On
a bright warm day, but with a rather cold wind, we made our way to Mr Saito’s
workshop in Mobara city and looked at the piano in the process of repair.
Leaving the tumult of the city we passed through scenes of mountains dressed
with autumn leaves and small wooden houses before finally arriving at Mobara
station.
And when we come to what appears to be an
ordinary office building and look inside, we are surprised to encounter a great
sea of pianos!
The space is packed full of pianos, from both
Japan and overseas, from famed manufacturers which no longer exist to small
Australian grands, the room is overflowing with pianos given up by their owners
for various reasons and all waiting to sound out once again. Here we realized
Mr Saito has been building his own secret treasure trove of pianos.
Here you can see the Stuttgart frame in
repair. Here the outer casing has been removed and the sound board has been
repaired and waiting to dry. If you look at the panels on the upper left side
you can make out the construction of the piano. The board is made up of
numerous layers of wood with the grain alternating between horizontal and
vertical alignments.
The piano string pin board had also been badly
damaged so this also had to be replaced. The pin board is essential for keeping
the strings taut and so this work also had to be carefully considered.
Someone once said a piano is a dispensable
thing but that is surely wrong, and we hope to prove that through this project.
Just like a violin it can be brought to a new state.
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A
record showing the original positions of the screws.
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In
the 70s Japan reached the peak of its economic boom and it was common place for
any home with a female member(!) to have a piano. But what has come of all
this?
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| 捩れの出てしまったフレームも、ピアノ本体から外しこの様に寝かせることで 捩れを取ってまた使える様になるそうです。 |
I’ve seen a documentary film about a famed overseas piano makers’ crafts people, and one scene includes the excitement of a family on the purchase of a new grand piano. The children of this family are still clumsy with their playing but as the family listened together the mother was moved to tears.
What
sound will the Stuttgart bring to our ears when its repair is finally complete?
We all look forward to its restoration and return to Youkobo art space.
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Plastic plates to place over the white keys |
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Piano hammers, each of a different size according to their position |
