STEINWAY RECORDING · CURTIS SCHWARTZ STUDIO
A remarkable piano.
Your next recording.
Record on a hand-selected 9ft Hamburg Steinway Model D in the warmth of Curtis Schwartz Studio—where the instrument, the room and your performance come together.
Hear the Steinway ↓ · Plan your session →
West Sussex, near London · Piano recording for artists, composers and producers
THE INSTRUMENT AT A GLANCE
A concert grand.
Chosen for its voice.
9ft Hamburg Steinway Model D Spirio | r.
Bought new in 2023.
Hand-selected at Steinway Hall with Gwilym Simcock.
Maintained exclusively by Steinway & Sons technicians.
The Hamburg Steinway Model D: golden strings, natural resonance and carefully placed recording microphones.
Tell me what you’d like to record.
A solo piano album, a film cue, a jazz session or the piano part your song has been waiting for. Tell me about the music, your preferred dates and what you’d like to achieve.
I’ll help you plan the session, discuss availability and rates, and arrange any fresh tuning required.
YOUR PERFORMANCE. OUR STEINWAY.
Can’t come to the studio?
Your MIDI performance can be played back on this real acoustic instrument using Spirio | r, then recorded through the studio’s microphones. Explore the dedicated MIDI-to-Steinway service for a remote route to the same piano.
“Quite simply the best piano sound I’ve ever experienced.”
Robert Foster
Composer
HAND-SELECTED AT STEINWAY HALL
An instrument that responds to you.
I chose this Hamburg Steinway Model D with pianist and composer Gwilym Simcock in 2023, listening for depth, balance, sustain and expressive range.
Its character changes with your touch. Delicate playing can feel light, intimate and feathery; a stronger approach can reveal an orchestral weight and a powerful, singing voice. There is room for the colour and intention of your performance.
Steinway & Sons technicians maintain the piano exclusively, with regular tuning through Steinway. A fresh tuning immediately before your session can be arranged when required.
Riopy recording on the 9ft Hamburg Steinway Model D Spirio | r at Curtis Schwartz Studio.
THE RECORDING EXPERIENCE
Your music.
Room to resonate.
Sit at the Steinway in the main live room and hear the instrument become part of the space around you. The strings, soundboard and room all contribute to the recording.
I capture the piano with carefully chosen microphones and an analogue recording chain, shaping the approach around the music and the sound you want to achieve.
From solo piano and classical repertoire to jazz, film and TV scores, singer-songwriter sessions and overdubs, the starting point is always your performance.
HEAR THE STEINWAY
One Steinway.
Two perspectives.
Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23
Hear our Hamburg Steinway Model D concert grand in two recordings of this demanding repertoire. Compare the detail of close microphones with the sense of space captured from 2 metres away.
A concert instrument with the expressive range to match an accomplished pianist’s touch. Try headphones and listen to how microphone distance changes the balance between piano and room.
Which microphone perspective do you prefer?
Tell Curtis which you prefer