0_Wizard
Do you play the Piano? I'm self-taught, learned while working nights at a hotel on the lobby piano.. 
The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700 (the exact year is uncertain), in which the strings are struck by hammers.
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Piano
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Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and producer who was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 150million records worldwide. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants, Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. Sinatra found success as a solo artist after he signed with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "bobby soxers". He released his debut album, "The Voice of Frank Sinatra", in 1946.
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also Cage's romantic partner for most of their lives. Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition "4′33″", which is performed in the absence of deliberate sound; musicians who present the work do nothing aside from being present for the duration specified by the title.
Hays Hall
Hays Hall was a residence hall at Washington & Jefferson College. The architectural work was performed by Frederick J. Osterling and it was named after President George P. Hays. Construction was completed in 1903 and the new "fireproof" building was opened to Washington & Jefferson Academy students. Rooms were arranged in a suite style, with communal bathrooms on each floor, and shower baths on the 5th floor. In 1912, the Academy closed and Hays Hall was used by Washington & Jefferson College students. At various times, Hays Hall housed the bookstore and a dining hall. By 1968, Hays Hall had deteriorated to the point where it no longer able to house students, but the bookstore remained.
Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter (; was born in Zhytomyr, Ukraine – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet pianist known for the "depth of his interpretations, his virtuoso technique, and his vast repertoire." He is generally regarded as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Richter was born in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. His father, Teofil Danilovich Richter (1872–1941), was a German expatriate pianist, organist, and composer who had studied in Vienna. His mother, Anna Pavlovna (née Moskaleva; 1893–1963), was from a landowning family, and at one point had been a pupil of her future husband.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (28 March 1943) was a Russian pianist, composer, and conductor of the late Romantic period, some of whose works are among the most popular in the romantic repertoire. Born into a musical family, Rachmaninoff took up the piano at age four. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1892 and had composed several piano and orchestral pieces by this time. In 1897, following the critical reaction to his Symphony No. 1, Rachmaninoff entered a four-year depression and composed little until successful therapy allowed him to complete his enthusiastically received Piano Concerto No.
Top Hat
Top Hat is a 1935 American screwball musical comedy film in which Fred Astaire plays an American dancer named Jerry Travers, who comes to London to star in a show produced by Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). He meets and attempts to impress Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers) to win her affection. The film also features Eric Blore as Hardwick's valet Bates, Erik Rhodes as Alberto Beddini, a fashion designer and rival for Dale's affections, and Helen Broderick as Hardwick's long-suffering wife Madge. The film was written by Allan Scott and Dwight Taylor. It was directed by Mark Sandrich. The songs were written by Irving Berlin.
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson; their cousin Mike Love; and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by their vocal harmonies and early surf songs, they are one of the most influential acts of the rock era. The band drew on the music of jazz-based vocal groups, 1950s rock and roll, and black R&B to create their unique sound, and with Brian as producer, composer, and de facto leader, they pioneered novel approaches to popular music form and production. He later arranged his compositions for studio orchestras and explored a variety of other styles, often incorporating classical or jazz elements and unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways.
1_Apprentice
I wish I could play the piano, it is so beautiful! Has it been around for long?
0_Wizard
They were invented in Italy in1700 so in the big picture no. No better time to learn then now. 
The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700 (the exact year is uncertain), in which the strings are struck by hammers.
partner_Piano_0
Piano
partner_0_Piano
Cambridge English: Young Learners
Cambridge English: Young Learners, also known as Young Learners English Tests (YLE), is a suite of English language examinations specially designed for children in primary and lower-secondary school. The tests are provided by Cambridge English Language Assessment (previously known as University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations). The suite includes three qualifications, each targeted at a different level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Cambridge English: Starters (YLE Starters) is targeted at pre-A1 Level, Cambridge English: Movers (YLE Movers) at CEFR Level A1, and Cambridge English: Flyers (YLE Flyers) at CEFR Level A2.
Furious Theatre Company
This text is from the Furious Theatre Company website. Reprinted with permission. The critically acclaimed Furious Theatre Company are artists in residence at the Pasadena Playhouse committed to edgy, innovative and original works. The company debuted in April 2002 after they were generously granted the company the use of a section of Armory Northwest, a former plastics factory in Pasadena, California. The company converted the raw warehouse into an alternative performance space. Risers were constructed, the lighting grid hung, and stage curtains built, all by the ensemble. In that converted warehouse, they rapidly produced five plays in 12 months.
Big Picture (magazine)
The Big Picture series provides teachers and post-16 students with up-to-date information on research findings in biology and medicine, and the social and ethical implications of this research. Published by the Wellcome Trust as a free educational resource, each issue is available for free electronically. The website provides free resources for teachers and online activities for students, including lesson ideas, animations, image galleries and short videos. , the print subscription has been discontinued and replaced with online only. Big Picture’s first 21 issues have been firmly grounded on planet Earth.
