Think a Steinway’s first sounds are a classical melody? The first melodic tones from Steinway No. K0862, which the N.Y. Times has been following in a series of articles, were that of the Simpsons’ theme song. After a slack tuning (to go easy on the new strings), the instrument was pounded on by a machine to break the key mechanism in evenly. Prior to the Simpsons and pounding, a 400 pound cast-iron plate was attached to the frame, and then the sound board was installed by the “bellyman”, so named because part of the process of attaching the board involves lying on your stomach on top of it. A drilling machine and a string twisting machine aided two workers in placing 243 strings. The “action” which holds the hammers and other parts of the striking mechanisms were then attached to the frame. 71 dampers were installed along with the damper pedal (the one on the right). After the Simpsons tuning and machine break-in, the middle sostenuto pedal was placed. The longer this series of articles stretches on, the more curious I am to see if we will discover at the end who now owns this instrument.