Public Station Pianos.

[SECR263]

Any comments or do we all just sigh. Need to watch video to end. The player uses the St Pancras piano without trouble.

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[Ladder23]

Any comments or do we all just sigh. Need to watch video to end. The player uses the St Pancras piano without trouble.

.

Why sigh?

Great to see, if people don't wanna listen then they can happily carry on walking to there train

 

[Darandio]

Why sigh?

Great to see, if people don't wanna listen then they can happily carry on walking to there train

It helps if you actually watch the video before commenting.....

 

[Ladder23]

It helps if you actually watch the video before commenting.....

I watched it all what's your point

 

[Darandio]

I watched it all what's your point

Security staff trying to stop someone playing the piano is great to see?

 

[Ladder23]

Security staff trying to stop someone playing the piano is great to see?

Nice to see people enjoying themselves and having a laugh in this rather gloomy world we live in, don't think he's causing no harm

 

[Darandio]

Nice to see people enjoying themselves and having a laugh in this rather gloomy world we live in, don't think he's causing no harm

That we can agree on.

 

[Purple Train]

I watched the entire thing and still am not any the wiser on why they wanted to stop him and turn the piano round in the first place. The security guards closing it on his fingers don't cover themselves in glory to put it mildly, but then the pianist doesn't come out as a saint either with his unnecessarily sarcastic attitude and refusal to stop playing and co-operate (and therefore maybe come closer to figuring out what was going on). In contrast I thought the police officer handled the situation excellently.

I caught something about the issue being about passenger flow (though it was hard to make out over the noise of the piano) - surely the second way round would inhibit passenger flow more, with the piano being set out closer to the middle of the concourse to make room for the pianist's stool near the wall? And, if the flow issue was about the large ring of people watching, why the need to stop the pianist from playing?

 

[peteb]

I'm guessing the railway companies that run the stations which have pianos on them have agreed to them being there? So it seems bizarre to stop folks from playing them. I wonder if they are so good they're attracting a crowd and causing an obstruction? Or maybe security don't like people filming on stations and people clearly film the piano players if they're good? There used to be a piano at Newcastle which was regularly played and a pleasure to hear. Wonder if it's still there?

 

[yorksrob]

Yes, if you don't want people playing piano's don't have a piano there.

 

[Purple Train]

Yes, if you don't want people playing pianos, don't have a piano there.

On a slight tangent, isn't there a pipe organ at London Bridge? And do the security guards ever ask to turn it round?

I think station pianos are wonderful things. It makes such a change from a soundtrack of delay announcements and shouting.

 

[SECR263]

The Organ in plumbed in for electric supply to air motor for pipes. The organ is situated off the main tunnel to underground from the circulating area. Any person can play and its free to use.

 

[Trainfan344]

From the description of the video it appears the gentleman in the video has changed the angle of the piano from where it was originally, this seems to be security's main issue.

 

[yorksrob]

On a slight tangent, isn't there a pipe organ at London Bridge? And do the security guards ever ask to turn it round?

I think station pianos are wonderful things. It makes such a change from a soundtrack of delay announcements and shouting.

Indeed. I just wish someone would knock out a bit of Russ Conway now and again !

So we think this was about passenger flows ? I doubt the piano playing would have caused more congestion than thousands of people queueing up to buy Harry Potter merchandise every day.

 

[InOban]

The gentleman pictured seems to spend all day there, judging by his YouTube channel.

 

[Whisky Papa]

The piano at St Pancras has a special place in my heart. In March 2020, just before lockdown, I was passing through when returning home from Elstree Studios, having just filmed an episode of The Chase which had left me very downhearted - not only had I missed out on winning a substantial prize, I (perhaps unreasonably) felt I had robbed the other contestants of it too.

Anyway, as I passed the piano, there were two middle-aged guys playing brilliant four-hander boogie-woogie, clearly having an absolute whale of a time in each others company. It really put a smile on my face, and helped me put the whole experience into perspective.

 

[Trackman]

Why didn't they just tell him to move it from the start? Unless I didn't hear them.

 

[BrandanM]

I'm wondering if the piano has been turned in order that the audience can observe the fast finger movement on the keys.

They can't see that when it's the other way around.

Or maybe security don't like people filming on stations and people clearly film the piano players if they're good?

