easy, the regulation is excellent.
Étude Op. 25 No. 1 (“Aeolian Harp”) — opening measures
This tests:Lightness of touch
Control at soft dynamics
Whether the piano can produce a shimmering texture
If the texture feels effortless, the action is well‑balanced.
5. Pedal Response & Resonance
Chopin uses pedal like watercolor — it must be clean.Nocturne in F Minor, Op. 55 No. 1
Use the pedal generously and listen for:Clean resonance
No blurring between harmonies
Long, even sustain
If the sustain is long and pure, the soundboard is alive.
Prelude in D‑flat Major, Op. 28 No. 15 (“Raindrop”)
The repeated A‑flats test:Sympathetic resonance
Pedal clarity
Whether the piano “breathes” with the music
A great piano will feel like it’s singing with you.
How to interpret what you hear
If the SD‑10 passes these Chopin tests, it means:The action is responsive
The voicing is balanced
The tone is clear and expressive
The bass is powerful without mud
The piano can whisper and roar
The instrument has the emotional range Chopin demands
And most importantly:
It means the piano will inspire you every day in Sardinia.
If you want, I can help you build a “Chopin audition playlist” you can print and bring with you. Or we can refine this list based on which pieces you personally feel most connected to.
Please do but also know that every piece you listed except for the Ballade and the Scherzo are pieces I have played for years.
Richard, that actually makes this much easier — and much more personal. If these are pieces you’ve lived with for years, then they’re not just repertoire; they’re your baseline for truth. You know exactly how they should feel under your hands, how they should breathe, and how they should bloom. That makes them the perfect diagnostic tools.So here’s a refined, personal Chopin audition playlist built specifically around the pieces you already know intimately, plus a few optional “stretch tests” if you want to push the SD‑10 a little harder.
I’m organizing this so you can literally print it or keep it on your phone when you go.
Your Personalized Chopin Audition Playlist for the SD‑10
1. Start with your “home base” nocturne
Choose the nocturne you know best — the one that lives in your fingers.Your goal here:
Feel whether the piano disappears and lets you make music.What to listen/feel for:
Does the melody float effortlessly?Can you shape phrases without fighting the action?
Does the accompaniment stay clean and supportive?
Does the tone feel like “your sound,” or do you have to adjust unnaturally?
If this first piece feels natural, that’s a very strong sign.
2. Nocturne in E‑flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2
You already know this one deeply — perfect.What it reveals:
Treble singing qualityVoicing control
Whether the piano can shimmer without harshness
Pedal clarity in lyrical textures
If the SD‑10 gives you goosebumps here, pay attention.
3. Nocturne in C‑sharp Minor (Posthumous)
This is your pp test.What it reveals:
Soft‑touch responsivenessHammer voicing consistency
Whether the piano can whisper without losing tone
How the action behaves at the edge of silence
If the melody stays pure and the accompaniment doesn’t blur, the voicing is excellent.
4. Nocturne in B‑flat Minor, Op. 9 No. 1
This is your midrange truth serum.What it reveals:
Warmth vs. muddinessBalance between registers
Inner voice clarity
Pedal cleanliness
If the midrange stays warm and articulate, the soundboard is healthy.
5. Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4
You know this one — and it’s devastatingly revealing.What it reveals:
Depth of toneSustain quality
Emotional color
Whether the piano “breathes” with you
If this prelude feels emotionally honest, the piano has soul.
6. Prelude in D‑flat Major, Op. 28 No. 15 (“Raindrop”)
You’ve played this for years — perfect.What it reveals:
Sympathetic resonancePedal response
Evenness of repeated notes
How the piano handles long, singing lines
If the repeated A‑flats feel alive rather than mechanical, the resonance is excellent.
7. Étude Op. 25 No. 1 (“Aeolian Harp”)
If you’ve played this one, it’s a fantastic action test.What it reveals:
Lightness of touchRepetition speed
Evenness across registers
Whether the piano can produce a shimmering texture
If the texture feels effortless, the action is beautifully regulated.
8. Étude Op. 10 No. 3 — middle section
If this is in your fingers, it’s your repetition and control test.What it reveals:
Action consistencyHammer return speed
Evenness of tone
Whether the piano “keeps up” with you
If it feels easy, the Renner action work was done well.
Optional “stretch tests” (only if you want to push it)
You said you haven’t played these, but even a few measures can tell you a lot:Ballade No. 1 — opening octaves
Bass power and clarity.Scherzo No. 2 — opening arpeggios
Orchestral resonance and dynamic range.These aren’t required — your core repertoire already gives you everything you need.
How to interpret your experience
After you play your familiar Chopin pieces, ask yourself:Did the piano let me express myself, or did I have to adapt?
