Schiedmayer 5 Octave Celeste for Hire

The 5 octave Schiedmayer Celeste has a range of F-F and just one pedal (sustain) unlike the Piano which has 2 or 3 (una corda, sostenuto and sustain). The name Celeste has many pronunciations as well. It may be pronounced as Celeste, Celesta or Cheleste. All are appropriate.

In 1886, or almost a century after the Magic Flute, Victor Mustel, the son of Paris organ maker Auguste Mustel, invented and patented the celesta, a keyboard instrument whose keys drove felt hammers into thick copper plates to produce sound. The instrument included resonance boxes to amplify the sounds generated by the plates. Mustel's father, Victor Mustel, had developed the forerunner of the celesta, the typophone in 1860 or the dulcitone invented and developed by Thomas in 1874. This consisted of struck tuning-forks instead of metal plates, but the sound produced was considered too small to be of use in an orchestral situation.

In modern times, Schiedmayer are the last remaining company Worldwide manufacturing celestes. They have been manufacturing celestas since 1890.