American Grand

This was very interesting to me. Good overview of a huge project. I lost the timeline a couple times, and had wished for a short intro to how a piano works.

This is a fascinating look at what I'm guessing is becoming a lost art. This documentary covers the start to finish, although not in sequence, restoration of a 1920s Steinway piano. The main restorer, a master in his field, has a long and impressive resume in tuning and restoring pianos. The rest of his team are made up of musicians, piano tuners and restores of various ages, experience and backgrounds. It's repeatedly pointed out that a restoration of this type is not a money-making venture, so I assume most of the team is being paid only with the invaluable knowledge that they pick up in the process. The incredible complexity of not only making the piano work and giving it new life, but in essence giving it a soul, is humbling. There are many detours to explain different facets of pianos, including their creation and evolution, manufacture and historical uses. A particularly interesting section for me was when the restorer visits the music department of 20th century Fox studios to fine-tune their piano for a particular soundtrack that's being recorded, and he names a list of well-known and classic movies that that piano has been used in over the last 50 plus years. Another memorable sequence is when a variety of reputable piano players take the refurbished piano for a test run. If you'd like to check out something a little different, I highly recommend this documentary.