Chopin's Favorite Piano Factory Plays Its Final Chord - Polidicks

[URL="http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/12/28/257581367/chopins-favorite-piano-factory-plays-its-final-chord"]NPR Story[/URL] [quote=NPR]One of the world's oldest and most iconic piano makers, Pleyel, will close its factory doors in Paris at the end of 2013. The French press characterized the bankruptcy as inevitable in the face of cheaper competition from China. But many disagree: They say Pleyel could have survived by adapting better to the times. In his piano store, Bruno Canac, a former piano maker, tickles the ivories of a Pleyel piano conceived in the 1920s, when the company was in its heyday. He says the loss is a blow to France.[/quote]

so basically instead of addapting to the changing market you sat on your asses and said "we have ze superior product!" and like mintel you are closed down by the changing world too sad though, there is nothing a chinese piano maker can do that could ever compair

[QUOTE=Sableye;43339627][B]so basically instead of addapting to the changing market you sat on your asses[/B] and said "we have ze superior product!" and like mintel you are closed down by the changing world too sad though, there is nothing a chinese piano maker can do that could ever compair[/QUOTE] Do you really want them to 'adapt' by paying their line-workers cents on the hour, carry on production with little to no regulation and basically eskew any sense of western industrial ethic? Because companies can do that. It's called outsourcing to china.

Or you could be like most successful instrument companies and branch out your designs or make new ones.

Looks like max is screwed if he ever wants to buy a piano

[QUOTE=Amish Steak;43340059]Looks like max is screwed if he ever wants to buy a piano[/QUOTE] He'll just have to play on a French [del]Horn[/del] Baguette instead.

[QUOTE=Sableye;43339627]so basically instead of addapting to the changing market you sat on your asses and said "we have ze superior product!" and like mintel you are closed down by the changing world too sad though, there is nothing a chinese piano maker can do that could ever compair[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Paul McCartney;43339939]Or you could be like most successful instrument companies and branch out your designs or make new ones.[/QUOTE] It's a piano though; can they really innovate in that space?

[QUOTE=Blackwheel;43349629]It's a piano though; can they really innovate in that space?[/QUOTE] Cupholders. Reopen the factory. We're going to save the piano.

[QUOTE=Blackwheel;43349629]It's a piano though; can they really innovate in that space?[/QUOTE] they can innovate in the production if the end product still stays the same, maybe use as little workforce as possible instead of China where they can afford to put 15 people on one step, maybe figure out what steps cost the most and try to drive your price down also the cost of doing business in France has just gone crazy with the taxes that probably hasn't helped

[QUOTE=Blackwheel;43349629]It's a piano though; can they really innovate in that space?[/QUOTE] There's a lot of one trick ponies that have expanded outwards in the past couple decades. Zippo has merchandise everywhere, so does Smith and Wesson. Have an electric piano, other instruments, or craft a brand image and sell things with that. If you're a company with only one product, unless there's no competitors, you'll not see any returns.

It was a good run. Too bad future generations won't know the sound of Chopin's piano.

Nobody knows what Chopin's piano sounded like. The appearance of proper pianos had only just happened during his lifetime and even without the differences in tuning they still weren't like ours. You could always try to replicate an instrument like one he would have played on but the best piano makers have been making them differently for at least 100 years.

I meant that more because everything he wrote he wrote on a Pleyel. He loved that piano and that company, just like many pianists today with Steinways.

[QUOTE=Blackwheel;43349629]It's a piano though; can they really innovate in that space?[/QUOTE] That's exactly it. Traditional pianos don't sell anymore, pianos sell to orchestras, that's about it. Nobody who plays for fun is going to buy a piano when they can buy a keyboard instead, and even people who play professionally generally only use a real piano when playing live for appearance's sake. Their problem is that they clung to the past and insisted on the traditional piano over moving towards a more modern medium. It's sad to see things change that way, sure, and if I had a legacy like Pleyel did, I wouldn't want to either, it's the ending of an era so to speak. But just because they or anyone else don't like a change, doesn't mean it isn't going to happen. Modern consumers disagree with them either way.

