Tips and tricks for regulating historical pianos

THE WORKSHOP
The Paul McNulty workshop is based in Central Bohemia, the home of many of the instrumentalists who shaped Europe’s classical music tradition. This region’s forests served the flourishing piano-making trade in eighteenth-century Vienna. World-renowned Viennese craftsmen created pianos in symbiosis with the wood that came to them from this landscape. Now part of the Czech Republic, the famous Šumava Forest (formerly Schwarzenberger Forest) is the direct source of the wood for our pianos.
This heritage is matched by our handful of expert wood specialists and piano technicians who are based at the workshop. We draw on a pool of Czech specialists for other parts such as golden components, carvings, and bronze castings. Original Viennese decorative castings are used as a basis. Bronze, gold, and exotic woods are shipped to the workshop from around the world. We often welcome discerning visitors who are interested in observing and understanding how the pianos are made.
PAUL MCNULTY
Time has given Paul McNulty’s talent and training the mastery necessary to create the beautiful pianos he makes. The Czech Republic is renowned for its tradition of manufacturing excellence, and for its craft community dedicated to the preservation of historical artefacts. Paul McNulty has found his place amongst the local experts, and details unavailable elsewhere are routinely expressed in his reproductions of pianos from a time of elaborate tastes in furniture.
PAUL McNULTY became interested in instrument building after studying music at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. He became piano maker after studying piano technology in Boston where he graduated with distinction.
The search for the best material brought him to the Czech Republic in 1995. The result is more than 200 concert fortepianos, which feature in many recordings and are owned by prominent players and leading music institutions. His recent and unique development is the building of later romantic pianos, which were not yet made in modern times – Chopin’s favorite Pleyel, Liszt’s personal Boisselot and Brahm’s preferred Streicher.