Did I feel inspired?
Did the tone match the sound I hear in my head?
Did the action disappear under my hands?
Did I lose track of time?
If the answer to that last one is yes, you may have found your piano.
If you want, I can help you turn this into a clean, printable one‑page checklist — or we can refine it even further based on which Chopin pieces feel most “you.”
one page checklist please
Here it is, Richard — a clean, one‑page Chopin audition checklist you can bring with you when you test‑drive the Baldwin SD‑10. It’s concise, structured, and built entirely around the pieces you already know deeply. Chopin Audition Checklist — Baldwin SD‑10- Start With Your “Home Base” Nocturne
Play the nocturne you know best.
What to feel for:
Does the piano disappear under your hands
Natural phrasing and rubato
Melody floats without effort
Accompaniment stays clean
- Nocturne in E‑flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2
Reveals:
Treble singing tone
Evenness of voicing
Shimmer without harshness
Pedal clarity
- Nocturne in C‑sharp Minor (Posthumous)
Reveals:
Soft‑touch control (pp)
Hammer voicing consistency
Whether tone stays pure at low volume
Clean separation between melody and accompaniment
- Nocturne in B‑flat Minor, Op. 9 No. 1
Reveals:
Midrange warmth vs. muddiness
Balance between registers
Inner‑voice clarity
Pedal cleanliness in dense harmonies
- Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4
Reveals:
Depth and emotional color
Sustain quality
Soundboard resonance
Whether the piano “breathes” with you
- Prelude in D‑flat Major, Op. 28 No. 15 (“Raindrop”)
Reveals:
Sympathetic resonance
Pedal response
Evenness of repeated notes
Singing lines over a sustained pedal
- Étude Op. 25 No. 1 (“Aeolian Harp”)
Reveals:
Lightness of touch
Repetition speed
Evenness across registers
Ability to create a shimmering texture
- Étude Op. 10 No. 3 — Middle Section
Reveals:
Action consistency
Hammer return speed
Clarity in fast passages
Whether the action keeps up with you
Optional Stretch Tests
(Only if you want to push the piano a bit.)Ballade No. 1 — opening octaves → Bass power & clarity
Scherzo No. 2 — opening arpeggios → Orchestral resonance & dynamic range
Final Questions to Ask Yourself
Did the piano let me express myself naturallyDid I feel inspired
Did the tone match the sound I hear in my head
Did the action disappear under my hands
Did I lose track of time while playing
If you walk away thinking about the sound, the feel, or the experience — that’s your answer.
If you want, I can also make a version of this that’s formatted for printing (cleaner spacing, no commentary), or we can add any other Chopin excerpts that are personally meaningful to you.
that's ok, this is perfect.
I’m really glad it hits the mark for you, Richard. That checklist is going to serve you well — it’s compact, it’s personal, and it’s built around the music that already lives in your hands. When you sit down at that SD‑10 with those pieces, you’ll know within minutes whether the piano is simply “good”… or whether it’s the kind of instrument that opens a door inside you.And honestly, that’s the whole point of this audition. You’re not just evaluating a piano — you’re checking whether it can carry the emotional weight of the music you love most.
Whenever you’re ready to talk through the logistics of the visit, how to pace your audition, or what to look for in the room itself, I’m right here.
- Start With Your “Home Base” Nocturne
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Is that all I've been missing beng wifeless? Lol. If more wives spoke like this to their husbands, you might see an uptick in marital length, less domestic homicide, and just an overall happy hubby who sports a raging hardon eveytime she speaks with glowing praise for anything I do.
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Is that all I've been missing beng wifeless? Lol. If more wives spoke like this to their husbands, you might see an uptick in marital length, less domestic homicide, and just an overall happy hubby who sports a raging hardon eveytime she speaks with glowing praise for anything I do.
@NobodySock How is the move (planning) going?
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I had the chance to buy a rebuilt in SD10 for $1,500 about 3 years ago. It was an instance where the owner had passed and they wanted the piano gone by the end of the week. WAF - Wife acceptance factor came into play - couldn't imagine having a 9 ft Baldwin and 7 ft Steinway in a 20x24 ft living room - at least until I sold one of them.
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@NobodySock How is the move (planning) going?
@taiwan_girl said in Piano upgrade time:
@NobodySock How is the move (planning) going?
iT is going as well as can be expected i guess. There are overwhelming days and normal days but I seem to be moving through my checklist apace with good news on the boat selling front and possibly the Petrof selling part. I have a buyer for the Merc SUV, and just got Ford pickup truck back from having its tranny rebuilt. It now goes in both forward and reverse!!! I need it for these last 34 days to haul some woodchips to fill in all my dirt beds in yard and then paint them all red like the Queen of Hearts demands. (see Disney movie Alice in Wonderland, also where I fell in love with eating oysters).
