Bluethner, he explains, is a German maker of handcrafted pianos, and a new one costs around 25,000 pounds (Rs 22.6 lakh). 'Fixing it will cost its owner Rs 1.7 lakh,' says Steve Droy, course director at the institute.
In another room, two large models of piano keys sit on a conference table, while a Bluethner upright stands in the corner. At the back are several tuning rooms and a wood-polishing room. In a room off the main hall, two men work to restore a century-old Chappell grand piano that belongs to one of the city's oldest cathedrals. A woman in an apron works on some parts laid out on a table. It's like stepping into a Picasso painting - you can see all sides of each piano at once, even the inside. The institute teaches the skills needed to tune, repair and restore traditional acoustic pianos.Īt first glance, it is hard to tell how many pianos are in the hall, because they have all been taken apart.
This is the Furtados Institute of Piano Technology, set up by Furtados, a musical instrument retail chain with 21 stores nationwide. But you can find it if you go past the sheds of gas cylinders and metal scrap, ignore the signs on a warehouse that say 'Universal Book Corporation', and walk through a side door into a huge hall that is surprisingly bright.
Khanna Industrial Estate, a grimy corner of eastern Mumbai, seems an unlikely place to seek harmony.
