Schoenhut: A Professional 'Toy'

[boyinthebox]

Greetings.

I recently purchased a new instrument on kind of a whim. It was to obtain a true 'toy' or 'music box' type piano sound, and just wanted to share my experience. I purchased a Schoenhut "Baby" Grand Piano. I, in no way am affiliated with this company, just a proud owner who thought others might be interested in a little review.

First of all, build, this is a truly beautiful 'toy'. It is wonderfully crafted for ultimately what is a children's instrument. It is surprising how pretty it is in person. Pictures do a bit of justice though, so I have included a few. The keys are regular width, just not as long, something a child could learn on and grow into a normal piano, yet also very easy for an adult to easily play on.

Sound, very unique and in many ways exactly what I was looking for. The piano uses hammers to strike metal rods. The sound is very chimey obviously, and very unique, especially with the ability to raise/lower the hood. With some experimenting so far, different mic'ing techniques have given me a variety of possibilities. Differing placement has been interesting for me: as I found I could really change how much attack the actual striking of the key is picked up, vs how much the attack of the hammer striking the rod is picked up. Blending of the two has been very cool so far in early tests.

This is truly a 'professional' toy. It arrived in near perfect tune and has really been fun to record so far and I look forward to utilizing it in future recordings.

Cheers.

[boyinthebox]

Apologies. Here are some pics.

[xist]

Hi, what about its size and can you share some audio samples?

[boyinthebox]

Originally Posted by xist

Hi, what about its size and can you share some audio samples?

The dimensions are as follows.

It is 24" wide, by 27" deep at its longest point. From the floor to the very top of the music holder it is 30". It has a clearance of 16" underneath the piano to the floor.

I would be happy to post some audio samples, I will put some together this weekend and upload them for you to hear.

Cheers.

[AMIEL]

thanks!..and price??

[theblue1]

Pretty neat!

I've heard there is a big undergound of very serious toy piano collectors and music-makers. Even composers who write serious pieces for them.

That's cool.


But I don't want to know how much it cost.

[hearttimes]

i have the upright. a big hit at gigs to set it centerstage and play sitting on the floor.

[Santiago]

Toy pianos are great. I'm thinking of getting a Schoenhut too. Although they don't manufacture the smaller ones any more.

I've got some lower quality toy pianos I've bough second hand, with no black keys (they are just painted on). They are very limited instruments but at least they are in tune, which is quite rare!

They are hard to record, as they have a very clear Thud every time you press a key (that's mine, I suppose nicer instruments will suffer less from that). The best solution I have found is to use a figure-8 ribbon microphone right on top of the lid, in right angle to the keyboard. The thud of the keys is above the ribbon so it does not feature much, and the vibration of the rods is captured nicely.

John Cage wrote for the toy piano and I think there is a classical player called
Margaret Tang who uses it quite a bit.

Also recommended is French musician Yann Tiersen, who uses the toy piano quite nicely. He often plays two toy pianos, one with each hand.

YouTube - Amélie Poulain - La Valse Des Monstres (Tiersen - Toy Piano)

YouTube - Travelling... Priére n 3 - Yann Tiersen

(toy piano section in this one stays after a while)

YouTube - Yann Tiersen - Esther

Santiago

[drBill]

thumbsupthumbsup

Nice!

Have you tried a nice pair of figure-8's in blumlein on it??? thumbsupthumbsupthumbsup

[Santiago]

No I haven't, but it sounds like a neat idea to get a good stereo sound.

Of course, with good toy pianos like boyinthebox's schoenhut where you can even lift the lid the possibilities are endless.

But if you see a cheap toy piano at a garage sale and it is in tune, grab it!

You can have a lot of fun with it

Santiago

[boyinthebox]

Originally Posted by theblue1

But I don't want to know how much it cost.

You may not want to know

There are many toy piano options and styles made by Schoenhut. Many are not nearly as expensive as the one I purchased, (while there are also some that are more expensive, even quite a bit so.)

The reason I chose the model I did, even though I felt it a *little* pricey, was just as Santiago stated. I really wanted to have more available mic'ing options and thus having the ability to raise and lower the hood was pretty much the selling point for me. (Btw, forgot to mention the hood has a wonderful resistant hinge so it can stays at whatever angle you place it at. This is also to protect the hood from smashing any fingers of little ones.) The Baby Grand model that I purchased was $295 shipped. They have upright models and other grand models that range from, depending on size and number of keys, $125ish to $235ish. However, the model I purchased was the cheapest that had an adjustable hood. As I said they have more expensive versions as well, such as a model called the King Louis XV, full working pedal system and all for $799!

Here is a link to the store I purchased mine from, which I should add was a great experience. They offered great customer service.

Little Mozart

Samples to come soon, apologize for the delay, I had planned on having them up today but it has been a busy few days.

Cheers.

[boyinthebox]

I had time to put together a few samples today of the Schoenhut Baby Grand in action. It is a short file, about 1:37 long. In the file are 4 seperate short segments I played to try to help best demonstrate how differently the instrument can sound based on the style of music being played, but also as well, how you play it dynamically. I think it demonstrates fairly well the type of tones and styles one can achieve using it. I hope you enjoy it. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask away!

Cheers.

[boyinthebox]

Originally Posted by Santiago

But if you see a cheap toy piano at a garage sale and it is in tune, grab it!

You can have a lot of fun with it

Santiago

Agreed! Too much fun