That means a lot of carbon fibre in the Bogányi's construction; the instrument's soundboard – the heart and soul of any piano's sound – is made from this space-age material instead of metal or wood, and the result, he says, is a sound that's more organic than the normal concert grands, but which is more powerful, too.
While the tone of the instrument, with its patented carbon composite soundboard, is rich, the action is incredibly light, recalling older models from the dawn of the piano, before manufacturers began to prioritise power to appeal to romantics such as Liszt.
Mr Rodgers makes it plain that there was hardly a musician who didn't seek his companionship, rhythm-guitar wizardry or soundboard genius.
The soundboard likewise grew in size, and late square pianos were often longer than 6 feet (1.8 m) and heavier than comparable grand pianos.
The bandura has an oval wooden body; a short, fretless neck attached to the soundboard in an off-centre position; 4 to 8 bass strings running from the neck of the instrument to the body; and 30 or more (sometimes 60) chromatically tuned treble strings stretched over the soundboard.
The guitar originally had four courses of strings, three double, the top course single, that ran from a violin-like pegbox to a tension bridge glued to the soundboard, or belly; the bridge thus sustained the direct pull of the strings.
Internally, the transverse bars reinforcing the soundboard were replaced by radial bars that fanned out below the sound hole.
The qin's high bridge near the wide end of the soundboard is called the "great mountain" (yueshan), the low bridge at the narrow end is called the "dragon's gums" (longyin), and the two pegs for fastening the strings are called the "goose feet" (yanzhu).
Other important forms are a frame with a glued-on soundboard, as in psalteries, dulcimers, and their descendants, the stringed keyboard instruments; and a box, as with the Scheitholt and other European fretted zithers.
It became broader and shallower, with an extremely thin soundboard.