I suspect fewer people would film the piano players if it were harder to see their hand and finger movements, especially in the case of a faster player.

 

[52290]

The gentleman pictured seems to spend all day there, judging by his YouTube channel.

An ideal piece for him to play on this piano would be Vexations by Eric Satie. The composers somewhat vague instructions are that this short piece should be repeated 840 times, very slowly. The first public performance of it lasted over 18 hours.

 

[185]

Many rush to judgement as I did, but, if as someone (not on here) suggested he's an instagrammer who hogs it all day, he deserves to be booted off the station - he's not a passenger.

 

[43066]

Many rush to judgement as I did, but, if as someone (not on here) suggested he's an instagrammer who hogs it all day, he deserves to be booted off the station - he's not a passenger.

He’s certainly a regular at St Pancras.

It would be nice to hear the other side of the story, as in an explanation for what they were asking him to do. Clearly they weren’t seeking to prevent him playing or “ban the music”, as the video title suggests, as they allowed him to continue once the piano had been turned!

 

[Class800]

The Organ in plumbed in for electric supply to air motor for pipes. The organ is situated off the main tunnel to underground from the circulating area. Any person can play and its free to use.

I played this organ once. I'm not an organist but can play keyboards, so can make an average go at it for a while

 

[Mikey C]

Indeed. I just wish someone would knock out a bit of Russ Conway now and again !

So we think this was about passenger flows ? I doubt the piano playing would have caused more congestion than thousands of people queueing up to buy Harry Potter merchandise every day.

Indeed, the whole Platform 9 3/4 area creates loads of congestion at Kings Cross, indeed I was staggered how busy it was a couple of weeks ago on a cold Friday morning

 

[TheLunaPark]

At risk of sounding like a miserable sod, personally I find it quite irritating, and I'm a pianist myself. The last thing I want when my train is late/cancelled on a wet Tuesday evening is someone playing songs on an upright. I find it a little attention-seeking to be honest. Each to their own obviously.

 

[Mikey C]

At risk of sounding like a miserable sod, personally I find it quite irritating, and I'm a pianist myself. The last thing I want when my train is late/cancelled on a wet Tuesday evening is someone playing songs on an upright. I find it a little attention-seeking to be honest. Each to their own obviously.

Maybe you could ask them to play something gloomier

 

[yorksrob]

Maybe you could ask them to play something gloomier

The Moonlight Sonata perhaps !

 

[Flying Snail]

At risk of sounding like a miserable sod, personally I find it quite irritating, and I'm a pianist myself. The last thing I want when my train is late/cancelled on a wet Tuesday evening is someone playing songs on an upright. I find it a little attention-seeking to be honest. Each to their own obviously.

Agreed.

There is enough irritating noise at main train stations without encouraging attention whores such as the person in the video who appears to be a semi-permanent fixture at station pianos.

The harsh truth is that if he (or anyone else) is such a talent then he would be performing at a venue to paid audience members, co-opting unwilling rail passengers as your audience might seem like an equivalent to the self-deluded but it is not.

 

[RUK]

he deserves to be booted off the station - he's not a passenger.

St. Pancras has shops and restaurants as well - it’s not just for rail passengers.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

Agreed.

There is enough irritating noise at main train stations without encouraging attention whores such as the person in the video who appears to be a semi-permanent fixture at station pianos.

The harsh truth is that if he (or anyone else) is such a talent then he would be performing at a venue to paid audience members, co-opting unwilling rail passengers as your audience might seem like an equivalent to the self-deluded but it is not.

I don't mind if they can play properly. What I can't stand are parents who let their sprogs bash away tunelessly and endlessly.

 

[Trothy]

Agreed.

There is enough irritating noise at main train stations without encouraging attention whores such as the person in the video who appears to be a semi-permanent fixture at station pianos.

The harsh truth is that if he (or anyone else) is such a talent then he would be performing at a venue to paid audience members, co-opting unwilling rail passengers as your audience might seem like an equivalent to the self-deluded but it is not.

The man has 2 million YouTube subscribers and over a billion views on his videos, based on his stats he probably earns a minimum of 15k a month from his videos in YouTube ad revenue alone. So yeah, I'm sure he's gutted you don't consider him talented.