I can tell you right now that that is not true at all. The difference in touch of a real piano versus an electronic one is astronomical. Currently there exist acoustic pianos with electronic features, but overall the general sentiment is that the old ways are still the best.

[QUOTE=l337k1ll4;43362162]That's exactly it. Traditional pianos don't sell anymore, pianos sell to orchestras, that's about it. Nobody who plays for fun is going to buy a piano when they can buy a keyboard instead, and even people who play professionally generally only use a real piano when playing live for appearance's sake.[/QUOTE] Yes keyboards are cheaper and appeal to those who just want something to mess around on, but where are you getting this idea this idea that there isn't a need for pianos anymore? And when you say "people who play professionally" who exactly do you mean?

[QUOTE=Splarg!;43363917]Yes keyboards are cheaper and appeal to those who just want something to mess around on, but where are you getting this idea this idea that there isn't a need for pianos anymore? And when you say "people who play professionally" who exactly do you mean?[/QUOTE] By professionally I mean that musicians use keyboards when recording music, because using a piano and a microphone is expensive, impractical, and sounds no better. The fact of the matter is that modern keyboards are far more advanced than they used to be, and people don't realize that. Keyboards nowadays emulate pianos nearly perfectly. Almost nobody can tell the difference, and even of those who can, fewer still care.

[QUOTE=l337k1ll4;43364089]By professionally I mean that musicians use keyboards when recording music, because using a piano and a microphone is expensive, impractical, and sounds no better. The fact of the matter is that modern keyboards are far more advanced than they used to be, and people don't realize that. Keyboards nowadays emulate pianos nearly perfectly. Almost nobody can tell the difference, and even of those who can, fewer still care.[/QUOTE] You are very very very wrong. The sound and weighting is still not there, most professionals still use real pianos.

[QUOTE=l337k1ll4;43364089]Almost nobody can tell the difference, and even of those who can, fewer still care.[/QUOTE] You're just pulling all of this out of your ass. Keyboards never imitate pianos properly because they don't take into account the way the strings interact with each other. If you press down the damper pedal on an acoustic and play the lowest note, every string vibrates.

[QUOTE=Splarg!;43365033]You're just pulling all of this out of your ass. Keyboards never imitate pianos properly because they don't take into account the way the strings interact with each other. If you press down the damper pedal on an acoustic and play the lowest note, every string vibrates.[/QUOTE] You clearly haven't used a good quality keyboard that was made recently then, because they do.

[QUOTE=l337k1ll4;43368966]You clearly haven't used a good quality keyboard that was made recently then, because they do.[/QUOTE] That's admirable if they do (though acoustically that's only one of many other differences) but I still don't know where you're getting this notion that people just don't care anymore. Yes, pianos are expensive, don't move, and only do one thing, so practically keyboards are the obvious choice for conventional bands, but I have plenty of friends in groups who don't share your opinion and would never refuse an actual piano if they had a choice. And that's not even taking into account the classical industry and music schools, which should speak for itself.

[QUOTE=Crazy Ivan;43339872]Do you really want them to 'adapt' by paying their line-workers cents on the hour, carry on production with little to no regulation and basically eskew any sense of western industrial ethic? Because companies can do that. It's called outsourcing to china.[/QUOTE] So many bad things I want to say about you. You really honestly think they could survive by doing nothing? They killed themselves. It wasn't the market that got them, it was their refusal to change.

my old piano teacher has two pianos: A brand new, top of the line electronic piano with all the bells and whistles, and a Petrof 6-foot grand. Wanna guess which one sees more use, by both herself and her students?

Ya I think although the sound emulation of pianos may be getting ridiculously good, it is still just an emulation. When you play a real piano, all the subtle vibrations and variations, the harmonics and how the strings affect each other, the feeling under your finger tips, the feedback of the hamor on a string, etc. A keyboad is a different instrument than a piano, and can do other things well. Edit: and that list might sound meaningless in a utilitarian sense, but it inspires songs that woudn't happen otherwise.

This is really depressing. The dude literally composed my favorite song, most likely on one of these pianos. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OFHXmiZP38[/media] Now nothing can compare.