Friday, July 09, 2004
--- I ---
Whilst reading the newspapers on 9 July I come across this advertisement posted by Yamaha:
THE GREAT MUSIC CARNIVAL
GRAND PIANO
GA1: $13,000 (usual price $13,900)
GC1: $17,300
C2: $27,500
UPRIGHT PIANO
LX113T: $4,700 (usual price $5,100)
LU90 $3,600
U1JL $6,900
YM11 (Made in Japan): $7,000 (usual price $7,600)
M112: $5,700
U1: $9,200
U3: $10,900
U5: $12,900
U1-silent: $9,300 (usual price $10,100)
M112-silent: $7,300
The prices of Yamaha pianos are going down, down, down. They used to sell much higher; I don't believe that the G-series grand pianos can sell below $20,000. In fact a U5 should already be around that price. When I went to select my new piano in December 2001, the U1 (which I eventually picked) cost nearly ten to eleven thousand.
I bought my U1 at $8,000, as Uncle Soh bought it on my behalf and thus benefited from the staff price. Uncle Soh is a dealer of second-hand pianos (mainly Yamaha) and is a Yamaha-trained piano tuner. I traded in my M108T for $1,700, considered rather "good" for a piano that has been around for nearly ten years. Fucking hell, those people at the Thomson branch of Yamaha, when given the description of my earlier piano, told me it was worth nothing. Yes, nothing. Absolutely zilch. Fucking hell, pissed me and my father off. So, anyway, we ended up paying $6,300 for the new piano and got a hard bargain for the old one, much less got rid of it.
Back to the advertisement. Let's compare the price of a >120cm Cristofori piano. It costs about six-thousand. Plus three-thousand and you get the discounted price of the U1 at this point of time. Everybody knows Cristofori is a fucked-up piano brand made in China but covers itself using a European name. Plus it has the reputation of being the company that wants to collapse but cannot collapse and appears to have a lot of money to post advertisements as frequently as you fuel your car. Now Yamaha is trying to get into the act - from the advertisement one can probably deduce that the company is in some deep shit and is trying to bail itself out. One day we could see a new heading: "The Great CLOSING DOWN Carnival"
Seriously to sell the G-series at below $20,000 is a big joke. In other words, standards are not there. There is a caption describing the GA1 which I didn't put up yet: "Rich tonality and fine expressive controls that only a Yamaha Grand could deliver."
Correction: only the C series can deliver. G-series is fucked up. Like TJC's old grand piano, which has been around for 20 years and when sent for conditioning and repairs about seven years back the job done was pretty fucked up. It has also faced the wrath of the elements - i.e. small objects dropped by careless people, food and drinks, the dew on the bottle, sweat, stink. . . you name them.
Why does Yamaha have to put in small print beside the YM11 caption? Because those models that have "YM" in them are made in Indonesia, even though the 121cm pianos (the U-series and the YM-series) are actually designed similarly. The only difference is that the YM pianos are made in Indonesia whilst the U series are made in Japan. That's a tip that Uncle Soh passed to me. He told me to open up the top cover of the piano and peer into the mechanism in order to check the serial number and model name. Something about the serial number (which I've forgotten) reveals the piano's country of origin. Also the crest should have "Made in Japan". Obviously Japan has learnt the ropes fast: Indonesia offers cheap labour whilst their inhabitants can be happily employed. Yamaha is also happy: they can make more and sell more pianos.
Another strange observation: the price difference between the U1 and the U1-silent is a mere $100. $100 for the extra mechanism? You've got to be kidding! I don't believe that thing can be so cheap.
--- II ---
MEP concert tonight. I'm supposed to conduct Xin Chao in its first ever stage performance in a concert hall. It has a lot of significance to me. Firstly, it is the first time my work has ever played in a concert hall, and part of a concert programme that will see professionals and students and friends gathering to listen to it. Next, this is the performance of the real Xin Chao which helped bring me my "A" grade in MEP. Lastly, I would make my debut on the public stage as a conductor.
Alas, all these do not happen. Yes, the work was played, and I am told it was performed terrifically. Not only am I denied the chance to conduct the work, I cannot even listen to it live. This is the second time in a row I have missed out on the opportunity of hearing my works played live in front of an audience, and getting to experience how the audience perceive my work to be.
I'm stuck in Nee Soon camp, taking my demolition test. As I sit on the floor and wait for my turn, dressed in a smelly uniform and carrying an equally smelly webbing, I simply cannot do anything but accept the fact that I'm just an engineer and music (except over-sung army songs) is never part of the life of an engineer.
