Period Piano Building w/ Paul McNulty
Paul McNulty, a North Bennet Street School graduate, is an iconoclast in the industry. He was the first in modern times to build an 1830 model Playel, an 1846 Boisselot op. 2800, and an 1868 Streicher. His current efforts are restoring vintage French pianos.
The "period pianos" domain can be tricky, and not everyone likes the sound of these unique instruments. But the pianos Paul restores are loved by many. He is at the top of his craft! In this session, he shares his journey and some tips and tricks of the trade that only a period piano builder would know about.
Paul started with no skill. But he quickly progressed in his understanding and abilities. Soon after beginning his period of piano studies, he could successfully reassemble anything he had deconstructed. By the age of 32, he had built a pianoforte from scratch. Paul has taken a path less traveled, and for your benefit, he shares what he has learned along the way. He shares insider secrets that could save you significant pain when encountering vintage instruments. Would you like to know how to remove tricky vintage keyboards without breaking hammers? Want some precautionary measures to avoid other damage? Want to know which modern tools can be used to improvise solutions? You gotta catch this episode!
Get insider insights from across centuries and understand the piano industry more deeply. Spend some time with Paul today and listen back again whenever you like!
The "period pianos" domain can be tricky, and not everyone likes the sound of these unique instruments. But the pianos Paul restores are loved by many. He is at the top of his craft! In this session, he shares his journey and some tips and tricks of the trade that only a period piano builder would know about.
Paul started with no skill. But he quickly progressed in his understanding and abilities. Soon after beginning his period of piano studies, he could successfully reassemble anything he had deconstructed. By the age of 32, he had built a pianoforte from scratch. Paul has taken a path less traveled, and for your benefit, he shares what he has learned along the way. He shares insider secrets that could save you significant pain when encountering vintage instruments. Would you like to know how to remove tricky vintage keyboards without breaking hammers? Want some precautionary measures to avoid other damage? Want to know which modern tools can be used to improvise solutions? You gotta catch this episode!
Get insider insights from across centuries and understand the piano industry more deeply. Spend some time with Paul today and listen back again whenever you like!
Hereβs a little bit about our guest Paul McNulty:
Paul McNulty is a maker of world-famous fortepianos known for their superior performance quality, used for concerts and recordings in the most prestigious concert halls, opera houses and owned by prominent fortepiano players and leading music institutions, such as Harvard University, Cornell University, Royal Academy of Music and many more.
ππππ ππ π
ππ ππππ πππππ πππππππββ
Browse more masterclasses and lectures from Piano Tuning Pros here: https://www.pianotechniciansmasterclass.com/
Piano Tech Radio Hour is brought to you by Piano Technicians Master. We provide cutting-edge piano technology instruction from piano industry masters without leaving your home, featuring monthly subscriptions, conventions, single live streaming, and recorded masterclasses. Learn advanced skills:
- How to tune pianos.
- How to repair pianos.
- How to rebuild pianos.
- How to tune concert pianos for the finest performers in the world.
Creators and Guests
Host
David Andersen
David Andersen, owner of David Andersen pianos in Los Angeles has been a professional musician, recording artist, and piano technician/consultant for nearly four decades. He has overseen the restoration and maintenance of hundreds of Steinway and Mason & Hamlin pianos during that time. Beginning in 1975 he apprenticed for two and a half years under Jack Cofer in Atlanta, Georgia; during the 1980s he studied at Steinway facilities both in New York and London.
Host
Eathan Janney
Eathan has 20 years of experience as a piano technician. He studied with Dave Miller, the staff piano technician for the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, New Jersey. Dave Carpenter, the inventor of the Verituner electronic tuning device, provided mentorship for Eathan in Chicago. Eathan also worked with Ken Eschete and Bill Schwarts, the staff piano technicians at Northwestern University in Chicago. In 2009, he founded Floating Piano Factory of New York, a company that allows piano technicians to move from Apprentice to Craftsman level while offering value pricing to clients as technicians progress toward mastery. In 2017 he founded Piano Technicians Masterclasses, an online project designed to offer cutting-edge instruction from piano industry masters to anyone on the globe with an internet connection.
Guest
Paul McNulty
Paul McNulty is a maker of world-famous fortepianos known for their superior performance quality, used for concerts and recordings in the most prestigious concert halls, opera houses and owned by prominent fortepiano players and leading music institutions, such as Harvard University, Cornell University, Royal Academy of Music and many more.