Sacramento Man's Work Pitted Himself, Brother, Against Yamaha For Automated Piano Market

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Gary Burgett died earlier this month.

You probably don't know the name, but you have likely seen his work in malls, hotels and restaurants. Along with his brother, he invented a device that allows pianos to play by themselves.

To get to that point, however, was a long battle against one of the biggest names in the piano industry.

Yamaha is one of the largest companies in the world with a mission to sell the most acoustic pianos. It was willing to crush any competition that got in their way.

That included two unassuming men, Gary and Kirk Burgett, who ran a small piano store in Sacramento.

Tom Largomarsino is vice president of the company the Burgett brothers started. He says Gary and Kirk started outfitting pianos with the clunky recorders that allowed pianos to play by themselves.

But sales took a dive after Yamaha bought the rights to the pianorecorder the Burgetts were using and took it off the market.

"They took the challenge very well, and I think they came out as probably the winner," he said.

So with the money their mom gave them after she sold her home, the two spent a year inventing their own self-playing piano device, the Pianodisc.

"Our competitor took notice, notice, and there were a few friendly threats," he said.

That included threats of lawsuits. Largomarsino remembers a story of a high-ranking Yamaha executive even saying "those two are dead," referring to the brothers and the future of Pianodisc.

But the Pianodisc was a major hit, with the Burgetts selling more than $14 million worth of them in 2005.

Brad Thompson, an engineer with the company, says the days of tape and floppy discs are over. The Pianodisc can now be used with smartphones and tablets.

"It tells which key to play at the proper time and at the proper velocity," he said.

Burgett died on May 10.