The world’s largest grand piano was built by a 15-year-old in New Zealand. The piano is a little over 18 feet long and has 85 keys – 3 short of the standard 88.
100 Mind-Blowing Piano Facts
The man with the world’s deepest voice can make sounds humans can’t hear. The man, Tim Storms, can’t even hear the note, which is eight octaves below the lowest G on a piano—but elephants can.
The largest grand piano in the world was built by a teenager. The piano is over 18 feet long and has 85 keys. This is 3 keys short of the standard 88. This grand piano can be found in New Zealand.
There’s an apartment inside the Eiffel Tower. When Gustave Eiffel designed the tower, he added a hidden apartment on the third level—but he never lived there, nor did anybody. Instead, Eiffel used this space to entertain guests such as Thomas Edison. Though it wasn’t big, the apartment was decorated with wallpaper, furnished with wooden cabinets, and even had a grand piano. Nowadays, you can get a peek at the unique space through a window if you ride up the tower.
The Katzenklavier was a piano made out of cats. No, it wasn’t made out of their skin or bones, but it’s still one of the most disturbing WTF facts: Designed in the 17th century by Athanasius Kircher, it was a piano that had a row of caged cats with different pitches. This cat piano would then be played with the traditional keyboard that drove nails into their tails instead of into strings.
Beethoven could still hear after going deaf. If you’re wondering how Beethoven still managed to be a great composer even when he was deaf, it was because of this method: He bit onto a metal pole connected to his piano. He then felt or heard his music through the vibration in his bones.
A gamer completed Dark Souls using a Rock Band guitar. Another game notorious for its gameplay, only a few souls (nudge, nudge) brave this action RPG. However, Benjamin “Bearzly” Gwin took bravery to the next level: He beat the game with nothing but a Rock Band guitar. It doesn’t end there – he’s also done runs with the Rock Band drum kit, Rock Band piano, Donkey Kong bongo drum, microphone (voice control only), Wiimote, dance mat, steering wheel, and an Xbox 360 pad. He programmed these alternative controls himself, too. Wow.
Most people are aware that Beethoven was deaf. However, the musician figured out a way to hear even after losing the ability to hear sounds. If Beethoven bit into a metal pole that he connected to his piano, then he could hear through a process called bone conduction.
The first video camera recorder was as big as a grand piano!
The first-ever VCR was the size of a piano. When the first VCR (Video Camera Recorder) was made in 1956, it was the size of a piano. Way bigger than I would have guessed!
Restaurants can sing “Happy Birthday” now because the copyrights’ claims are invalid. Judge George H. King ruled that a copyright filed in 1935 granted only the rights to specific piano arrangements of the music, not the song itself.