Click here for a great Slate article, make sure you read to the end.

NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) is the big musical instrument industry trade show. Technically it’s held twice a year, but the big show is every January in Anaheim, California.

Anybody and everybody connected with the musical products industry shows and attends NAMM. This includes pianos of all price points, drums, brass and wind instruments, guitar picks, amps, guitars, disco fog machines, makers of fine hand crafted conducting batons and everything, I mean everything in between. It’s a huge show and the Anaheim Convention Center is one of the only convention centers in the country that can hold it.

NAMM is not a consumer show.  Manufacturers display their products and sell them to retailers, who will later sell them to consumers. Therefore it is a wholesale show, not open to the public. Thank god, because it is busy and crazy enough as it is. That being said, there are always professional musicians of all caliber visiting, including an annual visit by Stevie Wonder. Fans line up for autographs by people I don’t recognize and the hallways are decorated with colored mohawks, chains and fishnet, as well as business suits. Guess which group I’m in?

It’s a busy week, usually arriving on Monday and spending Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday setting up the display and getting ready. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are show days with Sunday usually when we get a chance to visit the other booths and catch up with friends, enemies and competitors.

More about NAMM part 1

Bosendorfer, in the past, has used NAMM to show some beautiful examples of our cabinet design skills and veneer work. However with business being slow and space smaller, it made more sense to show instruments that have more immediate sales potential. This year we displayed a model 290 Imperial with the CEUS reproducing system, a model 200 Johann Strauss, a model 214 in Jactoba (ya-TOE-ba) and a new example of the CS series. All these pianos, with the exception of the 290, were sold to dealers during the show. The 290 CEUS is going to North Carolina to (hopefully) be used in a recording project that will be discussed later.

Our new display room in the Marriott was small, with thick carpet and pipe and drape on the walls, resulting in a very acoustically “dry” room. At first it seemed to be  negative, since good piano sound usually means echo and reverberation to some degree. However as the show went on, we grew to really like the change. The extreme lack of reverb focused ones attention on the clarity of the sound and the typical Bosendorfer sustain. People coming in played completely differently and the “bangers” were very intimidated and didn’t stay very long. However, because everything was so close, it did make having a conversation a little challenging when someone was playing over mezzo piano. The reality is that you can really hear and understand the differences in piano brands in this kind of very dry, small environment. Everything, including the pianist, sounds bigger in a big, acoustically wet room. But that does not mean it is good.

Bosendorfer expanded and upgraded the CS line last year, but Lufthansa destroyed the one example we had brought to show dealers at Le Merigot. That combined with business conditions made the CS introduction last year  a bit of a non event so we treated this year as a new introduction. The line expanded to include (re-include) the models 170 and 180. The upgrade means that the ONLY difference between the CS and the standard line was the finish and some case details. Everything technical, including stringing, is exactly the same. This actually makes manufacturing easier, since we don’t need to decide if a particular instrument is CS or standard line until the very end of production when the finish is applied. The downside of the out-of-the-gun matte finish on the CS is that it is impossible to get a perfect repair. This is fine for schools and institutions, the primary target market of the line, where pianos get the tar beat out of them anyway. But it can be an issue in homes. Forewarned is forearmed.

There is more than just the room change that makes this year different.  There was a major reorganization announced in Vienna in late November. Basically the decision was made that Bosendorfer was too small to be able to afford its own worldwide sales and marketing team. So Bosendorfer will now concentrate on being a manufacturer and sales and marketing activities will be passed on to the representative Yamaha companies around the world. Here that means Yamaha Corporation of America (YCA) for the 50 states and Yamaha Canada for, well, Canada.

I don’t necessarily disagree with this decision. Business has been down and something in our overall structure had to change. Yamaha has stated over and over that they plan no changes in the way we make pianos or where we make them, so stepping into the distribution scene makes sense. The challenge is that Bosendorfer is a very different product from the standard Yamaha piano, sold by completely different dealers (with some exceptions) and by very different sales reps. Pianos are not just pianos at this level and credibility is a very important brand attribute. There  is a lot of work to do and the first step was to bring the public image of the 2 companies slightly closer together which meant a room next to Yamaha at the Marriott.

Another interesting twist is that technically my job with Bosendorfer ends on March 31 of this year. Bosendorfer, if you remember, will no longer have its own sales and marketing team, of which myself, Ray Chandler and Susan Muhler are all part. There have been some good discussions about Ray and myself continuing with Yamaha in some capacity but the clear casualty is my friend and colleague, Susan. Maybe more on that later, but her impact on Bosendorfer will be missed. I’m not crying too much for her, though. More people visited the booth to see her than to see the pianos and I’m fairly sure she will land on her feet.

