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New and larger “Capo D’Astro bar” for cleaner, more powerful sound.New scale design which includes cast iron frame.Completely new design from engineers and builders at Haverhill, MA factory.I suspect this will become a new model for pianos to come from Mason & Hamlin. It’s aesthetically beautiful and delivers a versatile and fresh approach. If you are considering a piano for a concert venue or educational institution, the VX-94 is worth serious consideration. With an ever so slight increase in touch weight, it gives birth to wider expression palette. You can control a stream of lightly delivered tones with ease. This great expanse in touch allows for incredibly sensitive consistent whispers. It could deliver thunderous sounds but also, it lends itself to really intimate playing. It gives back the strength in tone that you put into the touch.Īs much as I enjoyed the speed of this VX-94, I also appreciated the contrasting colors. It takes me back to a time when you could recognize a piano by its voice. In this global economy, many companies have assimilated to reach broader audiences. Several decades ago, the American sounds were formulated by companies like Steinway, Mason & Hamlin, Baldwin and Knabe. American-sounding pianos to me tend to sound more bold. In broad brush strokes, I deem European-sounding pianos to be generally softer, rounder and possibly more bell-like. I don’t often talk about stereotypes in piano sound but I will with this one in saying that it is quintessentially American-sounding. And in the Classical world, the ability to make changes at lightening speed is also highly prized.
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This concert grand suits this style of playing “to a tee”. In the realm of jazz, accented striking notes are part of the fabric of the genre. At the NAMM show, I decided to take it for a spin with one of my jazz favorites by Gershwin called “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”. You can easily move rapidly from piano to fortissimo with back to back notes. I don’t often get shocked when I play different pianos but this piano was so fresh it made me smile. The VX-94 gives the performer this control. Music quite often requires a sudden change in dynamics and you need to be able to have the piano respond accordingly. There is a term that you often see in Classical music called subito which, translated means “suddenly”. Performers are always looking for expressive control. That was, (in a good way) shocking to me. Sporting a new geometrically optimized carbon-fiber action, the speed at which you can transform from a whisper to a growl is unprecedented. This new concert grand from Mason & Hamlin reminds me of this acceleration. But what is phenomenal about driving is the lossless transfer of power which presents itself in this incredible burst of energy. With electric cars, there is no transmission because the motor is powerful enough to go from dead stop to highway speed in one smooth transition. With the advent of automatic transmission, this maze of mechanical gears did gear changing for you. You would shuffle through all of the gears to eventually reach top speed. I grew up when car transmission was standard. I don’t own one (yet) but the few times I’ve driven them, I’m amazed at the acceleration. I must say, I have a fascination presently with electric cars. This piano did, in fact have both of those things in spades but what I was not prepared for was how this redesign is a game changer in the way it reacts to your playing. I guess I was anticipating a beautiful sounding and playing instrument. What surprised me about this piano was the response. This year at the NAMM show (pre-covid in January 2020), I had the opportunity to play the newly released VX-94 concert grand from Mason & Hamlin. In my mind, concert grands are the Formula 1 pianos where a company invests the very best in technology, materials and workmanship to present their utmost to the world. It’s not every day a new concert grand gets unveiled.