Location of piano in new home
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I solved the dilemma by buying two pianos, an upright piano for the living room and a grand piano for the office (which is distant enough from everyone that I can play almost 24/7 without disturbing anyone).
More seriously, I would put it in the basement. If you really like playing the piano, and want to have effective exercise sessions, then it is by far the best option. In a former home we used to have the piano in the living room. It was nice because people would say "Owww..." when they entered the room, but from the perspective of actually playing the instrument it sucked; there was rarely ever a time when one could practice undisturbed and without the feeling of getting on somebody's nerves. People may say that they don't mind hearing somebody practice, but that's usually because they never heard anyone actually practice for extended time (as opposed to playing pieces)
The hard floor isn't a problem if you can put other "soft" materials into the room. I for one bought acoustic diffusors and sound baffles that I put on the walls, and they make a huge difference to the sound. But sofas, book shelves etc. also do the job.There are a few middle grounds, such as buying a second piano that is digital (which is what Jon did), but then you need to live with practicing most of the time on an inferior instrument.
Another option which I believe is not that common in the US but maybe still available: Since you still need to buy the grand piano, there are a couple of good "silent" options you can add to some brands of pianos (such as Yamaha and Kawai and Bechstein). There are "generic" silent systems that some of the small piano makers use, but from what I understand, they aren't as good (for instance, AFAIK the Yamaha system measures the speed of the hammers, whereas other systems measure only the speed of the keys).
Don't buy a too small grand piano! You can make a room work for a piano that is too large, but a too small piano will always suck. I for one would definitely not go below 5'7.
@klaus said in Location of piano in new home:
I solved the dilemma by buying two pianos, an upright piano for the living room and a grand piano for the office (which is distant enough from everyone that I can play almost 24/7 without disturbing anyone).
More seriously, I would put it in the basement. If you really like playing the piano, and want to have effective exercise sessions, then it is by far the best option. In a former home we used to have the piano in the living room. It was nice because people would say "Owww..." when they entered the room, but from the perspective of actually playing the instrument it sucked; there was rarely ever a time when one could practice undisturbed and without the feeling of getting on somebody's nerves. People may say that they don't mind hearing somebody practice, but that's usually because they never heard anyone actually practice for extended time (as opposed to playing pieces)
The hard floor isn't a problem if you can put other "soft" materials into the room. I for one bought acoustic diffusors and sound baffles that I put on the walls, and they make a huge difference to the sound. But sofas, book shelves etc. also do the job.There are a few middle grounds, such as buying a second piano that is digital (which is what Jon did), but then you need to live with practicing most of the time on an inferior instrument.
Another option which I believe is not that common in the US but maybe still available: Since you still need to buy the grand piano, there are a couple of good "silent" options you can add to some brands of pianos (such as Yamaha and Kawai and Bechstein). There are "generic" silent systems that some of the small piano makers use, but from what I understand, they aren't as good (for instance, AFAIK the Yamaha system measures the speed of the hammers, whereas other systems measure only the speed of the keys).
Don't buy a too small grand piano! You can make a room work for a piano that is too large, but a too small piano will always suck. I for one would definitely not go below 5’7”.
tl;dr:
If your playing sucks, hide the piano in the far reaches of your home.
If not, put it in the living room. You can always get a high-quality digital for practice.
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- and get a Silent Piano so it won’t bother the little ones...
@lufins-dad said in Location of piano in new home:
- and get a Silent Piano so it won’t bother the little ones...
So...I didn't even know these existed. This might be the perfect option... grand acoustic piano by day, silent by night. I wonder if the silent ones even allow for digital recording?
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@89th the Silent Piano DOES allow digital recording. It also allows full MIDI control. What can you do with MIDI control? Any frigging thing you want... I once fired a canon from a Yamaha Silent Piano.
Pretty much all Yamaha grands are available with their system, as are a few of the Boesendorfers. Kawai has 1 option I believe, and QRS and Piano Disc have retrofit systems.
I am always hesitant about pianos in the basement. Is it a walkout?
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@89th the Silent Piano DOES allow digital recording. It also allows full MIDI control. What can you do with MIDI control? Any frigging thing you want... I once fired a canon from a Yamaha Silent Piano.
Pretty much all Yamaha grands are available with their system, as are a few of the Boesendorfers. Kawai has 1 option I believe, and QRS and Piano Disc have retrofit systems.
I am always hesitant about pianos in the basement. Is it a walkout?
@lufins-dad said in Location of piano in new home:
@89th the Silent Piano DOES allow digital recording. It also allows full MIDI control. What can you do with MIDI control? Any frigging thing you want... I once fired a canon from a Yamaha Silent Piano.
Pretty much all Yamaha grands are available with their system, as are a few of the Boesendorfers. Kawai has 1 option I believe, and QRS and Piano Disc have retrofit systems.
I am always hesitant about pianos in the basement. Is it a walkout?
Yup! Walk-out. Good info, thanks! When it comes time to purchase, I'll give you a shout!
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No brainer
Living room
Digital with earphones for children practice
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@89th From what you wrote, it appears that the "family room" will be in teh basement. People will be there to watch TV, movies etc.
So, I agree with others that living room would be the best place for a piano.
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Front and center! The piano, especially a grand piano deserves top billing wherever it resides. Period!
One of the best pieces of advice my piano teacher ever gave me was, "practice so much, that you send everyone else running out of the house!" I told him, I actually used to do exactly that in my youth, when I would practice my drums for 2 or 3 hours straight.
