Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Were any acoustic pianos made with "waterfall" keyboards?

Just out of pointless curiousity I was wondering if any acoustic pianos were ever made with waterfall keys like a hammond organ. I remember seeing some great photos of a Bechstein that had been "tropicalized" on this forum - I thought the keys looked cool.

Yes, I have seen a few.

I have seen at least two like that. One was a Lester spinit, the other was a old grand but I can't remember the brand. It seems like it might have been a Vose. Anyway, rounded over key tops are a little disconcerting to play on. I don't like them on a piano. On a Hammond Organ, however, they are the bomb.

Call me stupid but what are waterfall keys?

Waterfall keys are keys that are rounded over on the front. Traditional piano keys have a keytop that extends slightly over the front of the key. Waterfall keys do not have that slight overhang, but instead use a rounded over shape. Here is an example.

Lester, Fisher, and Winter to name a few.

This is my first entry in this wonderful forum.

I finally know what "waterfall" keyboards are.

I have seen an old 7' Mason&Hamlin owned by a friend of my family and a german spinet (do not know the maker) owned by one of my professors. This was back in the 1950s. I found these keyboards strange, I never knew the had a name.

[quote=Pianolance]Waterfall keys are keys that are rounded over on the front. Traditional piano keys have a keytop that extends slightly over the front of the key. Waterfall keys do not have that slight overhang, but instead use a rounded over shape. Here is an example.
[/quote


Thanks for the info.Pianolance.

Not to mention, the incomparable Gordon Laughead!

It seems like they were popular back in the 50's as when Uncle George mentions having seen them.

I remember the Gordon Laughead example I first saw of them cause indeed they seemed very strange.

That's the one I was thinking of. When my daughter's Brownie troop went caroling at the old folks' home this Christmas (I was accompanying them, the place had a nice old parlor-sized Knabe grand for me to use) the side meeting room had a Gordon Laughead spinet with waterfall keys. The keytop shape didn't bother me nearly as much as the mushy key feel....

As some older members may know I spent over 42 years in the piano business. And the very first piano I ever sold was a Gordon Laughhead Spinet. (Blonde)
The very first factory I visited was the Laughead plant.
Old memories.

I apologise for bumping an ancient thread, but what about waterfall keys feels wrong to pianists, given one doesn't usually touch the keys' edge?

I would love for all keyboards to be waterfall-style.

Wouldn't the water fall all over your knees and eventually flood the room? Wouldn't it be hard to play with a fountain flowing over the keys? Seems a bit silly if you ask me.

that's not to mention the water damage to your piano. I imagine waterfall pianos probably need to be made out of something more moisture resistant than wood

I found these waterfall pianos you're all talking about. Wouldn't it be annoying getting totally soaked every time you wanted to play the piano?

I have never played on a piano with waterfall edged keys and it would be interesting. However, I don’t agree with your premise that pianists fo not play on the edge. It is not common but the larger the interval spread and the smaller the pianist’s hands makes it more likely the chord will be played at the edge.

Waterfall style keys would not offer any advantage on a hammer weight keybed and instrument with varying dynamics because it still would not support palm glissandos very well.

I have never heard of this kind of keyboard. If anyone has a photo please share! (It looks like the original photo is no longer visible, not surprising on a 10 year old thread!)

It's nice to have a little extra length on the overhang of a normal key, not so nice to jam your finger into it while reaching.

Speaking of glissandos, would raising the back of the white key to be level with the black ones make a chromatic glissando possible?

No photo, but a schematic. Purely straight edged

https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=387338