How do you make a piano? We go behind the scenes at Steinway to find out...

1. Steinway & Sons

Steinway & Sons is one of the most iconic piano makers in the world. The company was founded in Manhattan in 1853 by Henry Engelhard, a German immigrant.

2. The Steinway & Sons factory in Hamburg

Welcome to the beating heart of Steinway & Sons

3. Layers of maple

The rim of each Steinway grand includes 18 layers of maple – each layer is seven metres long and must be flawless.

4. Making a Steinway: bending the rim

At the factory in Hamburg, a technician oversees the bending of the rim for a new piano. 18 maple layers, each 22-feet long, are used to create the shape of the rim. The layers are coated with glue and stacked then made into a single form of wood with this rim-bending press.

5. Mr Steinway

A portrait of Mr Henry E. Steinway, the founder of the famous company, hangs on the factory wall. His aim is still the company's guiding principle: "To build the best piano possible."

6. Making a Steinway: the braces

The braces in a Steinway have to support the iconic 340-pound cast iron plate. Here a technician fits the braces to the piano rim.

7. Different shapes and sizes

Here you can see the difference between the different Steinway models – the concert grand 'D' is the largest piano the company makes.

8. Making the strings

This man operates a machine that wraps copper wire around steel to create the thicker strings in a Steinway piano

9. Making a Steinway: the soundboard and bridge

This is where the magic happens. So, according to Steinway's website, the soundboard "is a large wooden diaphragm with a wooden bridge centred on its top side. The piano strings pass over the bridge, and the bridge transfers the string energy into the soundboard. As a result, the sound of the strings is amplified." See? Magic.

10. The cast iron frame

Here the iconic cast iron frames are sanded down – but the company uses water so as not to scratch the frames

11. Fitting the keyboard

Before the keyboard is fitted the whole structure is checked

12. Fitting the keyboard

Before the keyboard is fitted, the whole piano structure is checked to loose joints and rogue rattles.

13. Adjusting the hammers

It's this woman's job to make sure each of the hammers are exactly the same distance apart on every piano.

14. Fitting the dampers

Here, a worker at the Steinway factory puts dampers in place. The dampers stop the strings vibrating once a note has been released. Each worked in the factory specialises in one particular job and is an expert in their particular technique.

15. Cast iron frames drying in the factory

The cast iron frames are sprayed gold and left to dry in the factory

16. Inside the piano – before the strings are added

The famous Steinway & Sons logo is painted on to the cast iron plate before the strings are added.

17. Hammers ready to go

The hammers are all individually checked before being fitted into a piano. If the voicer wants a more mellow tone they will stick small needles in the hammer's felt to reduce its stiffness. If they want a brighter tone the toner can apply som lacquer to the hammer.

18. Adjusting the hammers

A Steinway worker adjusts the piano hammers, making sure every one is identical

19. Making a Steinway: the keyboard

Now to put the keyboard together, which includes the painstaking process of making sure each key has the same weight and feel.

20. Building a keyboard

The Steinway keyboard is built in the factory – except the felt, which is sourced from a company specialises in making piano felt.

21. Key hinges

The pivot points on the keys are coated with cashmere – and each key has to feel identical to the touch. This factory worker is checking each pivot and adjusting where necessary.

22. Keyboards ready and waiting

Steinway keyboards ready to be housed in brand new grand pianos

23. A stringer at work

How do the strings get into the piano? A stringer guides each wire through a hole in the tuning pins and then uses a machine to turn the pin three times, wrapping the wire around it. The stringer than puts the pin into one of the holes in the iron plate.

24. Lining up the hammers

Once the strings, hammers and keyboard are in place someone has to make sure that each hammer lines up with and hits the strings in exactly the same way.

25. Adjusting the hammers

If any of the hammers do need adjusting, the wood is heated gently so it can be pushed into place.

26. Checking the sound

A worker at the Steinway factory (with music-themed glasses!) checks the sound of each of the strings

27. Piano lids lined up

Piano lids stacked up at the Hamburg factory ready to be polished and placed on brand new pianos

28. Fancy a veneer Steinway?

Steinway & Sons produces 'The Crown Jewel Collection' – these pianos are coated in a wood veneer, rather than the signature black Steinway polish. Unsurprisingly, these come with a higher price tag than the black or white Steinways.

29. How Steinways measure up

Frames from different sized pianos lined up in the factory – from the enormous Model D to the smaller Models B and A

30. A Steinway emerges

One of the final stages in the process is polishing the piano once it's been coated – here one of the Steinway staff works on the company's famous logo

31. The Steinway patent

On the wall is the patent for the company's method of bending the piano's rim into shape. It's safe to say it's fairly complex

32. Cast iron frames

The cast iron frames are lined up ready to have the holes drilled in them

33. Steinway piano rims

Queued up: piano rims wait patiently to be fitted with iron frames, braces and keyboards

34. Making a Steinway: the chief voicer

Wiebke Wunstorf is the chief voicer at Steinway's Hamburg factory. It's her job to approve the tone quality of every key in the new pianos.

35. Preparing an upright piano

Did you know that Steinway also makes upright pianos? Here a stringer attaches the strings to one of the company's uprights.

36. Making a Steinway: the cast iron plate

The cast iron plate at the centre of each Steinway weighs 340 pounds and has to withstand 40,000 pounds of string tension. Here, one of the Steinway factory technicians hand-paints the Steinway logo onto the plate.