Adrian Mann and his long piano Photo: RNZ
Adrian Mann's piano business is expanding - in more ways than one.
It's now more than a decade since Mann built his first extra-long grand piano. Now he's got orders from overseas to build two more.
Speaking with RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump, Mann said the long piano idea first occurred to him when he was a teenager and asked himself if a longer grand would produce better bass notes.
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Standard pianos produce their low notes with fatter strings, and Mann wondered if achieving the same note with a longer string might make for a better sound.
Some told him it couldn't be done, but the self-taught Mann proved the doubters wrong, creating a fully functional 5.7-metre-long instrument named the Alexander piano, after his great-great-grandfather, Alexander Barrie Mann (a maternal cousin of Sir James Matthew Barrie – author of Peter Pan).
Here's proof.
When Mann first got inquiries from prospective buyers he wondered if they might be trying to scam him. But after his lawyers ran a few checks, they confirmed there are indeed customers for the stretch piano in Switzerland and London.
However, it will take a while before Alexanders 2 and 3 are delivered. He says it will take the best part of two years to build them. In the meantime, he is going to have less time to devote himself to the bread and butter of his Otago-based business: selling and tuning pianos.