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Pricing 64-key Una Corda® Piano……………………………………………………..€ 15,900 net* Including big wheels, tone modulator, and music stand 88-key Una Corda® Piano………………………………………

Pricing 64-key Una Corda® Piano……………………………………………………..€ 15,900 net* Including big wheels, tone modulator, and music stand 88-key Una Corda® Piano……………………………………………………..€ 21,900 net* Including big wheels, tone modulator, and music stand Why would any serious musician spend 22k Euros on this piano when they could get an actual grand piano from a reputable maker? If you're super wealthy and you like fun toys, sure, but this is going to be an inferior instrument in volume, tone, tone control, sustain, and pretty much all the features a serious pianist is adept at manipulating.

RandallBrown 8y ago
They wouldn't. This is a piece of functional art like a Rolex.
- busterarm 8y ago
  I don't think that's necessarily fair or accurate. Most gear above a certain pricepoint isn't even really marketed directly to musicians anymore. It's recording studios, live music production companies and backline rental companies who are going to be buying these things and they're totally going to sell.
- TheRealPomax 8y ago
  It absolutely is not. It's a musical instrument that real artists have used on real albums.
- KaiserPro 8y ago
  I'd go out on a limb and say, no, no its not. I have relatives that play the European baroque music circle. They have a fine collection of various stringed instruments. Most of them are older than the USA. to give a rough price just look at this page: http://www.contrabass.co.uk/cstopquality.htm http://www.contrabass.co.uk/cstopquality.htm A "decent" baby grand piano (used) is about £10k. A "concert" baby grand is about £18k (you know, loud, acid, overly bright) For the sort of music I want to play, the Una Corda, is perfect. If I was working at a recording studio again, I suspect there would be a large market for having this piano in. In most of the studios I've been in, the piano is stripped bare and has all sorts of padding in. (and no, its not fun to vacuum.)
emptyfile 8y ago
>Why would any serious musician spend 22k Euros on this piano when they could get an actual grand piano from a reputable maker? If you're super wealthy and you like fun toys, sure You answered your own question but you're still unsatisfied with something? This is the first line of text on the website: "Commissioned by and in cooperation with Nils Frahm we have developed the Una Corda Piano." Here's Nils Frahm's website http://www.nilsfrahm.com/ http://www.nilsfrahm.com/ so maybe you can find out why he decided to commission it. Really can't figure out why this irrelevant, negative comment is highest upvoted...
khazhou 8y ago
> Why would any serious musician spend 22k Euros on this piano... inferior instrument in volume, tone, tone control, sustain, and pretty much all the features It's a different sound. For a certain type of music, it's superior to regular pianos. There are how many kinds of electric guitars, acoustic guitars, woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion instruments, electronic gear...? Very very many. Even in piano-land, different makers have characteristic tones. A musician hears a sound in their head, and wants to replicate and shape it exactly.
digsmahler 8y ago
I had the same question, the piano is already a well developed and standardized instrument from centuries of revision and engineering. Returning to one string seems like a step back into the past. The video is really nice though, explaining how they came to this idea, and now I want to hear one of these one-string pianos! From Nils Frahm: "It really felt like a brilliant new instrument, it was so nice. First time in my life to have kind of like a new piano. It sits in between a clavichord, guitar and a harp, and that was exactly what I wanted."
jdietrich 8y ago
This isn't a replacement for a traditional piano, but an additional option for composers, conservatoires and collectors. Nils Frahm explains it himself in the video - guitarists have a vast choice of different instruments with unique timbres, but the piano is largely a monoculture. I could never entertain spending €22k on a musical instrument, but I own the Native Instruments sample library for the Una Corda and use it often. It's a beautiful instrument and I'm glad that it exists in the world.
TheRealPomax 8y ago
Sorry, at what point do you think a professional pianist making enough money to live in a reasonably nice house with nice things and driving a nice cars would go "hm, time to choose between these two types of pianos and that I'll actually buy my own"? There are plenty of performance and studio artists would are far more likely to go "well my home setup/shared studio already has several pianos including at least one grand, $30k for this Una Corda? I can probably budget for that". Especially recording studios. Getting a Una Corda and getting the kind of artists in that would play it is worth the up front cost.
markbnj 8y ago
$22k on an instrument is not an eye-raising amount of money for a "serious" musician. I'm a (not very serious) guitarist and I have a couple k into my '74 Martin D18. You can _easily_ spend $10-20k or more on a high end handmade guitar or vintage Martin, Gibson, Taylor etc. Some high end concert grand pianos sell for over $100k as far as I know.
- WhompingWindows 8y ago
  I don't think you understand the market for those concert grands. First off, they are into the $250k and above range for true "concert grands." However, the idea that private individuals need to buy one is ludicrous. They are sonically designed for concert halls, even a mansion would not be big enough to properly make use of one. So, take those off the table, they are for the top 100 players, the millionaires/billionaires, and concert halls, not for average serious musicians. Second, it's a bit delusional to say most serious musicians can easily afford 22k Euros on what is essentially an experimental piano. I know dozens of serious amateurs/semi-pros/pros, and basically none of them could afford this instrument. This is a toy for the rich and the superstar musicians who actually get paid creme of the crop wages. The rest of us 99% of the serious pianists who get paid between 0 and 100k a year, lets say, will get much much higher value on 22k euros by buying a used Steinway, Yamaha, or other instrument. Hell, I've been playing classical piano, trained with concertizing pianists, for 20 years and I make great practice use out of a $9k Kawaii bought for $6k.
  - markbnj 8y ago
    > Second, it's a bit delusional to say most serious musicians can easily afford 22k Euros on what is essentially an experimental piano. Never said anything of the sort so I am not sure who you are arguing with. I said that it was not surprising for a serious musician to spend 20k+ on an instrument. I think that's a reasonable statement for some definition of "serious." In any case, my general point is that in the world of fine instruments 20k is not an absurd number to hear.