Big L
Lamont Coleman (May 30, 1974 – February 15, 1999), best known by his stage name Big L, was an American hip hop recording artist. Coleman embarked on his career in rapping, with the hip hop trio, Three the Hard Way. His first notable appearance came on Lord Finesse's "Yes You May (Remix)". Coleman released his debut album, "Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous", in 1995 and significantly contributed to the underground hip hop scene. In 1998, he founded Flamboyant Entertainment, his own indie label, through which he released one of his most popular singles, "Ebonics" (1998). On February 15, 1999, Coleman was killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in his native Harlem.
Ed, Edd n Eddy
Ed, Edd n Eddy is a Canadian-American animated comedy television series created by Danny Antonucci for Cartoon Network, and the sixth of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. The series revolves around three preteen boys named Ed, Edd (called "Double D"), and Eddy—collectively known as "the Eds"—who live in a suburban cul-de-sac in the fictional town of Peach Creek. Under the unofficial leadership of Eddy, the trio frequently invent schemes to make money from their peers to purchase their favorite confectionery, jawbreakers. Their plans usually fail, leaving them in various, often humiliating, predicaments.
Highline Big Picture
Highline Big Picture is a small school in the Highline School District in SeaTac, Washington, that is part of a network of Big Picture schools all over the United States. The high school opened 2005 with 2009 being the first year with a graduating class. At Highline Big Picture the 9th graders are called 101's, 10th graders 201's, 11th graders 301's and 12th graders 401's. Highline Big Picture, as part of the Big Picture Network, practices Learning Through Internships or LTI. On Tuesdays and Thursdays students go to internships in their field of interest. The school currently consists of 120 students.
Steam (software)
Steam is a digital distribution platform developed by Valve Corporation, which offers digital rights management (DRM), multiplayer gaming, video streaming and social networking services. Steam provides the user with installation and automatic updating of games, and community features such as friends lists and groups, cloud saving, and in-game voice and chat functionality. The software provides a freely available application programming interface (API) called Steamworks, which developers can use to integrate many of Steam's functions into their products, including networking, matchmaking, in-game achievements, micro-transactions, and support for user-created content through Steam Workshop.
1_Apprentice
That seems like a long time haha, but I guess not in the span of all things. Is it hard to learn
0_Wizard
The earth is 4.5 billion years old so it's not that old.  The word "piano" is a shortened form of "pianoforte" so it still hold's some of it's original flavor. 
The word "piano" is a shortened form of "pianoforte", the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from "gravicembalo col piano e forte" and "fortepiano".
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North China Craton
The North China Craton is a continental crustal block with one of Earth's most complete and complex record of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic processes. It is located in northeast China, Inner Mongolia, the Yellow Sea, and North Korea. The term craton designates this as a piece of continent that is stable, buoyant and rigid. Basic properties of the cratonic crust include being thick (around 200 km), relatively cold when compared to other regions, and low density. The North China Craton is an ancient craton, which experienced a long period of stability and fitted the definition of a craton well.
Formation and evolution of the Solar System
The formation and evolution of the Solar System began 4.6 billion years ago with the gravitational collapse of a small part of a giant molecular cloud. Most of the collapsing mass collected in the center, forming the Sun, while the rest flattened into a protoplanetary disk out of which the planets, moons, asteroids, and other small Solar System bodies formed. This model, known as the nebular hypothesis, was first developed in the 18th century by Emanuel Swedenborg, Immanuel Kant, and Pierre-Simon Laplace. Its subsequent development has interwoven a variety of scientific disciplines including astronomy, physics, geology, and planetary science.
Future of Earth
The biological and geological future of Earth can be extrapolated based upon the estimated effects of several long-term influences. These include the chemistry at Earth's surface, the rate of cooling of the planet's interior, the gravitational interactions with other objects in the Solar System, and a steady increase in the Sun's luminosity. An uncertain factor in this extrapolation is the ongoing influence of technology introduced by humans, such as climate engineering, which could cause significant changes to the planet. The current Holocene extinction is being caused by technology and the effects may last for up to five million years.
Abiogenesis
Abiogenesis (British English: , ), biopoiesis, or informally the origin of life, is the natural process by which life arises from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. On Earth, the transition from non-living to living entities was not a single event but a gradual process of increasing complexity. Abiogenesis is studied through a combination of paleontology, chemistry, and extrapolation from the characteristics of modern organisms, and aims to determine how pre-life chemical reactions gave rise to life on Earth. The study of abiogenesis can be geophysical, chemical, or biological, with more recent approaches attempting a synthesis of all three, as life arose under conditions that are strikingly different from those on Earth today.
