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Hi everyone, I have movers coming over on Monday to reposition my piano and I'm trying to figure out what my best option is. The piano is a Yamaha C2X (so 5'8") and in an alcove that is about 9.8' x about 12' but it opens out to a larger room that's about an additional 20'. Currently, the piano is angled in the space in such a way that the lid opens towards a wall, making it pretty lively:



I want to turn it so it opens out to the larger room. I have two options to do so. First I can rotate it about 90 degrees so that it's still angled in the space:



Or I can position it so it's more square in the space:



I was planning on going with the first option, but now I'm second guessing myself. I might have the movers position it both ways so I can try out each way and see if one sounds better than the other (potentially difficult to assess, the piano needs to be tuned which will be done the following day), but I welcome any thoughts or opinions anyone would like to share.

Hi Cassia! that's a lovely space you have there!

I have a Yamaha C2, so same size, just older than yours. Also my piano space is a little larger than yours, (ETA my piano room is 10'10" by 18'10") but your total space is much larger than mine.

I wonder if you might find that the sound and use of space is best in option two.... Re sound, in option 1, you still have some of the sound directed at a wall, right? If so, I'd go with option 2. But of course, if you have try both, that's definitely the thing to do!

You may have seen this already, but here's what I posted in a different thread about my own adventures in repositioning my piano. I think I had the piano moved maybe barely two months after buying it!

***
Here are the before/after pics and floor plans of my piano placement. In both the before and after photos, it's kind of hard to tell but there's that open floor space on the left side of each floor plan. I use that space for folding chairs, but in the original placement, I had no idea I would hate sitting with my back to everyone. So that was my original motivation for repositioning.

But notice the location of the doors in the floor plans. I love my piano, and it sounded lovely in the first placement.

Original placement:


Before repositioning 1:


Before repositioning 2:


But then when I had the piano moved, wow, the sound quality just knocked my socks off! It sounded so, so much better. And not just the bass, but in all registers. And I think it's partly because of those doorways, but also partly because the piano opens out to the longer part of the room.

Oh, and this room isn't that big, it's 10'10" by 18'10"

New placement:


After repositioning 1:


After repositioning 2:

ShiroKuro, your post is actually what has me reconsidering! Your C2 looks so nice in your space and is somewhat similar to mine (even if your shortest wall has a foot on mine). If I go with the first option, I don't think there will be much sound directed at a wall - the far wall actually has huge openings making it effectively a half wall and the space for the sound to expand into much larger.

I wish pianos were easier to move so I could live with multiple positionings for a few weeks or months each.

thank you!!



Yes, exactly!! I ended up paying for that second move... I can't remember how much but obviously it would have been better if that wasn't actually necessary.

Regarding option, if the sound doesn't bounce on the wall, then I think it could be fine sound-wise....

I think option 1 might have the effect of emphasizing (in a good way) the depth of the room (maybe??)

Another benefit of #1 is that when you sit at the piano, you can more look out into the room (rather than at the opposite wall), and given that that wall is shorter, you might prefer option 1??

Option 2 is sort of a more traditional view when looking at the piano. With option 1, visitors can't see your hands, but they can with option 2.

Do you host piano parties or play with an instrumentalist? If yes, then option 1 might be better, but if not, then either...


Hmm, I'm not really helping!

I would vote for option 1. I think it looks better, I think it might sound better, and I think you will enjoy looking along the room when you are playing.

As you said you can try both options and decide according to the sound. I would go with option 2.

I agree I think this may be the best option.

I don't host parties or play with an instrumentalist. I hate performing so I don't need to think about an audience.

I hadn't considered what I would be looking at from the bench, so that's a good consideration. I like the view from option 1 best, and I do think it might sound a bit better, but aesthetically I think I prefer the way option 2 looks.

My young nephew had been taking piano lessons but recently gave them up and switched to cello instead. I'm sad that I won't have another pianist in the family, but secretly happy that he has chosen a more mobile instrument.

Both seem viable options, let the sound decide.

If the window has an interesting view I would definitely consider.

PMFJI (and forgive a dumb question):

. . . Why is it not "standard practice" to put a home piano
. . . on a dolly with large wheels, as is done in every concert hall ?

Is it "just esthetics", or is there something else?

Thanks --

A dolly would be added expense and aesthetically unattractive. But if one could rent one for a week or so then it would be idea to get the proper placement. They seem fairly easy to wheel around.

I guess the first setup will sound a little better.
You want to avoid beaming your sound straight into a wall (at opposite of the room) . Rotating the piano makes it a little less symmetrical. You might want to look into a bit of room treatment as well

The standard piano wheels are good enough for occasional moving. Most people don't do more than that

They are also not cheap, the solid types with a connection bar between them eg from Jansen are around $750

It often lifts up the entire piano; especially lifting the pedals is not helping the playability.

Re the dolly, I wouldn’t want one under my home piano aesthetically.

But re moving using the attached casters, if you have carpet, it’s not so straight forward I think. When I was trying to decide whether to reposition my piano, I googled around and read a lot, and posted here IIRC. And ultimately what I decided was that there were too many possibilities for things to go wrong by us moving the piano ourselves, and so I paid the piano movers to come back and move it for me.

Yes you should not try to roll over carpet. Probably not even with bigger wheels like on a dolly. You need to put in some solid sheets under the wheels first

Thanks everyone for your input, it was helpful to consider your different thoughts. Ultimately, I went with option 1. I'm not sure if it sounded better than option 2 (they seemed pretty similar to my ears), but I think it looks nicer. The only thing I don't like is this puts the piano a bit closer to the window, which is southern facing. I do have blackout shades and will be using them, but I also won't be enjoying quite as much natural light as I normally do. The sacrifices we make for our art, eh? Incidentally, the movers basically removed the caster cups and then just rolled the piano around. They might have lifted it a bit too as they rolled it, but the casters apparently were a help in the move.

Lovely!! Congratulations!

Re the southern exposure, could you angle the blinds up without closing them completely?

Get UV film for the window, cheap and highly effective

I never would have thought of that. Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks! I think it looks much nicer this way. The blinds are honeycomb cellular shades, so they don't angle. They do pull down from the top as well as up from the bottom, so I can position them that way. But now that Learux has suggested UV film, I'll have to try that out.