David Klavins is a German-Latvian piano maker. With his "Modell 370" (1987) he introduced the world's largest piano. In 2012, a digital version of the Modell 370 was published as a software instrument under the name "The Giant". Life In 1945, David Klavins's parents, Paulis and Zeltite, arrived as refugees from Latvia in Germany. David is the third of eight children. His mother played the piano and his father was a violinist. After finishing middle school in 1971, David Klavins started an apprenticeship as a piano maker at the Wilhelm Schimmel Pianofortefabrik in Braunschweig. In 1976, he started his own business, the "Klavierhaus Klavins" in Bonn. He mainly restored and sold used home and grand pianos. In 1980, he became a master craftsman, which, in Germany, meant that he could officially train apprentices. Modell 370 While restoring and studying the architecture of grand pianos, Klavins became a critic of the traditional way to construct these instruments. He stated that the materials used in common piano making are outdated and don't reflect the current status of materials science. With this in mind, Klavins designed a piano with a size, shape and interior construction based on modern knowledge of acoustics – rather than the historical construction guidelines used in traditional piano making. In November 1987, he presented the "Klavins Klavier Modell 370" to the public in the German city of Bonn. It had its name from its height: 370 centimetres. In contrast to horizontally built grand pianos, the Modell 370 is laid out vertically. It weighs two tons and stretches over two floors. The piano player sits on the bench in the top floor, while the main part of the strings and the resonance body continue below his feet. Due to this construction, the sounding board, responsible for the acoustic breadth of the instrument, is of double size of an ordinary concert grand piano. This leads to a rich sound and a larger spectrum of overtones. The lowest bass string is 3.03 meters long – about three times longer than in a standard piano. As of 2012, the Modell 370 is the largest piano worldwide. The instrument was first played to the public by the classical pianist Cyprien Katsaris. Today it is stored in the Pfleghofsaal of the Institute Of Music Science, University of Tübingen. Klavins never intended to produce the instrument in series. Many pianists asked Klavins for a (horizontally built)