The Steinway Piano in What Happened, Miss Simone?

Nina Simone didn't perform. She commanded. A Steinway grand piano, a Neumann microphone, and an audience that never knew whether they'd witness transcendence or fury.

The Scene

What Happened, Miss Simone? is Liz Garbus's Netflix documentary tracing Nina Simone's life from child prodigy in Tryon, North Carolina to international icon to self-imposed exile in Liberia and France. The film draws heavily on archival performance footage — and in every performance, two things are constant: a Steinway grand piano and a condenser microphone (most often a Neumann U 87 or its predecessors).

Simone was classically trained at Juilliard. Her technique was conservatory-precise, her repertoire ranged from Bach to blues to protest anthems, and her relationship with the piano was physical, combative, and deeply intimate. The documentary's most powerful moments are the live performances: Simone hunched over the Steinway, her hands drawing out cascading runs and percussive chords while her voice — captured by the microphone positioned just above the piano's open lid — alternated between whisper-soft and room-shaking.

The Steinway isn't background furniture. It's her instrument in the most literal sense — the extension of a classical training that the racism of 1950s America prevented her from using at the Curtis Institute. Every performance in the documentary is an act of reclamation played on 88 keys.

The Gear

The Steinway & Sons Model D concert grand piano is the instrument most commonly associated with Nina Simone's performances. At 8 feet 11 inches long, the Model D has been the standard concert grand for major venues worldwide since its introduction in 1884. Its full, resonant bass, singing treble, and dynamic range made it the preferred instrument of classical pianists, jazz musicians, and — in Simone's case — artists who refused to be categorized.

The Neumann U 87 (and its predecessor, the U 67) is the condenser microphone most commonly seen in the documentary's archival footage. Neumann microphones have been the studio and live standard for vocal recording since the 1950s. The U 87's large-diaphragm condenser design captures the full frequency range of the human voice with exceptional detail — critical for an artist whose vocal dynamics could span from a breath to a shout within a single phrase.

Together, the Steinway and the Neumann represent the highest tier of acoustic capture: a world-class instrument recorded by a world-class microphone. Every nuance of Simone's playing and singing — the hammer strikes, the pedal resonance, the room reflections, the vibrato — passes through this signal chain.

I'll tell you what freedom is to me. No fear.

— Nina Simone

Why It Matters

What Happened, Miss Simone? was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and introduced Nina Simone to a new generation of listeners. The documentary's archival performances — many previously unseen — showcase Simone at the height of her powers, and every frame reinforces the centrality of the piano and microphone to her art.

A Steinway Model D concert grand retails new for approximately $170,000–$200,000+. Pre-owned Model Ds are available on the secondary market for $40,000–$120,000 depending on year and condition. For aspiring pianists, Steinway's smaller models (Model B, Model O) offer the Steinway sound at lower price points, and the brand's partnership with digital pianos brings the tonal character to more accessible formats.

Neumann U 87 microphones retail new for approximately $3,200. Vintage U 67 and U 87 models sell for $3,000–$8,000 on eBay and Reverb depending on era and condition. For home recording, the Neumann TLM 103 (~$1,100) offers much of the U 87's character at a lower price point.

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