"In his domestic administration my father had this system . . . to keep a journal and insert in it all occurrences of any note . . . A record very pleasant to look at when time begins to efface the memory of events, and very well suited to get us out of perplexity: When was such and such a thing begun? When completed? What retinues came? How long did they stay? Our trips, our absences; marriages; deaths; the receipt of happy or unhappy news . . . An ancient custom, which I think it would be good to revive, each man in each man's home. And I think I am a fool to have neglected it." (Montaigne, Book I, Essay 35 (publ. 1580))

Friday, February 28, 2014

piano(s) update

I would like to improve at piano-playing.  Who knows, maybe I have three or four decades to do a little work on this task?  Anyway, we have a couple piano-problems here.

First:  practicing or playing an acoustic piano in our home - whether competently or no - is maddening for anyone else in the house in fairly short order.  There's just no way to isolate the sound.

Second:  our piano is beyond repair.  Our efforts from a few years back did not turn out to be a long-term solution.  Meaning replacement or a serious restoration job (we're leaning toward the latter, which will take at least nine months).

This gets the job done, and then some.  And what a pleasant view.
The solution:  my little wife sprung for a good-quality electronic piano.  Now I can practice with headphones!  Sure, this just reinforces how wonderful a good acoustic piano sounds - but this is a very good quality product and definitely solves the practice-disruptive-noise issue around here.

Will continue to use it once we do whatever we do with the Steinway.


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