Adding a player piano system will obviously mean the piano gets more use, but yes – you will be encouraged to play your piano too. I have heard this over and over from clients. While enjoying your live performance of Bach for breakfast, you decide to sit down at the bench and tickle the ivories yourself. Hearing your piano being played will remind you of why you love your piano! Kids are mesmerized by a piano that plays itself and curiosity will be sparked, maybe even inspired to learn to play.
Billy Joel sounds great through a speaker, but he’ll give you chills when your piano becomes the source. QRS records and offers concerts to you – every single nuance of an artist’s performance is captured and replayed through your piano. From Lady Gaga at the Oscars, to Norah Jones in the studio, or even the original pneumatic rolls that George Gershwin recorded himself and which have since been digitized, you can enjoy them all as if they were there, ghosts playing your piano. Many of these performances are synced to accompanying video as well.
Your guests will love listening to Harry Connick Jr. croon the tunes while playing your piano on New Year’s Eve. At Christmas with the family, your nephew might shout “Alexa, play Silent Night on the piano.” Or maybe your weekend bar-b-que will morph into a karaoke party?
Imagine being able to re-experience your child’s first recital, or the last time that grandma played the piano, for generations to come.
Let’s look into the possibilities of upgrading your current player piano system.
Please select the maker of your system below – if you don’t know, you can usually find it by looking underneath the piano at the control box. If you still aren’t sure, text me a photo.
Having a player piano allows you to have live piano music without the need for a live piano player.
The ambience of an acoustic instrument in your home, lobby, care facility, or common space is soothing to the soul in a way that a stereo system simply cannot approximate.
Whether you like to sit back and listen to Gershwin playing YOUR piano, or you want to add atmosphere to your next gathering, owning a player piano will bring you joy and enrich your life.
Yamaha Disklavier and Steinway Spirio ($22,000 add-on to a new piano) are only available pre-installed at the factory, which leaves you with the choice between QRS PNOmation or Pianodisc Prodigy systems. Both make excellent products, cost about the same ($8500 base, including installation), and have similar features such as wireless control. You can even ask Alexa/Google/Siri to play a certain song for you! If you aren’t sure which way to go, we will help you with the decision.
Both QRS and Pianodisc offer a basic playback-only system, as well as amazing upgrades that can turn your piano into a fully capable midi keyboard. Adding a mute rail which stops the hammers just shy of striking the strings, in combination with a recording strip (hidden below the keys), allows you to record your own music for later playback on the piano, or you can have the data sent directly to your DAW for remixing. The cost for this add-on is $3500. The possibilities are endless with a midi piano – you can put on a pair of headphones, play your piano, but hear what you are playing come through as a pipe organ, or harpsichord, or anything else you can dream up.
Would you like to tie your piano into your whole-house audio system? What about linking to your television and watching a performance of Elton John, except instead of listening on your speakers, he is playing your piano! In the not far-off future, there will be much more of this sort of thing, including integration with video calls – imagine taking piano lessons remotely, and when you play your piano, your teacher will hear you playing theirs.
We only install systems in our shop, never in a home. We cut into the piano which can get messy and loud, and we use various power tools to fabricate parts special for your piano. Every piano is different, and every installation requires some unique modifications. Burd and Sons Piano Service does not move pianos, we leave that to the specialists.
We pride ourselves in being absolutely meticulous with our work. Depending on options chosen, an install takes between 3 days to a week. You are welcome to visit your piano during the process, but beware – hot-rodding a piano is not for the weak of heart!
After a thorough burn-in session and post-installation testing, the piano comes back to you. If you are within a 90 minute drive, a member of our team will walk you through setting up apps and basic instructions in your home. If the piano is farther from us here in St Louis, we will be available to you via telephone as you familiarize yourself with your new system.
There are many good and common questions about modern player pianos – if you have a question that isn’t answered here, please send me an email or text.
This one is really important! I have been installing, upgrading, and repairing digital player piano systems for over 30 years. I am a certified installer and a dealer of Pianodisc products, and a certified installer and dealer of QRS products (being both a dealer and installer means that I can give you the best prices). Very few piano technicians have as much experience with digital player pianos as I do. My son/assistant is also meticulous and does excellent work. We stand by our installations, and we guarantee your satisfaction.
When properly installed, your piano will still function exactly as it did before adding a player piano system. If yours doesn’t, it is due to a poor installation. We can fix that!
This is a very common issue. Most likely your piano needs to be regulated and voiced, and the player system needs to be re-calibrated. Player pianos tend to get heavy use and require regular maintenance. We can take care of this for you!
We do not. For parts and good information, visit Player Care.
For pneumatic player piano repairs in the St Louis Metro, we recommend Piano World Enterprises.
It depends on options and the quality of the installation, but roughly from about $8,000 to $10,000. Most basic installations average about $8500 total, including the parts and labor.
95% or more of the time, yes. Notable exceptions are square grands or other early instruments, or pianos with odd shaped or special cases. Please note that not every piano is worthy of a player piano installation. For example, we would not install a player system into a spinet piano.
If you live in the St Louis Metro, I would hope that you choose me!
No matter where you live though –