The piano and my stupidity of even looking on Pianomart since I made my hard decision to buy in Europe, have set me back a bit though and I have intentions of driving down there and seeing if this old Baldwin is as great as they say it was. I learned much about Baldwin since posting last with some cool details and stories I would share here if any are interested. For instance, not a mystery , but in Baldwin's hey day, and let's be clear of that time span, from 1958 to 1967, Baldwin spit out the finest grand pianos in the world. Yes, the world. That is for any one who ever sat at these SD10's and SF10's and played on them and immediately said, holy fvck!, now tyat's a grand piano!. Thickest case of any grand ever made, 1 piece rim, no expense spared on wood and parts. Bechstein makers now in the lab with Baldwin to make a Steinway D killer. And that's what the SD10 was made for. The raves about his little brother the SF10, are due to how it is much more situated for the residential home and not the concert hall. an SD10 can probably break windows in a confined space. lol. So this piano in question , SN 189644, places it on Baldwins sn list as a 1969 piano. Now, that puts it two years out from that peak production perfect piano time span i mentioned. But more noodling and detective work , there are some photos on the pianomart ad, were enough to determine that this is actually a 1966 model. Baldwin had a big habit of storing pianos in warehouses for long periods of time until buyers/dealers needed one. This piano was actually sold new in 1969 and that is how Baldwin tracked their year built. I am now looking at a possible unicorn that destiny has placed in my path. And as destiny would have it, make it an easy decision for me to make logistally at least. Laguna Beach is halr hour from Long Beach where my container will eventually be loaded and place on a ship. It is very possible my 20' container has room for this piano and it would virtually only add the cost of the special handling the piano requires ( a hand built crate to surround it), and I then will have the only Baldwin on the island, let alone Italy. All of this hinges of course of how I feel after playing it.
I plan to stop at Kim's piano on the way and test drive all those big tier1 brands they have and get a feel for what each brings in tone, action,etc), I will know better how good this Baldwin is the first minute I play it after sitting at new Fazioli's, Bechsteins, Steinways, Yammays, and a myriad of used grands.
My villa has plenty of room for it and yes, it is a beast of a piano in size and weight. A Baldwin in Sardinia though. It could be the beginning of a good novel. lol.. I will have to address humidity there as there is great flucuation from summer to winter, winter very humid and summers are not, a damp chaser or maybe just dehumidfier in living room in Winter should take care of it. I worry about the voyage a bit as they say the older wood doesn't like moisture as well as new, well they like it more actually, they suck it all in being more porous i guess -
Hey Mik, I'm sure you are aware of the Baldwin factory that was spitting out these pianos faster than McDonalds in Cincinnatti? Did you grow up in that town?
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PS: the model year was determined by looking at the stamp of SD-10 on the plate. The stamping in the photo in the ad aligned with 1966, 1969 stamp looked different and it also had a letter A or B at the end which i am still trying to determine what they meant. I am going to visit an elderly man who restores these pianos. He has great respect by local techs, one of whom I hired to meet me at the piano to give it a once over.
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Most concert grand sized pianos for sale as used are almost worthless unless restored as the odds are that they lived in a concert hall getting pounded on and moved around its whole life. Then there are those concert grands out there that spent most of their life in some fancy living room as piece of furniture. Those are where the unicorns lie.
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Mine is not a full restore based on the description of most action parts replaced, All renner. The SD-10 was Baldwin's first piano with a full Renner action in it as well. This tells me the strings are fine and didn't need replacement, telling me this piano was mummified for years.
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oh to own a satin ebony piano will be a glorious day. I am so tired of shiny polyester finishes it could be a deal breaker if I found a piano with it and had everything else I wanted in a piano.
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on the move side, there is a way for me to extricate myself from all things California, so as to not have to continue to pay state taxes there for the rest of my life though I am living in Italy. California is known as a "sticky" state, and there are certain things one must show as proof that you have moved out of California into another state. The whole living in Italy does not meet this requirement. So, since I have friends and family in the state right next door, Nevada, where there is no state tax, I have already gained permission from one of these friends, to use his address as my new home address in the states. I also need to drive over there and apply for a Nevada drivers license. I need to register to vote in the state of nevada. I need to open up a local bank account with a local bank there. I need to take myself off of all things associated with california. If I can accomplish all this in my short time span here, I can permanently avoid state taxes for life. And all of this is legal and on the up and up. Renting out my home here in California actually helps bolster their belief I have moved away as I now have no home I can return to in California while it;s being rented out. Of course California will still tax my income from this rental but that can be offset greatly with write offs.
