Thursday, December 27, 2007

From Craigslist: left-handed piano

best of craigslist > minneapolis > RARE Left-hand strung piano Originally Posted: Mon, 3 Sep 19:53 CDT

RARE Left-hand strung piano


Date: 2007-09-03, 7:53PM CDT


This piano is one of only a handful (probably the left hand full) that were built with the high notes "al sinistra" (on the left end) and low notes "al rechta" (on right). These pianos were originally built to be sold in southern hemisphere countries where, because of the perceived "backward" spin of the earth, audio vibrations travel in a counter-clockwise direction.

The reversed placement of the treble and bass keys allows pianists from these southern nations to play northern European piano literature without having to relearn the notes. It does require that the score be transfered to onion skin vellum, laid in reverse on a copy machine and photocopied in reverse so that the music flows from right to left on the page. Several collections of reverse-hand piano literature might be found on yAbe (the southern hemisphere internet auction site, based in Australia.)

This instrument is one of the rare ones located in the U.S. It would fit well in a left-handed house, where right-hand pianos tend to stick out into traffic flow and look out windows with not necessarily the best views. You will need to reverse the hinges on the front door of houses in order for the left-handed piano to fit through the opening and fit around the corner to the parlor. Instructions for this re-hinging process can be found at owa_tajur_kayam.org.

  • Location: (Somewhere out there)
  • it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 413152288

Monday, December 24, 2007

Casio keyboard is 2007's top-selling toy

Brisbane, Dec 24 : The hottest selling toy this Christmas is the humble toy piano keyboard, according to Australian retailer Big W.

The Discount department store chain Big W said that classic toys and 'brands of years gone by' are the top buys for children this Christmas.

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Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Sir Anthony Hopkins to go on piano tour

Tuesday, December 4 2007, 12:20 GMT

By Kimberley Dadds

Sir Anthony Hopkins to go on piano tour

Rex Features

Sir Anthony Hopkins has decided to take a break from his acting career and go on a world tour playing his piano.

The Silence of the Lambs actor will carry out a lifelong dream by playing his piano with a full orchestra and telling stories over the music.

His passion for music came to light when he met Malcolm Luker, who scored the soundtrack for his latest movie Slipstream, and the pair started planning the tour. It will commence either next year or in 2009.

Luker revealed they are still in the early stages of planning, saying: "I think people will be surprised by (Anthony's) talents. He's a great pianist and an incredibly pleasant and softly spoken man.

"It's going to happen either next year or early 2009 but at the moment we're doing the preliminaries of checking timing, availability and venues."

The Oscar-winner hopes to kick off the tour in Melbourne, Australia.