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Post by pavane on Jan 31, 2023 10:36:42 GMT
There's a whole industry out there providing "goodies" for hobbyists - personalised golf club covers, that sort of thing.
I play recorder and clarinet and there seems to always be something that Santa might consider bringing. Recorders are fairly simple things, but there is always the "I don't have a {sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, basset, bass, contrabass, sub-contrabass} in baroque pitch" etc etc. Clarinets are a particularly rich field for exploiting offering useful things to owners. New ligature? Loadsa choice, and if you have never looked, you'd be amazed at how much you can spend. You can have a new mouthpiece; a new barrel in exotic wood; a new barrel that adjusts in length for tuning; ditto in exotic wood; a new bell... Got the lot? How about a new case you can store all these goodies in?
An acoustic piano, though, pretty much just sits there. Doesn't need a case. Not much call for aftermarket soundboards. Most people only have room for one of them. So, I'm curious: can you accessorize a piano? And not with additional sheet music - everone can do that.
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Post by keff on Jan 31, 2023 10:53:04 GMT
In order of cost; A pencil, eraser, Moth repellant, duster and sometimes a surface cleaner, if a grand a soundboard cleaner, Metronome, lamp, headphones, humidifier, dehumidifier, a tuner for ninety minutes every six months, ideally a digital piano if yours is acoustic or an acoustic if digital, that is one of each. Must be more. feel free to challenge me to think harder or question the list so far.  |
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Post by Zi on Jan 31, 2023 11:45:07 GMT
What's the moth repellent for? I know it repels moths. Do pianos get moths?
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Post by evergreen on Jan 31, 2023 11:58:08 GMT
The lack of accessories for the piano compared with other instruments must make a piano a cheap instrument to buy 
Over the years I've spent a small fortune on swabs for my clarinet, trying to find the perfect one that will remove all traces of moisture. As you say, clarinet suppliers have no end of ways of persuading players that they need this, that or the other in order to become a better player!
For the piano, I content myself with little goodies that aren't strictly speaking accessories - a coaster with an image of a piano, a mug with piano keys, a music bag with piano keys, a badge saying "I love my piano", a folder with a picture of piano keys, and probably a few more things.
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lafa
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Post by lafa on Jan 31, 2023 12:47:10 GMT
I have a digital and because I play purely for pleasure and only for myself, I have quite a few things ‚on‘ my piano to make my life easier. I play a variety of pieces each time, so I have extended my music stand to a full metre with a row of oversize paper/bulldog clips along the top of it. I often have several hymn books open so each has its own board.
Post It slips with the numbers of the hymns of our next church service (not that I ever play there, but I like to try out the alto line of the hymn beforehand). Several coloured stickers to mark pages, pencil, rubber, headphones, headlamp and the 60 cm. glasses I use for the piano.
Until I started thinking about it, I had no idea how many things I consider ‚essential equipment‘.
Later: I‘ve just remembered, I also have a couple of clamps. I bought them at a do-it-yourself store. They are brilliant for really thick books as they are not sprung but have a ratchet with flexible holding surfaces so they grip without damaging thin pages.
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Post by keff on Jan 31, 2023 13:25:27 GMT
I forgot my piano glasses. I have had them for three years and wonder if they need changing. It was difficult to measure the distance between lens and the music but last time I tried it was 50cm.
I can't get my hymn books to stay open on the music desk. After market clips 'Katz Klips' I believe are available from the piano shop in Oxford.
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Post by pavane on Feb 1, 2023 9:49:54 GMT
The lack of accessories for the piano compared with other instruments must make a piano a cheap instrument to buy Mrs P bought a nice 2nd hand piano for about the price of a good new clarinet and that was pretty much it, so I think you're right. Out of interest, did you find one? Sax swabs are (maybe were, I haven't used one for a long time) often chamois and they seemed to be more effective that the cloth ones I have for clarinet, which mostly smear the moisture about rather than soak it up - though they get better if I pull them through several times, because they get wet and are then more absorbent. |
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Post by evergreen on Feb 1, 2023 13:50:39 GMT
Out of interest, did you find one? I found one that was better than the preceding ones, but still not as good as I'd like. I once bought one online that had been hand made - I bought it for all the wrong reasons, just because it had a pattern of clarinets on it and looked pretty but when I got it, there was no way it would fit down a clarinet, it was way too big. The seller obviously wasn't a clarinet player! |
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lafa
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Post by lafa on Feb 2, 2023 9:42:20 GMT
I can't get my hymn books to stay open on the music desk. I've just altered my avatar to show my way of holding large heavy hymnbooks open. A board, a metal rod (both DIY shop) and a piece of elastic with buttonholes at intervals. The board should be big enough to allow clearance at the side (to protect the pages) and vertically to enable one to slide the rod and elastic up out of the way while turning pages. Very Heath Robinson, but I have three for the three hymn books I use the most and find they save me a lot of frustration. |
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Post by keff on Feb 2, 2023 9:52:47 GMT
That is a great idea, lafa. In the past I have tried pegs and elastic bands. The former are never large enough and the latter ruffle the page edges. Your design is very neat.
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Post by keff on Feb 2, 2023 10:15:48 GMT
Whilst we are taking about hymn books I will tell you the tale about how I acquired my first. I heard pianos being played mostly in Sunday school and thats were I fell in love with the sound. My favourite tune to sing to was Parry's Jerusalem and the music was only found in the "School Hymn Book of the Methodist Church". It wasn't in the 1933 hymn used in the church itself. I made a request that if ever I should be awarded a Sunday School prize could it be the school hymn book with tunes more or less only because it contained Jerusalem. I was awarded a prize and received a gold edged version which of course I still have sixty three years later.
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Post by Zi on Feb 2, 2023 10:51:04 GMT
keff - That's a lovely story!
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Post by pavane on Feb 2, 2023 11:35:39 GMT
Out of interest, did you find one? I found one that was better than the preceding ones, but still not as good as I'd like. I once bought one online that had been hand made - I bought it for all the wrong reasons, just because it had a pattern of clarinets on it and looked pretty but when I got it, there was no way it would fit down a clarinet, it was way too big. The seller obviously wasn't a clarinet player!
I mostly use this one - seems like a lot of money for a bit of cloth but it actually does quite a good job - there's a fair amount of material but the shape means it doesn't bunch and get stuck. |
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lafa
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Post by lafa on Feb 3, 2023 19:34:43 GMT
I can't get my hymn books to stay open on the music desk. I've just altered my avatar to show my way of holding large heavy hymnbooks open. A board, a metal rod (both DIY shop) and a piece of elastic with buttonholes at intervals. The board should be big enough to allow clearance at the side (to protect the pages) and vertically to enable one to slide the rod and elastic up out of the way while turning pages. Very Heath Robinson, but I have three for the three hymn books I use the most and find they save me a lot of frustration. Keff, you asked on another thread if the picture could be made bigger. Honestly, I don't think it would help much. What I didn't say, and what perhaps confuses you, is that the length of buttonhole elastic goes behind the board and comes forward to 'buttonhole' over the ends of the rod at each side. As the elastic is constantly stretched, in time it will be a fraction loose, and then I pull it tight again and use the next buttonhole along. Any sewing shop should have the stuff.
If this still isn't clear, I'll see what I can do to help.
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Post by keff on Feb 3, 2023 20:03:26 GMT
Thanks lafa, your description is good so no need for the picture. Other half is seriously into sewing crafts so supply of elastic is usually plentiful...we've just come back from a little trip involving a short visit to a fabric shop.
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