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Thread: Two Guys And A Piano. In A Train Station

  1. #1

    Two Guys And A Piano. In A Train Station

    Do they really have pianos just sitting around across the pond?

    Although I do remember walking through a back hallway into one of the casinos here and in a forgotten corner in the back was a baby grand and a guy was playing Don't Stop Believing from Journey. Which was kinda cool but anyway, you guys have pianos just sitting around for anyone to play?

    I live in a weird town so I'm not sure if this is a commonplace thing. Reality in Las Vegas is a bit different so I really don't know. This town has warped my perceptions.

    Anyway, onto the video. I really do think this will give you guys a smile.

    Carry On My Blood-Ejaculating Son - JKL2000

  2. #2
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheLoony View Post
    Do they really have pianos just sitting around across the pond?
    Yeah, it happens...

    Thanks for sharing
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

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    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    Best part was hearing the synth tones over the public address, the same ones that David Gilmour sampled and formed the basis for his song "Rattle That Lock" on the new album. I knew he'd sampled them from the French train system but hadn't heard them in context before.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by TheLoony View Post
    Do they really have pianos just sitting around across the pond?
    Yes, there are. I know there is one in The Hague (a town close to where I live) and there seems to be one in Utrecht as well. I think there is also one in Amsterdam, but I'm not sure about that. All on railway stations.

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    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheLoony View Post
    Do they really have pianos just sitting around across the pond?
    In France, in some public places (pubs, rail stations, etc), yes they do.

    I think it's wonderful.
    Steve F.

    www.waysidemusic.com
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    Member Magic Mountain's Avatar
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    Thanks for posting. I really enjoyed that!

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    I don't understand why you WOULDN'T have pianos at train stations. Surely you don't expect commuters to carry their own pianos around with them on the train?

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    Member StevegSr's Avatar
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    Are you speaking of the sound stages used for filming the movie Casablanca?
    To be or not to be? That is the point. - Harry Nilsson.

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    When I was recently in Italy, there was a public piano in the underground shopping mall under the railway station in Florence, standing against a wall between two very high end shops.
    I've also seen them in Rome, London, Stockholm and Tallinn.

    These 2 geezers in London are great

    Last edited by PeterG; 12-20-2015 at 04:12 PM.

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    Here's Dr K again, but this time at Marylebone Station....on a very out of tune piano


  11. #11
    So they're playing Muron's Theme from Braveheart?

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    Those pianos (piani?) look to be in decidedly better condition than the last one I saw in an outdoors setting. It's in a most bizarre location - in a pedestrian tunnel in Fremantle that links the town centre with the beach. Goodness knows when or why it was put there.

    I tried the keys, and some of them actually produced a note - of sorts. Not exactly Steinway quality.

    There is an old upright that seems to make a regular appearance at local street festivals. Presumably it belongs to someone who has something to do with organising these festivals. Typically it will be just sitting there alongside the stalls, with "PLAY ME" painted on it - and sometimes people do. It's not concert quality either, but it's in better nick than that one in the tunnel.

    A gay male couple used to live a couple of houses down on my street. One of them - he died two years ago - was a very accomplished pianist in the honky tonk style. I'm told the style of music is called "Stride". He had played in festivals all over the world, in places like New Orleans. He and his piano were always a fixture at any community fair, and he also used to take it in to the city centre and "busk" in the mall. I don't think he needed the money, he just liked doing it. After his death his friends had a bit of a wake in the city; his piano was there in the pedestrian mall, adorned with flowers.
    Last edited by bob_32_116; 12-21-2015 at 12:08 AM.

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    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    As long as they avoid ragtime music (I loathe that), they can play almost anything on them station/airport pianos.
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

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    Then there is this piano I saw once; apparently someone had left it out in the snow, a rather foolish idea I should think:

    a171c3dc.jpg

    and another one, that looks as if someone threw it out of an aircraft; perhaps the aircraft was in trouble and they needed to lighten the load:

    Porcupine_tree_stars_die.jpg
    "Porcupine tree stars die" by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:P..._stars_die.jpg
    Last edited by bob_32_116; 12-21-2015 at 03:38 AM.

  15. #15
    The people's expression says that practice is not common for their stations.
    “None but ourselves can free our minds.” - Bob Marley

  16. #16
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RLinda View Post
    The people's expression says that practice is not common for their stations.
    Welcome to the site Linda

    My guess is more that they're surprised at the quality they're getting to hear, because you generally get bored kids clunking in the three notes they know how to play

    On top of it, it's generally not your local "third dune to the left" commuter train stations that you'll find these pianos, but international ones ... therefore not necessarily people used to seeing this kind of event, because not frequent international travellers.
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

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    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bob_32_116 View Post
    and another one
    Could it be the same piano? Perhaps someone set fire to it to remove the snow -- a common practice in Vermont -- and then when the fire spread they tossed it out the window to extinguish it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by rcarlberg View Post
    Could it be the same piano? Perhaps someone set fire to it to remove the snow -- a common practice in Vermont -- and then when the fire spread they tossed it out the window to extinguish it.
    Funny people.
    Memo to self: when walking next to multi-storey dwellings in Vermont, watch out for falling pianos.

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    Forgot to say, plural in Italian is pianoforti

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