Kigali Music School II

Had a really great day at Kigali Music School today. We mentioned before that they have a 1924 Heintzman that's in need of a little love, so Marion dropped by to teach manager, Bonani, how to tune the piano.

The instrument is in pretty good condition considering her age. Started by wiping the dust out from the inside. This is the water after one pass of the sponge!

But looking sparkly afterwards. Under all of that dust, each of the keys were numbered.

She's a bit of a difficult piano to tune because she has very high key buts - the part that connects the key to the hammer. You can see the stems along the bottom. Because of this, the action is very high, so when you get to the treble section it's extremely difficult to get the tuning dampers in so that you can listen to the strings accurately. Still, we pressed on and she now sounds wonderful.

Finished up with a DIY patch on a bridle strap. A few of the keys have crumbling straps just because of the age of the instrument. C8 went completely, so Marion crafted a makeshift hook using cardboard, sellotape and superglue. It'll hold until we can replace it properly.

Past The Point of No Return

Well, that's it. No backing out now. Yesterday Marion took the strings off Lirika, our template piano. She's going to need a new set to play again.

Speaking of which, we're searching for a string company to work with as we'll need to import a couple of sets, and more if we go into production. If anyone has a recommendation, drop us a line.

Naked Lirika

 

 

All Strung Out

We're jobbing for donations at Kigali Music School tomorrow. 

There's still time to donate to our Indiegogo campaign, and we really need all the support we can get. Among the prizes are a very limited number of original Lirika tuning pins which we'll be turning into pendants with the help of a local jeweller. 

It Begins - Welcome to Our Video Diary

We're getting everything prepared to start the project. In our first Vlog, Marion starts to take apart our template piano, Lirika. You can follow along with future updates here and on YouTube.

Last Wednesday our friend Fidele dropped by to give Lirika a last play. He taught himself to play keyboard at home and had never played an acoustic piano before. It is such a different experience, and always raises a smile. Often the only places people have seen real pianos are in church, and many people don't realise that they don't require electricity to work. 

We're starting a little early on this project as two people have already made enquiries about ordering. We still really need help paying for the prototype, but we feel that we stand a good chance of building a sustainable business once we have something to show. 

Kigali Music School

Just been to take a look at the piano at Kigali Music School. It's an upright Heintzman from Toronto, Canada. Built in 1924 it's looking pretty good for almost 100 years old!

Thanks to Launzo Music for telling us the age.

Going back to tune her soon, and working on a few small details such as the key covers, missing dampers and dust.

Proceeds from the tuning are going to our Kigali Keys project to build pianos in Rwanda. Please help us spread the link to our Indiegogo campaign.

Forging Ahead

We've just reached the £2,000 mark on our Indiegogo campaign. There's only one month left to go, so please, please help us spread the word and raise donations.

Today we were really lucky to have a visit from Chris Nicholson. Chris is a classical guitarist and music therapist living in Rwanda. He's the regional representative for Musicians Without Borders, which works in conflict-affected areas to build peace and reconciliation through music. He's just returned from working in Azerbaijan and Kosovo. 

Chris Nicholson

He came to check out the Kigali Keys project and we went on a tour of the foundry. This will be the birthplace of our first string frame, where Alex will purify recycled iron to pour into the mould we make from Lirika.

We had a chat to Alex about the amount of iron that would be needed. This is one of the most difficult points - whether the forge will be large enough to melt the amount of metal needed for a piano frame. Doing some nifty calculations between kilograms and stone, we reckon it'll be okay. Everything rests on being able to forge a solid string frame. Without it, there is no piano.

Alex Explaining the Process

The metal goes into the hole in the top, then it's heated until it melts. Chemicals are added to purify the iron and make it strong. Then the whole thing tips forward and pours the molten metal into a mould on the floor.

On Monday, I'm heading over to Kigali Music School with Chris to meet the director and take a look at their piano. We're exploring the possibility of teaching students how to tune.

Free Piano Tuning in Kigali

What a week! We've almost reached £1,000 on our Indiegogo campaign. I've just posted an update there. 

Apparently, the sooner we reach 20% funded, the more likely we are to reach our grand total. Some strange crowdfunding psychology. 

Ways you can help us get there: 

• Share our Indiegogo campaign via social media, through Facebook and Twitter, using hashtags like #pianos and #music
• Leave a comment on our Indiegogo page explaining why you think this is a great idea and why you backed it.
• If you know someone running a music or travel blog, ask them if we could do a guest post or interview with them.

We're also offering free upright piano tuning in Kigali to anyone who can help us raise contributions.

Last week I headed over to help the Korean church in Kinyinya to replace five bass strings. Going back to do a second tuning soon.

I've also just done an article for Piano Addict about what we're doing - you can read it here.

Please continue to spread the word about our project and let's keep the momentum going.

Indiegogo Campaign

We've done it! We've gone live!

For the next sixty days we're going to be telling the world about our dream of building pianos in Rwanda.

Please help us to spread the word - and this video.

Our Indiegogo Page

We're looking for any opportunity to guest blog and shout about what we're up to.

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