RandallBrown 8y ago

They wouldn't. This is a piece of functional art like a Rolex.

busterarm 8y ago
I don't think that's necessarily fair or accurate. Most gear above a certain pricepoint isn't even really marketed directly to musicians anymore. It's recording studios, live music production companies and backline rental companies who are going to be buying these things and they're totally going to sell.
TheRealPomax 8y ago
It absolutely is not. It's a musical instrument that real artists have used on real albums.
KaiserPro 8y ago
I'd go out on a limb and say, no, no its not. I have relatives that play the European baroque music circle. They have a fine collection of various stringed instruments. Most of them are older than the USA. to give a rough price just look at this page: http://www.contrabass.co.uk/cstopquality.htm http://www.contrabass.co.uk/cstopquality.htm A "decent" baby grand piano (used) is about £10k. A "concert" baby grand is about £18k (you know, loud, acid, overly bright) For the sort of music I want to play, the Una Corda, is perfect. If I was working at a recording studio again, I suspect there would be a large market for having this piano in. In most of the studios I've been in, the piano is stripped bare and has all sorts of padding in. (and no, its not fun to vacuum.)

emptyfile 8y ago

>Why would any serious musician spend 22k Euros on this piano when they could get an actual grand piano from a reputable maker? If you're super wealthy and you like fun toys, sure You answered your own question but you're still unsatisfied with something? This is the first line of text on the website: "Commissioned by and in cooperation with Nils Frahm we have developed the Una Corda Piano." Here's Nils Frahm's website http://www.nilsfrahm.com/ http://www.nilsfrahm.com/ so maybe you can find out why he decided to commission it. Really can't figure out why this irrelevant, negative comment is highest upvoted...

khazhou 8y ago

> Why would any serious musician spend 22k Euros on this piano... inferior instrument in volume, tone, tone control, sustain, and pretty much all the features It's a different sound. For a certain type of music, it's superior to regular pianos. There are how many kinds of electric guitars, acoustic guitars, woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion instruments, electronic gear...? Very very many. Even in piano-land, different makers have characteristic tones. A musician hears a sound in their head, and wants to replicate and shape it exactly.

digsmahler 8y ago

I had the same question, the piano is already a well developed and standardized instrument from centuries of revision and engineering. Returning to one string seems like a step back into the past. The video is really nice though, explaining how they came to this idea, and now I want to hear one of these one-string pianos! From Nils Frahm: "It really felt like a brilliant new instrument, it was so nice. First time in my life to have kind of like a new piano. It sits in between a clavichord, guitar and a harp, and that was exactly what I wanted."

jdietrich 8y ago

This isn't a replacement for a traditional piano, but an additional option for composers, conservatoires and collectors. Nils Frahm explains it himself in the video - guitarists have a vast choice of different instruments with unique timbres, but the piano is largely a monoculture. I could never entertain spending €22k on a musical instrument, but I own the Native Instruments sample library for the Una Corda and use it often. It's a beautiful instrument and I'm glad that it exists in the world.

TheRealPomax 8y ago

Sorry, at what point do you think a professional pianist making enough money to live in a reasonably nice house with nice things and driving a nice cars would go "hm, time to choose between these two types of pianos and that I'll actually buy my own"? There are plenty of performance and studio artists would are far more likely to go "well my home setup/shared studio already has several pianos including at least one grand, $30k for this Una Corda? I can probably budget for that". Especially recording studios. Getting a Una Corda and getting the kind of artists in that would play it is worth the up front cost.

markbnj 8y ago

$22k on an instrument is not an eye-raising amount of money for a "serious" musician. I'm a (not very serious) guitarist and I have a couple k into my '74 Martin D18. You can _easily_ spend $10-20k or more on a high end handmade guitar or vintage Martin, Gibson, Taylor etc. Some high end concert grand pianos sell for over $100k as far as I know.

WhompingWindows 8y ago
I don't think you understand the market for those concert grands. First off, they are into the $250k and above range for true "concert grands." However, the idea that private individuals need to buy one is ludicrous. They are sonically designed for concert halls, even a mansion would not be big enough to properly make use of one. So, take those off the table, they are for the top 100 players, the millionaires/billionaires, and concert halls, not for average serious musicians. Second, it's a bit delusional to say most serious musicians can easily afford 22k Euros on what is essentially an experimental piano. I know dozens of serious amateurs/semi-pros/pros, and basically none of them could afford this instrument. This is a toy for the rich and the superstar musicians who actually get paid creme of the crop wages. The rest of us 99% of the serious pianists who get paid between 0 and 100k a year, lets say, will get much much higher value on 22k euros by buying a used Steinway, Yamaha, or other instrument. Hell, I've been playing classical piano, trained with concertizing pianists, for 20 years and I make great practice use out of a $9k Kawaii bought for $6k.
- markbnj 8y ago
  > Second, it's a bit delusional to say most serious musicians can easily afford 22k Euros on what is essentially an experimental piano. Never said anything of the sort so I am not sure who you are arguing with. I said that it was not surprising for a serious musician to spend 20k+ on an instrument. I think that's a reasonable statement for some definition of "serious." In any case, my general point is that in the world of fine instruments 20k is not an absurd number to hear.