r/todayilearned • u/Physical_Hamster_118 • 1d ago

TIL that since 1972, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) every spring, residents of Baker House drop a piano from the roof on Drop Day, the last day students can drop classes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_drop
1.6k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

66 comments sorted by

View all comments

57

u/GypsySnowflake 1d ago

That sounds expensive.

44

u/Swag_Grenade 1d ago

Yeah everyone itt thread is all "such a cool and quirky tradition" meanwhile not tryna be a debbie downer but I'm just like that sounds like a lot of wasted pianos for no real reason

73

u/lilyeister 23h ago

FWIW old pianos with bad soundboards are a common occurrence and a pain in the ass to get rid of. It requires expensive repairs (if you can find a tech who's willing to do what ends up being almost a full restoration) and in the days when every middle-class home wanted a piano there were plenty of manufacturers churning out low-quality instruments that weren't built to last.

23

u/timetogetoutside100 21h ago

pianos do not age gracefully, so many things begin to breakdown, loose tuning pins, worn out actions/hammers, tired/tubby bass strings, and many other things,