She believed her gradma’s antique piano was lost forever until a Millennial restorer 800-miles away revived her childhood sounds
Long gone are the days when player pianos were part of big musical entertainment. However, with the onset of recording pianos and radios, the once celebrated instrument began fading from history. When Kathy Mildenberger thought her grandmother's antique player piano could never be restored, a millennial and player piano restorer, Nate Otto, helped her relive her childhood sounds, per KARE 11 News.
When Colorado resident Kathy Mildenberger paid piano restorer Nate Otto to bring her grandmother's player piano back to life, she never knew she would be able to relive her childhood once again. After being informed that she could check the newly restored piano, she, along with her husband, travelled 800 miles from Colorado to Minnesota to see the piano she once thought was a lost cause. "This is the moment we've all waited for," Nate said to the couple as they reached his garage, per KARE 11 News. When Kathy sat on the piano bench and began pumping the pedals, which were once used by her grandmother, she could not believe what she was hearing. For Kathy, the sounds from the dusty old player piano brought back the memories of her grandmother, who played the same instrument when she was a child. Now a grandmother herself, the Colorado resident wanted to restore it for her grandchildren. "Can't wait to show it to them," she said.
For Kathy, it may have been a moment of amazement; however, for Nate, restoring pianos was more than just a job; it's been a passion for years. The former lawnmower brought his grandparents' player piano back to life a decade ago, helped by a veteran player piano craftsman who was close to retirement. What started as a hobby became a full-time career, and now he is one of the very few player piano restorers in the country. "All my customers want to keep their pianos in the family," he explained. Nate charges around $18,000 to $20,000 for restoration. A standard player piano has over 12,000 components, which makes the restoration process painstakingly slow. Nate can only complete three or four projects annually, which is why his waitlist stretches to two years.
However, restoring a player piano isn't financially practical, but for Nate, his grandmother's piano is much more than that. "Its value is in the sentimentality of it," Nate said. A 2014 study by Thomas Patteson published by Oxford University Press noted that although player piano production and popularity flourished in the early 20th century, by the early 1930s, following the Great Depression, the production of both player and reproducing pianos declined. More than his garage, it's the lawn decor that catches everyone's attention. The restorer has turned a small piano into a waterfall on one side, while another piano sculpture is inspired by England's Stonehenge. "They were all loved at one time. If they were not in the garden, they would all be in a landfill," he said.
The piano restorer revealed that there were around 2.6 million player pianos manufactured in the 1920s. "We're kind of dealing with the fallout of all those excess pianos," he said. Besides restoration, Nate also plays silent films where he invites people to his garage and provides soundtracks to the films through his "Fotoplayer" piano. For the audience, watching Nate explain the history while playing the piano is as entertaining as anything on the garage screen.