Classic model. We are particularly proud of the instrument test result for the C 182 Tradition. Le Monde de la Musique, one of the leading French musical periodicals, produced a succinct and concise summary of the model’s characteristics: “Unmistakably developed for the demanding musician and … its excellent action which has evolved from the larger-scale brand models permits a veritable interlink with the tone. With this model C 182 Tradition, Schimmel has produced a grand piano which is capable of doing justice to the major works of the piano repertoire.”
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The fascination of Art Nouveau grand pianos. Decorative curves, surfaces decorated with floral ornaments and abandonment of symmetry: These are the elements of Art Nouveau, also termed in German as Jugendstil, a new artistic style which transformed everyday articles into artistic objects. The intention was to incorporate art into everyday life. Here it was the decorative arts which came into their own. This approach is also appreciated by the piano craftsmen at Schimmel and prompted the development of this grand piano model.
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The wonderful world of tonal colours. What sounds like a pedantic obsession with detail is the basis of the rich tonality of Schimmel pianos. All 88 hammer-heads of each upright and grand piano are pricked with voicing needles several ten thousand times by hand in a painstaking process to form the versatile tonal colouring of Schimmel's instruments. The voicer utilises his finely tuned manual dexterity to give the felt its elasticity and thereby provide each instrument with an optimum tone quality. This requires a rigorously highly-trained ear and great sensitivity for the finest tonal nuances. This is how the Schimmel craftsmen breathe life into the soul of Schimmel pianos!
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Magical resplendence. For many people, thirteen is a mystical number. This number certainly provides Schimmel instruments with a magic gloss. This is because they utilise a traditional piano varnish which is applied in thirteen work phases with around one and a half kilogram per square metre and is primarily further processed by hand to produce a high gloss. This is how Schimmel produce the unique gloss and the special depth effect which are so characteristic of their upright and grand pianos.
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Instruments with distinctive character. The Empire style (1804-1830), originating in Paris, took the world of the grand salons by storm and was closely linked to the personality cult surrounding Napoleon Bonaparte. Representation and decoration were the objectives of the style which was characterised by straight lines, austerity and solemnity, for example in furniture, art and fashion. Schimmel have recreated this style in their Empire grand pianos, but not in its most opulent form. The slender lines of marquetry and fine carvings emphasise the classic elegance of the Early Napoleonic era. This is an ornament for any room in which the grand piano can communicate the flair and atmosphere of a French salon.
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The fount of good sound. Here we must first give our thanks to Bartolomeo Christofori who invented the hammer technique in 1700 which heralded the birth of the pianoforte. Ever since, piano makers have been searching for the perfect hammer-head for a consummate sound. At Schimmel, the characteristics of the hammer-head felts which have an influence on the composition of the tone are examined meticulously. The density and weight of the felt, its tension and simultaneous flexibility, the type of wool utilised and how this wool is processed, the correct way of cutting the felt and the way in which it is moulded: these aspects are all vital to ensure that their hammer-heads transfer the energy of the player’s touch to the resonating strings in an optimum manner. The felt manufacture is undertaken according to a traditional process which is more time-consuming than modern industrial felt manufacture, but is the sole method to ensure delivery of premium-quality felt for Schimmel's instruments.
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Consummate tone. Pythagoras of Samos is said to have asserted that “Everything is related to numbers”. In ancient times, he experimented on a one-stringed instrument to discover the ratio between notes and numbers. This interrelationship is still relevant today for the constructors at Schimmel. For example, when they calculate and develop the cast-iron plates for specific instruments according to stability and acoustic criteria. Nowadays, Schimmel employ high-tech software for this purpose which is also utilised in the aircraft construction industry. The almost 1000 computer-controlled precision bore holes in the sounding body alone guarantee a fitting accuracy to a micron-exact degree in the acoustic element of the piano. This is precision work which makes a major contribution to the consummate sound of Schimmel's upright and grand pianos!
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A class of its own. With a compact length of 2.56 metres, the K 256 Tradition is slightly shorter than the traditional 2.70 metre concert grand. The model is however 16 centimetres longer than the wide range of grand pianos available in the 2.40 size – this extra length means greater tonal volume and sonority. This is the perfect alternative model for medium-sized concert halls, churches and for institutional purposes. This model is certainly in a class of its own among the larger concert grands!
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