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What are Handcrafted Pianos?
The following is oversimplified, but there are two classes of new pianos available today, mass-produced and handcrafted. A factory which mass produces pianos may make over 100,000 pianos a year; compare this to Bosendorfer, a 180 year-old hand-builder of pianos, which made only a few hundred pianos last year. Mass produced pianos can be very good, but the difference between good and great can only be achieved by highly skilled people using the very best of materials, in an often painstaking process. For the most part human skills are replaced by technological processes in mass produced pianos.
Where are They Made?
The piano was invented and evolved in Europe. There would be no argument that that the finest piano makers are there still, primarily in Germany, where a handful still carry on including Schimmel, (Germany's top-selling piano, (think of Porsche, BMW)), Bluthner and Steinberg. Austria makes the legendary Bosendorfer, while Estonia and Italy each have very respected piano builders. Many of these instruments are very comparable in quality, but they will have their own characteristic tone, or voice; so to will their "touch" be different, and different pianos will of course appeal to different players. A hand-crafted, or performance piano will cost more, but it is an investment which can last through several generations of a family. You do not have to be an artist to see, hear and feel the difference.
How to Choose a Handcrafted Piano
 It is difficult, if not impossible to see many high-end pianos unless you live in, or can visit, a major city. In Toronto the rare opportunity exists to see and extraordinary selection of the world's finest pianos at Robert Lowrey's Piano Experts.
Robert Lowrey’s Piano Experts has by far, Canada's, and one of the world's, largest selection of pianos Their now 24,000 sq ft. facility, features 9 separate showrooms anchored by Canada's largest piano service facility. A visit to Robert Lowrey's is an exciting way to learn about pianos,as you tour their showrooms and workshops.
Robert Lowrey’s Piano Experts
943 Eglinton Avenue East,
Toronto, Ontario
M4G 4B5
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