So now you have a major Japanese piano maker with a proven high end approach owning and taking marketing and sales responsibility for a 180 year old Austrian maker of what is generally referred to as one of the worlds finest craft built pianos; what happens next?

My prediction is that good things will come out of this for both companies but the road will not be pot hole free.

1. Yamaha understands the high end piano world.

Yamaha has beaten their collective heads against the entrenched  base, prejudices and the occasionally less than honorable marketing techniques of the current industry monopolist and they are deeply aware of the sensitivity that surrounds the Bosendorfer brand identity. They have repeatedly stated that they plan no changes in Bosendorfer manufacturing and but will have to take some steps to ensure the continued viability of Bosendorfer as a semi-independent entity.

Yamaha also understands, at least intellectually, the culture of Bosendorfer distribution. There currently is clear and easy, usually 1 person, communication between the dealer and Bosendorfer for all issues, including inventory, service, credit and marketing. In addition, the brand attributes of Bosendorfer are subtle and complex and take a great deal of credibility to convey with any effectiveness. This credibility does not come from simply reading a sales guide, but from background, experience and dedication.  Yamaha knows that this culture is not something to be taken lightly or duplicated easily and has gone out of their way to ensure that as much of this culture as possible is maintained. They have stated clearly that being a Yamaha dealer has no bearing on whether or not one becomes a Bosendorfer dealer and the reverse applies as well.  This has calmed most of the Bosendorfer dealer network and helped them adapt a cautiously positive attitude.

2. The Yamaha sound and the Bosendorfer sound are very different

Yamaha is taking the “high rim tension” approach which results in a very different sound than the Bosendorfer low rim tension ideal. This means that these two concert pianos sounds do not compete with one another but are actually quite complementary. Within one corporate presence, one has access to two different approaches to piano tone, both of which are carefully considered, developed and supported.

3. The world is changing

Presence in concert halls with classical music performers means less and less each year. The  marketing of the dominant company in the concert world  is increasingly falling on ears that have either heard it all before or don’t care. Building fine pianos is one thing, having brilliant marketing is another and in this industry, the 2 do not combine in one company. The challenge will be to grow the market, or take market share, in new creative ways and there is are clear opportunities for this.

4. There are culture issues, both national and corporate

Bosendorfer is a small shop and Yamaha is a huge corporation. Bosendorfer dealers and customers are used to being part of a small family and Yamaha dealers are not. There is no way around this conflict as Yamaha integrates Bosendorfer into its logistic and administrative framework. The small shop feeling that Bosendorfer dealers currently enjoy does not have to disappear completely, but there is no question that some of it will. That may not be all bad, but it won’t all be good.

Yamaha is used to large numbers, corporate style reporting and a well proven formula for selling and distributing its many products. There is a part of Bosendorfer, for better or worse, that is still stuck in the 1800’s. This results in a feeling of inbred superiority that prevents the company from seeing a clear reflection in the mirror and from accepting that what worked for Ludwig Bosendorfer may not all apply in the 21st century.  Some of this age old culture must of course stay and the continuing high quality of the pianos reflects this perseverance.  But there is a disturbing calmness with which Bosendorfer accepts some suboptimal customer focused behavior that sometimes takes the form of “well, yes, maybe we don’t do a good job with parts and supplies, but after all, nothing sounds like a Bosendorfer!”.

5. Bosendorfer has been here before.

Bosendorfer was a subsidiary of Kimball International for 30 years. Kimball was a much less logical fit than Yamaha and yet Bosendorfer prospered during those years. In fact I firmly believe that a great part of Bosendorfers strong brand recognition in North America today is a direct result of the marketing money Kimball spent 20 years ago! Kimball was a much better steward of the Bosendorfer brand than they were of their own Kimball piano brand, since that brand has disappeared. Bosendorfer survived and actually thrived during this period. The company has been through changes of ownership before and the culture and quality has been maintained.

6. Yamaha needs what Bosendorfer offers and vice versa.

Bosendorfer knows the true high end piano world and is in a very good place to help Yamaha expand the market for Yamaha’s craft built CF series. It will require some careful listening and thought, but the knowledge is there. Yamaha can bring a worldwide discipline to Bosendorfer, hopefully without crushing the small shop feeling that seems to include thinking that  Ludwig Bosendorfer is just out to a long lunch.

