For nearly the first 100 years since its invention by Italian Bartholomew Cristophori in 1712, the piano was much different than it is today. The early name for the piano, was Forte Piano, meaning able to be played loud and soft. It wasn’t until the early 1800’s when demand for an even louder instrument forced the invention of a primary feature of the modern piano – the cast iron plate.Instruments of earlier periods were of lower tension scales supported by a wooden frame. These instruments produced a soft, sweet sound that could hardly be heard over whispering in an audience. Around 1825 Alpheous Babcock, piano builder in Boston, developed a cast iron string frame to support greater tension. With this, heavier wire could be strung at higher tension to produce much greater dynamics. This was followed by another important invention by my hero Jonas Chickering (1798 – 1853) an associate of Babcock. Chickering experimented with and developed what is called over-stringing. This is where the bass strings are strung diagonally over the tenor stings allowing greater string length, as well as moving the bridge, and therefore sound transmission, closer to the center of the soundboard. In 1852, prior to Chickering’s death in 1853, a prototype was in his factory utilizing the over-strung system. However, Henry Steinway is commonly given credit for this invention. Incidentally Chickering’s original workbench was housed at the Rochester NY factory which I wrote about previously. I had the pleasure of sitting at it and felt its worn surface. The modern piano has approximately 40,000 lbs. (20 tons) of tension, depending on the size and scale design. The plate is capable of supporting nearly twice this. Made of cast iron, it is one of the contributing factors to the weight of a piano. It is a beautiful creation as you can see from the pictures. The one pictured is rather plain. Some are ornamented with fancy casting details and surface art. The picture shown here is of the final fitting. The piano is now ready for stringing. This will be done in conjunction with others later this month.