Pianos picturesAdvanced Photoshop Pictures Contest - 22 image entries
Contest Directions: 
China has made the world's first playable ice piano. The piano is displayed at Expo Ice Sculpture exhibition in Harbin city. Much to the joy of the exhibition visitors, they can play the piano themselves; the ice piano can also automatically play numerous classical piano pieces.
Photoshop pianos (or any parts of them) any way you wish. Some examples are: re-designing pianos by merging them with some objects or gadgets, making pianos or piano keys out of unusual materials (e.g. cheese), including pianos in paintings, etc.
[ browse best gallery pictures ] Tags: pianos
Jackpot: 1st place: $5, 2nd place: $3 , 3rd place: $2
Started: 1/15/2008 6:00:00 AM, Ended: 1/17/2008 6:00:00 AM
|  |
|
|
| This contest is fueled by the following news: |
| | Piano is a common name for keyboard-string musical instrument’s class of grand pianoforte called piano for short. The name originates from Italian “forte” – “loud” and piano “silent”.
Sound in piano is extracted by touching strings with small musical hammers. Strings are ajangled to resonating sounding board by means of pegs (in piano the deck located vertically, while on grand piano it is horizontal).
Modern piano has two or three damper pedals. Earliest instruments had sliding levers when pressed by pianist’s knees served the same purpose as mentioned above.
Pianoforte is divided into grand piano - stings located horizontally and piano-strings located vertically.
Piano can be used as solo instrument and also with orchestra (for instance, in concerts for piano with orchestra). Playing piano demands good technique, attention and efficiency. piano learning in Russian music schools covers 5-7 years, depending upon the program. For joining any music institute, some pupils remain to study for one or two years more before completing the school. piano learning should start in child age because for adults it is quite difficult to learn piano. Later one can continue learning music profession in any music college. In Russian primary schools, learning common piano is a mandatory subject for almost all specialties.
Piano requires careful maintenance, from time to time, tuning because, some strings get loose and extracted sound becomes different. (Electronic instruments are rather less fastidious and they do not need tuning in this regard).
Predecessors of piano were harpsichord and later clavichords were invented.
Their flaws were: fading sound very much needed for legato and continuous level of sound which excludes one among expressive means of music – change of sound). Mechanics of modern piano was invented by Italian maestro Christophori in about 1709, in that design, hammers were located in under strings. (the design was named gravicembalo col piano e forte, from this originated present name piano. Similar systems were developed by Marius in France (1716) and Shroeter in Germany (1717-21). The system based on the principle of tossing hammer fixed to key and was invented by Zilberman and his disciple I. Stein in 1731. In 1821, Erard invented mechanism action with double repetition which allowed extracting sound when quickly repeated pressing of keys (in earlier instruments, hammer slowly was retreated and it was not possible). Manufacturing piano was associated with work of Tischner and Virta in 1818-1820. Today piano manufacturers have their own slightly varying versions of piano mechanics. First music works for piano appeared in c. XVIII (Haydn, Mozart). Pedals were added in course of evolution. In c. XX absolutely different instruments emerged electronic piano and synthesizers, and also emerged is peculiar form of sound extraction – ready piano.
The person playing music works on piano is called pianist. Professional pianists can perform as individual performers, playing in accompanying orchestra or band, and accompanying one or several musicians.
Usually pianists start learning piano in early age, some sit behind grand piano even from three years of age. Many famous composers were gifted pianists too. For instance, Franz Peter Schubert, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sergey Rakhmaninov, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Ferenc Liszt, Johann Brahms, Frederic Shopen, Robert Shuman and other composers were virtuoso of piano music. Majority of pianists specialize in particular composers or times. But repertoire of many pianists is not limited to just classical music, but includes works of such styles like Jazz, Blues and pop music. |
|
| | 22 Contest Pictures Page 1 2 3 - View All
|
|