Yamaha does not need Bosendorfer to teach them anything about piano building and Bosendorfer does not need Yamaha to introduce efficiencies into its manufacturing. These are knee jerk reactions from people who really don’t understand either company. The potential is more subtle and more powerful than that.

Oh, and one more thing. Everything in these posts is my personal opinion, not a statement of any kind by either company.

There was some recent news that seems to be universally misunderstood. The Bosendorfer factory in Wiener Neustadt is NOT moving. However, our administrative offices, currently on Graf Starhemberggasse in Vienna ARE moving to the factory in Wiener Neustadt.

The Graf Starhemberggasse facility used to the be the factory but now is mostly empty. The consolidation of space makes perfect business sense. The Salon on Bosendorferstrasse, in the back of the Musikverien will remain our primary presence in Vienna.

Heresy I know but I wouldn’t have even thought about it unless I saw it.

A very good FOB (friend of Bosendorfer) donated a model 225 to an important music department in the Midwest. However he specified that instead of black it be polished pyramid mahogany. As you can see this finish is beautiful and dramatic and quite different from the plain satin black most people are used to.  Now this is just my opinion and I am very very biased but I thought that mahogany piano on that stage was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen! It was so unexpected but fit so well, it had to be right!!

What do you think?

Pyramid Mahogony

225 pyramid mahogony on stage

Saw a model 200, about 30+ years old, rebuilt by a reputable shop. The original Schwander action had new Renner whippens. The hammers were Renner blues, the bass strings probably Mapes.  While overall the work was of reputable quality, it was a long way from Bosendorfer and had this strange burnt orange, thick lumpy finish on the plate.

The real question is, what is it? I would argue that it is not a Bosendorfer anymore since so many of the parts were not original. This flies in the face of common rebuilder philosphy, at least here in the US. This approach comes from the experience with American Steinway which says that a good rebuilder can actually make a piano BETTER than the original.

The issue is that assumptions made about one make of piano do not translate directly to another and most of the tweaks that people would take for granted in a Steinway actually deteriorates a Bosendorfer. If you own one, you can do with it what you want and there are some great high end technicians out there. You could done one of those wild bridge modifications, change hammers, Stanwoodize the action, add brass weights to the soundboard…LOTS OF STUFF, but I don’t know that you would end up with a better piano. Different, yes.

I’ve been trying to think of a proper analogy to keep from sounding like some corporate stooge and maybe here is one:

A major overhaul of a Bosendorfer by a high end tech, using some of the modifications above, is sort of like a sommelier choosing to take 3 expensive bottles of wine and blending them himself just before serving. Yes, the end result might be better than any of the 3 individual bottles, but many people want to see what the vinyard bottled, what the vinyard was looking for. They’re looking for the experience the maker intended, not what somebody else, skilled though they might be, thinks is right, just because he (or she) can.

These modification tools are great for helping older instruments, or ones that clearly have dificiences in important areas. This kind of modification is a relative recent development in this business. But doing so has ramifications.

I’m a big fan of Schiff. Terrifically thoughtful and sensitive pianist with very clear ideas of what he is looking for. Can’t really argue with that. AND, he stays away from all the big barn burner Romantic warhorses. Thank you…no really, thank you.

Andras and I used to be friendly a while ago (well, about 25 years ago) when I was a technician preparing a number of concert pianos for him.I got a chance to see up close his very individual approach to interpretation.  As are most musicians at this level, he was warm and funny as heck.

Garrick is a good friend of Bosendorfer and graciously agreed, at an event at the Museum of Arts and Design in NYC, to give a sampling from his upcoming all Scriabin recital.

This was music making of the highest order, in the most wonderful, casual, engaging setting you can imagine.

Le Merigot Hotel in Santa Monica

Namm has come and gone. We did something completely different this year by not showing at NAMM in our customary large booth with nice lighting, Viennese coffee and champagne.

Instead we hosted our dealers at the very nice Le Merigot in Santa Monica with the intention of giving them a relaxing break and a chance to talk with them (and take orders) in a more relaxed setting. The result was great..much less work, much less cost and much nicer all around experience.

The problem is that my relatively new Canon G9 camera disappeared. Whether or not I just lost it or it was taken out of my room is unclear and,ultimately, not important. But it does mean that a lot of good photos are gone, gone, gone.

We showed a revised CS and the new satin lacquer finish. Very well received.