¶ 7/09/2004 05:56:00 pm Whilst reading the newspapers on 9 July I come across this advertisement posted by Yamaha:
THE GREAT MUSIC CARNIVAL
GRAND PIANO
GA1: $13,000 (usual price $13,900)
GC1: $17,300
C2: $27,500
UPRIGHT PIANO
LX113T: $4,700 (usual price $5,100)
LU90 $3,600
U1JL $6,900
YM11 (Made in Japan): $7,000 (usual price $7,600)
M112: $5,700
U1: $9,200
U3: $10,900
U5: $12,900
U1-silent: $9,300 (usual price $10,100)
M112-silent: $7,300
The prices of Yamaha pianos are going down, down, down. They used to sell much higher; I don't believe that the G-series grand pianos can sell below $20,000. In fact a U5 should already be around that price. When I went to select my new piano in December 2001, the U1 (which I eventually picked) cost nearly ten to eleven thousand.
I bought my U1 at $8,000, as Uncle Soh bought it on my behalf and thus benefited from the staff price. Uncle Soh is a dealer of second-hand pianos (mainly Yamaha) and is a Yamaha-trained piano tuner. I traded in my M108T for $1,700, considered rather "good" for a piano that has been around for nearly ten years. Fucking hell, those people at the Thomson branch of Yamaha, when given the description of my earlier piano, told me it was worth nothing. Yes, nothing. Absolutely zilch. Fucking hell, pissed me and my father off. So, anyway, we ended up paying $6,300 for the new piano and got a hard bargain for the old one, much less got rid of it.
Back to the advertisement. Let's compare the price of a >120cm Cristofori piano. It costs about six-thousand. Plus three-thousand and you get the discounted price of the U1 at this point of time. Everybody knows Cristofori is a fucked-up piano brand made in China but covers itself using a European name. Plus it has the reputation of being the company that wants to collapse but cannot collapse and appears to have a lot of money to post advertisements as frequently as you fuel your car. Now Yamaha is trying to get into the act - from the advertisement one can probably deduce that the company is in some deep shit and is trying to bail itself out. One day we could see a new heading: "The Great CLOSING DOWN Carnival"
Seriously to sell the G-series at below $20,000 is a big joke. In other words, standards are not there. There is a caption describing the GA1 which I didn't put up yet: "Rich tonality and fine expressive controls that only a Yamaha Grand could deliver."
Correction: only the C series can deliver. G-series is fucked up. Like TJC's old grand piano, which has been around for 20 years and when sent for conditioning and repairs about seven years back the job done was pretty fucked up. It has also faced the wrath of the elements - i.e. small objects dropped by careless people, food and drinks, the dew on the bottle, sweat, stink. . . you name them.
Why does Yamaha have to put in small print beside the YM11 caption? Because those models that have "YM" in them are made in Indonesia, even though the 121cm pianos (the U-series and the YM-series) are actually designed similarly. The only difference is that the YM pianos are made in Indonesia whilst the U series are made in Japan. That's a tip that Uncle Soh passed to me. He told me to open up the top cover of the piano and peer into the mechanism in order to check the serial number and model name. Something about the serial number (which I've forgotten) reveals the piano's country of origin. Also the crest should have "Made in Japan". Obviously Japan has learnt the ropes fast: Indonesia offers cheap labour whilst their inhabitants can be happily employed. Yamaha is also happy: they can make more and sell more pianos.
Another strange observation: the price difference between the U1 and the U1-silent is a mere $100. $100 for the extra mechanism? You've got to be kidding! I don't believe that thing can be so cheap.
--- II ---
MEP concert tonight. I'm supposed to conduct Xin Chao in its first ever stage performance in a concert hall. It has a lot of significance to me. Firstly, it is the first time my work has ever played in a concert hall, and part of a concert programme that will see professionals and students and friends gathering to listen to it. Next, this is the performance of the real Xin Chao which helped bring me my "A" grade in MEP. Lastly, I would make my debut on the public stage as a conductor.
Alas, all these do not happen. Yes, the work was played, and I am told it was performed terrifically. Not only am I denied the chance to conduct the work, I cannot even listen to it live. This is the second time in a row I have missed out on the opportunity of hearing my works played live in front of an audience, and getting to experience how the audience perceive my work to be.
I'm stuck in Nee Soon camp, taking my demolition test. As I sit on the floor and wait for my turn, dressed in a smelly uniform and carrying an equally smelly webbing, I simply cannot do anything but accept the fact that I'm just an engineer and music (except over-sung army songs) is never part of the life of an engineer.
