Player Piano Systems

PIANODISC

PianoDisc is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of player piano systems, with a dealer network that literally spans the globe. The company was founded in 1988, and in very short order became one of the most successful, innovative and influential companies in the music products industry.

PianoDisc began in a modest-sized piano retail store in Sacramento, California, which was owned by brothers Gary & Kirk Burgett. In 1979, the two had decided to start a business together that would take advantage of each one’s talents and interests. Gary was a pianist and music teacher with a successful studio of his own, and Kirk was a skilled piano technician and rebuilder. The company they founded was called Burgett Pianos, and through a combination of hard work and marketing savvy they rapidly took annual sales from 50 pianos to over 400.

One important selling tool for the brothers was a product called Pianocorder, a cassette-driven player system that could be added to any piano. The Burgetts let Pianocorder demonstrate their pianos in malls, department stores, model homes and a host of other offsite locations, and it drew fascinated customers—people who didn’t play the piano and never would have thought of buying one—into their store.

Pianocorder sales eventually made up close to 40% of Burgett Pianos’ business, so the brothers were alarmed when, in 1988, Yamaha (the Japanese piano manufacturer), bought the rights to Pianocorder and promptly took it off the market. Yamaha planned to come out with its own player system and wanted to eliminate its competition beforehand.

Since the Burgetts were not Yamaha dealers, they suddenly had no player system to sell and stood to lose 40% of their sales. In the true entrepreneurial spirit, the Burgetts saw this not as a catastrophe but as an opportunity. They knew they were not alone—there were thousands of piano dealers with no product to sell—so they decided to meet the demand by making their own system, which they called PianoDisc. They produced their first system in March of 1989 and over the years many generations of PianoDisc player systems have been introduced, each one expanding the capabilities and features of the last.

To support a product as sophisticated as PianoDisc, a music library was needed that was just as sophisticated, so the company began recording some of the world’s finest pianists. Over the years, more than 4000 songs in every category of music have been recorded for PianoDisc and its library is still growing.

Today, PianoDisc systems are in private homes, hotels, restaurants, music schools, recording studios and a host of other places, bringing the joy of live music to anyone who hears them. The company has over 600 dealers and distributors in 40 countries around the world. Wherever it’s shown everyone agrees: PianoDisc is one of the most exciting music products to come along in decades, and an important component in modern home entertainment.

PIANOMATION

Today's player piano entertainment systems are based on solenoids and plungers that are computer-activated to move the keys. The design and construction of the solenoids and plungers is a key differentiator between brands of player piano systems and an important consideration when choosing your entertainment system. Pianomation has long been considered the "gold standard" in the industry for player piano technology, and with good reason.

Pianomation player piano systems use specially designed solenoids and plungers that eliminate problems commonly found in competitive player piano systems.

• Plungers are made using a non-stick coating that minimizes friction and wear and are precision fit for tightness, to eliminate the potential for mechanical noise and rattling in your player piano system.
• Superior engineering and watch dog circuitry eliminate the risk of hot or overheated solenoids that can dry out the action parts of the piano.
• Plunger throw distance is adjustable on a solenoid-by-solenoid basis to perfectly match the distance that each individual key travels, ensuring your player piano system delivers unparalleled sound control and more musical expression.

DISKLAVIER

Disklavier is the brand name for a group of piano-related products made by the Yamaha Corporation.  It was introduced in the United States in 1987.

The various forms of Disklavier are essentially modern player pianos that use electromechanical solenoids and optical sensors connected to LEDs allowing them to play notes and use the pedals independently of any human operator. Most models are based upon real acoustic pianos and have been engineered such that the sensors and electromechanical elements do not interfere with or affect the normal playing of the instrument. They include the ability to store data, including performance data played by a human pianist, and then use that data to replay / reproduce the performance. Disklaviers also have inputs for data from MIDI and from several storage devices including floppy disks, CD-ROM, serial cables, and USB.

Disklaviers have been manufactured in the form of upright, baby grand, and grand piano styles (including a nine-foot concert grand), along with a product aimed at the professional market called the Disklavier Pro. There is also a digital piano version from Yamaha's 'GranTouch' range. It is claimed by the manufacturer that the Disklavier Pro is able to reproduce key and pedal strokes with greater precision than the standard Disklavier instrument. It is the official instrument of the Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition, which by 2009 was in its 6th year.