It was, however, the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company that took the symmetrical grand piano and turned it into the Butterfly Grand. The upright grand was designed for use in a small orchestra where floor space is strictly limited. Both these have a vertically-mounted symmetrical frame, but the former has the apex sitting on the floor, whilst the latter has the frame rotated and sat just above the keyboard. Other variants include the Perpendicular Grand and the Orchestral Upright Grand. Orchestral Upright Grand Piano, c1950 (L) and Perpendicular Grand Piano c1934 (R). Manufacturers such as Strohmenger, with their half-moon shaped baby grands, were delivering contemporary instruments that perfectly complemented this design ethos. However, it was the Art Deco movement of the 1920s and 30s that fuelled demand for these instruments. Symmetrical grand pianos first appeared around the 1880s, with manufacturers such as Hugo Sohmer at the design forefront. Originally symmetrical grands had lids hinged parallel to the keyboard but these are rather less pleasing in appearance, and the sound is reflected away from the player. With the two вЂњwingsвЂќ raised, the bass notes tend to emanate to the left and the treble notes to the right. Photo: Great GatsbyвЂ™s Auction Gallery.ДЄnd so, with this basic symmetrical design, the lid can be hinged down the middle and the butterfly effect created. Wurlitzer Model 235 Butterfly piano with the bass вЂњwingвЂќ removed. Read more about string length and inharmonicity here. Even so, the bass strings will still not deliver the timbral quality of a traditional grand piano. The longer bass strings arenвЂ™t therefore needed, and the instrument can be made more compact. The casework of the symmetrical grand restricts the length of the bass strings, and this can lead to inharmonicity (unwanted overtones) when thicker strings are used to compensate for length.ДЄ common solution is to simply reduce the span of the keyboard, and that is why most symmetrical grands have 73, not 88 notes. That is why a standard grand piano has its customary shape-a straight bass-side, and a curved S-shaped treble-side. To get the best sound from a piano the strings need to be as long as possible with, of course, the bass strings being the longest. They are attractive to look at but the symmetrical grand is to some extent a compromised instrument. They get their name from the two-part вЂњwingedвЂќ lid which gives the piano a butterfly-like appearance. Most, but not all, butterfly pianos are symmetrical grands. After 29 bids the piano sold for US$6,500, somewhat exceeding expectations! So what is going on here, and what is a butterfly piano? Photo: Great GatsbyвЂ™s Auction Gallery Symmetrical Grand Pianos It had an estimated value of US$1,000 вЂ“ US$1,200. WeвЂ™ve shown it below.A few days ago a nice example of a Wurlitzer Model 235 Butterfly Piano sold at Great GatsbyвЂ™s вЂњA Lifetime Collection at AuctionвЂќ sale. In fact, the Discovery Channel filmed an entire segment on MasonвЂ™s factory process for вЂњHow Its MadeвЂќ. Not every piano builder considers the precision of an instrument to be critical to the essence or вЂsoulвЂ™ of its pianos, but at Mason, on every single floor of their 6-story factory building, you can observe the commitment to perfection. Very few woodworking companies in the world can claim a factory tolerance of 0.004вЂі, as Mason can, and itвЂ™s baked right in to the companyвЂ™s philosophy.

Mason & Hamlin has elevated the art of piano building to a new standard of precision.

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