Van Dyke's Advice
I had a Steinway Grand upright piano, a marvel of instrumentality, better than playing an actual grand, where strings are parallel to the ground. Once the top of a grand piano is opened, the sound all goes off to the player's right. This is better for the audience but worse for the player. With my Steinway, the strings were perpendicular to the ground, so if you took the front panels off, which I did, the sound all went directly to the pianist. It was like playing piano IN a piano, and anyone else around who wanted the full impact of each note had to stand behind or sit on the bench right next to the player. Any musician who ever entered my house was drawn to it immediately. John Belushi brought Van Dyke Parks over and I'll have to stop right there. You know who John Belushi is and how he got to my house , but Van Dyke Parks, wow, Van Dyke was a hero, scorer of films ( The Two Jakes and Popeye ), Brian Wilson's writing partner ( Heroes and Villains ...