NOTE BY NOTE: THE MAKING OF STEINWAY L1037

(Directed by Ben Niles; 2007, US, 81m)

Review By Carolan Guernsey

A loving celebration of vanishing craftsmanship

Can craftsmanship survive in an age of mass-production and consumption? The most thoroughly handcrafted instruments in the world, Steinway pianos are as unique and full of personality as the world-class musicians who play them. However, their makers – members of IUE-CWA Local 81-102 -- are a dying breed: skilled cabinet-makers, gifted tuners, thorough hand-crafters. Note By Note follows the creation of a Steinway concert grand from forest floor to concert hall, exploring the relationship between musician and instrument, chronicling the manufacturing process, and illustrating what makes each Steinway unique in this age of mass production. Filmed in key Steinway locations, Note By Note is a loving celebration of not just craftsmanship, but of a vanishing breed of craft workers deeply connected to working by hand. Features interviews and performances with a number of world-class artists including Chinese phenom Lang Lang, Hélène Grimaud, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, contemporary singer Harry Connick, Jr. and jazz greats Hank Jones, Marcus Roberts, Kenny Barron and Bill Charlap.

“There’s a simple doctrine. Outside of a person’s love the most sacred thing they can give is their labor. Labor is a very precious thing you have and any time you can combine labor and love you’ve really made a match.” — James Carville in The War Room

That thought has never been more beautifully articulated than in the Ben Niles film Note by Note, where one is able to glimpse the kinship shared between artist and craftsman at its soul. 

If I had to choose a film out of this amazing festival as a favorite…one that I couldn’t get out of my head, this is the one.

The AFI theatre was sold out at 5:10 on a Saturday afternoon.  How marvelous was that?  Listening in on the conversations prior to the film, I would guess that the audience was a combination of indie film buffs, music aficionados, and labor supporters.  This made for an exciting post-show dialogue, so active that it needed to be taken into an adjacent room in order to keep the festival on schedule.  Can you think of anything more exciting than a mixed crowd exchanging ideas?  

The general public often fails to realize that craftsmen are artists, and artists are craftsmen…interdependent upon one another.  As brought to light in The Great World of Sound later in by the festival, often a key part of any art form is making it look easy. 

The structure of Note by Note was balanced between the perspective of the union craftsmen who incrementally breathed life into Steinway L1037, and the pianists who play a concert grand post-production.  These pianos are as individual as human beings, and the perspective from each group is vital toward our insight into the world.

The theme of pride permeates through this film like no other, such as pride in a job well done, and pride in the talent of a child.

One thing that clearly was effective was the process that Ben Niles was able to work to his advantage for this film.  As he actually followed the production of this piano for an entire year, he was able to get to know these craftsmen and gain their trust.  One can sense their genuine comfort in this film and feel truly connected with them, as opposed to were they being stiffly interviewed for a news report by a stranger. 

Often these men spoke simple, profound statements throughout Note by Note that resonated like universal truths that can be applied to art and life alike.  I was constantly astonished by the simple wisdom of this film.

“You can teach somebody to do a job, but only time makes them better at it.”

“When you work with your hands, you know what you do.   You know what you touch.”

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