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PianoDisc Helps Revitalize Interest in Acoustic Pianos It’s been quite a journey for the Burgett brothers. The founders of PianoDisc, Kirk and Gary Burgett started their music-industry odyssey at a small music store in Nevada City, Calif., in 1979. Nearly 20 years later, they’re riding the wave of a revitalized acoustic-piano market, partly due to the success of their music-reproduction system, which can be installed on virtually any acoustic piano. PianoDisc uses 127 levels of individual note expression to reproduce original musical performances by artists. It can also record private performances and practice sessions for immediate playback with full orchestration and accompaniment. “We designed PianoDisc to entertain people at parties, in hotels, in restaurants and in private homes,” Kirk said. “And while PianoDisc can provide entertainment from day one, it can also motivate people to learn to play the piano, while providing a teaching tool for musicians and music teachers.” The Burgetts saw the potential of a 21st-century take on player pianos during their stint as owners of Burgett Pianos. “What we wanted to offer was an upgrade, a modernized, electronic player-piano system.” Kirk said. They secured a Marantz Pianocorder franchise in 1983, and saw piano sales increase as people bought acoustic pianos equipped with Marantz’s digital-tape-based system. After Yamaha acquired the Marantz Pianocorder Division in 1987 and scuttled it to market its own computer-driven Disklavier line, the Burgetts decided to create their own system. “We sold so many pianos that were retrofitted with the Marantz player systems that we simply had to find an alternative,” Kirk said. “It was a simple matter of survival. We had no other alternative but to develop our own system or fade away.” The result was the computer-driven PDS-1000 system, which premiered during the 1988 NAMM show in Atlanta. the company generated orders for more than 100 units during the show and inked contracts with 80 music dealers nationwide who wanted to sell the PianoDisc system. “That was the good news,” Kirk said. “The bad news was that we actually had to fill all the orders. We had only developed a prototype of our system for the show, and suddenly we found ourselves with dozens of customers who wanted PianoDisc systems.” PianoDisc systems were put into production on short order, and the company has continued to develop new products, including PianoVideo, which incorporates video images with live piano music. As a result, PianoVideo owners can watch such artists as Floyd Cramer in concert on video, while the concert’s music, in synchronization with the video, plays on an acoustic piano. Other products include PianoDigital, which gives an acoustic piano the capabilities of a digital piano; SilentDrive, which allows for quiet playback of the PianoDisc system and features dynamic musical expression; and ProControl, a radio-frequency remote control for PianoDisc products. The PianoDisc music library contains nearly 4,000 pieces of music from ragtime to rock ‘n’ roll. PianoDisc is currently planning to introduce the SymphonyPro sound card, which will allow pianists to record up to 64 symphonic sounds, which doubles the number of sounds available on PianoDisc’s current Symphony option. Also in the works is PianoLink, a satellite-based system that lets owners enjoy live piano concerts on a TV screen, while an acoustic piano performs the concert as it happens. PianoDisc also owns three lines of traditional acoustic pianos--Knabe, Mason & Hamlin and George Steck pianos. The company now distributes its products to 600 distributors in 45 countries. First-quarter 1998 sales of PianoDisc player-piano systems increased 37.6 percent from the same period in 1997, while production costs were cut by 15.2 percent.
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