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, with internal convective motion that generates a magnetic field via a dynamo process. It is by far the most important source of energy for life on Earth. Its diameter is about 1.39 million kilometers, i.e. 109 times that of Earth, and its mass is about 330,000 times that of Earth, accounting for about 99.86% of the total mass of the Solar System. About three quarters of the Sun's mass consists of hydrogen (~73%); the rest is mostly helium (~25%), with much smaller quantities of heavier elements, including oxygen, carbon, neon, and iron.
Age of the Earth
The age of the Earth is approximately 4.54 ± 0.05 billion years This age may represent the age of the Earth’s accretion, of core formation, or of the material from which the Earth formed. This dating is based on evidence from radiometric age-dating of meteorite material and is consistent with the radiometric ages of the oldest-known terrestrial and lunar samples. Following the development of radiometric age-dating in the early 20th century, measurements of lead in uranium-rich minerals showed that some were in excess of a billion years old. The oldest such minerals analyzed to date—small crystals of zircon from the Jack Hills of Western Australia—are at least 4.404 billion years old.
History of Earth
The history of Earth concerns the development of planet Earth from its formation to the present day. Nearly all branches of natural science have contributed to the understanding of the main events of Earth's past. The age of the Earth is approximately one-third of the age of the universe. An immense amount of geological change has occurred in that timespan, accompanied by the emergence of life and its subsequent evolution. Earth formed around 4.54 billion years ago by accretion from the solar nebula. Volcanic outgassing probably created the primordial atmosphere and then the ocean, but the early atmosphere contained almost no oxygen and so would not have supported known forms of life.
1_Apprentice
Who came up with the piano
0_Wizard
Only the third coolest man ever Bartolomeo Cristofori 
The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700 (the exact year is uncertain), in which the strings are struck by hammers.
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Piano
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Bartolomeo Cristofori
Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco (; May 4, 1655 – January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments, generally regarded as the inventor of the piano. The available source materials on Cristofori's life include his birth and death records, two wills, the bills he submitted to his employers, and a single interview carried out by Scipione Maffei. From the latter, both Maffei's notes and the published journal article are preserved. Cristofori was born in Padua in the Republic of Venice. Nothing is known of his early life. A tale is told that he served as an apprentice to the great violin maker Nicolò Amati, based on the appearance in a 1680 census record of a "Christofaro Bartolomei" living in Amati's house in Cremona.
Fortepiano
A fortepiano is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century. Most typically, however, it is used to refer to the late-18th to early-19th century instruments for which Haydn, Mozart, and the younger Beethoven wrote their piano music. Starting in Beethoven's time, the fortepiano began a period of steady evolution, culminating in the late 19th century with the modern grand. The earlier fortepiano became obsolete and was absent from the musical scene for many decades.
Oval spinet
The oval spinet is a type of harpsichord invented in the late 17th century by Bartolomeo Cristofori, the Italian instrument maker who later achieved fame for inventing the piano. The oval spinet was unusual for its shape, the arrangement of its strings, and for its mechanism for changing registration. The two oval spinets built by Cristofori survive today. One, built in 1690, is kept in the Museo degli strumenti musicali, part of the Galleria del Accademia in Florence. The other, from 1693, is in the Museum für Musikinstrumente of the University of Leipzig. In the oval spinet, the strings were placed parallel to the keyboard, the same arrangement as in a virginals.
Piano
The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700 (the exact year is uncertain), in which the strings are struck by hammers. It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. The word "piano" is a shortened form of "pianoforte", the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from "gravicembalo col piano e forte" and "fortepiano". The Italian musical terms "piano" and "forte" indicate "soft" and "loud" respectively, in this context referring to the variations in volume (i.e., loudness) produced in response to a pianist's touch or pressure on the keys: the greater the velocity of a key press, the greater the force of the hammer hitting the strings, and the louder the sound of the note produced and the stronger the attack.
Stewart Pollens
Stewart Pollens is an expert on historical musical instruments. His work includes restoration, analysis, and scholarly publication; and it embraces keyboard instruments (the harpsichord and fortepiano) as well as historical stringed instruments such as the violin and cello. Andrew Manze has called him "one of the world’s foremost authorities on musical instruments." Stewart Pollens was born in New York in 1949 and trained as a violin and keyboard-instrument maker. In the 1970s, he apprenticed with harpsichord builder John Challis and studied violin-making with Mittenwald faculty at the University of New Hampshire.
Spinettone
The spinettone (Italian: "big spinet") was a kind of harpsichord invented in the late 17th century by Bartolomeo Cristofori, who was later the inventor of the piano. Other names for this instrument were spinettone da teatro ("of the theater"), "spinetta traversa" ("transverse spinet"). The spinettone was a kind of spinet, which means specifically that its strings were placed in pairs along a diagonal relative to the position of the keyboard (see spinet). The jacks that plucked the strings were placed in opposite-facing pairs within the larger gaps between strings. Most spinets are smaller than regular harpsichords.
Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany
Ferdinando de' Medici (9 August 1663 – 31 October 1713) was the eldest son of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Marguerite Louise d'Orléans. Ferdinando was heir to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, with the title Grand Prince, from his father's accession in 1670 until his death in 1713. He is remembered today primarily as a patron of music. An excellent musician himself (sometimes called "the Orpheus of princes"), he attracted top musicians to Florence and thus made it an important musical center. Through his patronage of Bartolomeo Cristofori, Ferdinando made possible the invention of the piano.
1_Apprentice
Haha that is an awesome name, are there any instruments similar to the piano
0_Wizard
Not really, I mean fortepianos  yes, but they have a smaller dynamic range. 
The first fortepianos in the 1700s had a quieter sound and smaller dynamic range.
chosen_Piano_0
Piano
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High-dynamic-range imaging
High-dynamic-range imaging (HDRI) is a high dynamic range (HDR) technique used in imaging and photography to reproduce a greater dynamic range of luminosity than is possible with standard digital imaging or photographic techniques. The aim is to present a similar range of luminance to that experienced through the human visual system. The human eye, through adaptation of the iris and other methods, adjusts constantly to adapt to a broad range of luminance present in the environment. The brain continuously interprets this information so that a viewer can see in a wide range of light conditions. HDR images can represent a greater range of luminance levels than can be achieved using more 'traditional' methods, such as many real-world scenes containing very bright, direct sunlight to extreme shade, or very faint nebulae.
Dynamic range
Dynamic range, abbreviated DR, DNR, or DYR is the ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume. It is often used in the context of signals, like sound and light. It is measured either as a ratio or as a base-10 (decibel) or base-2 (doublings, bits or stops) logarithmic value of the difference between the smallest and largest signal values. The human senses of sight and hearing have a very high dynamic range. A human is capable of hearing (and usefully discerning) anything from a quiet murmur in a soundproofed room to the loudest heavy metal concert. Such a difference can exceed 100 dB which represents a factor of 100,000 in amplitude and a factor 10,000,000,000 in power.
Piano
The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700 (the exact year is uncertain), in which the strings are struck by hammers. It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. The word "piano" is a shortened form of "pianoforte", the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from "gravicembalo col piano e forte" and "fortepiano". The Italian musical terms "piano" and "forte" indicate "soft" and "loud" respectively, in this context referring to the variations in volume (i.e., loudness) produced in response to a pianist's touch or pressure on the keys: the greater the velocity of a key press, the greater the force of the hammer hitting the strings, and the louder the sound of the note produced and the stronger the attack.
Image scanner
An image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner, although the term is ambiguous out of context (barcode scanner, CT scanner etc. )—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting or an object and converts it to a digital image. Commonly used in offices are variations of the desktop "flatbed scanner" where the document is placed on a glass window for scanning. "Hand-held scanners", where the device is moved by hand, have evolved from text scanning "wands" to 3D scanners used for industrial design, reverse engineering, test and measurement, orthotics, gaming and other applications.
Companding
In telecommunication and signal processing companding (occasionally called compansion) is a method of mitigating the detrimental effects of a channel with limited dynamic range. The name is a portmanteau of the words compressing and expanding. The use of companding allows signals with a large dynamic range to be transmitted over facilities that have a smaller dynamic range capability. Companding is employed in telephony and other audio applications such as professional wireless microphones and analog recording. While the dynamic range compression used in audio recording and the like depends on a variable-gain amplifier, and so is a locally linear process (linear for short regions, but not globally), companding is non-linear and takes place in the same way at all points in time.
Fortepiano
A fortepiano is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century. Most typically, however, it is used to refer to the late-18th to early-19th century instruments for which Haydn, Mozart, and the younger Beethoven wrote their piano music. Starting in Beethoven's time, the fortepiano began a period of steady evolution, culminating in the late 19th century with the modern grand. The earlier fortepiano became obsolete and was absent from the musical scene for many decades.
Comparison of analog and digital recording
Sound can be recorded and stored and played using either digital or analog techniques. Both techniques introduce errors and distortions in the sound, and these methods can be systematically compared. An analog recording is one where a property or characteristic of a physical recording medium is made to vary in a manner analogous to the variations in air pressure of the original sound. Generally, the air pressure variations are first converted (by a transducer such as a microphone) into an electrical analog signal in which either the instantaneous voltage or current is analogous to the instantaneous air pressure.
1_Apprentice
I see, I have to learn how to play soon, is it difficult to learn