Making Music The Steinway Way.

Nothing enters the Steinway factory in Astoria, Queens, looking anything like a piano. The wood, for example, is just lumber, before it is shaped into the rim of the instrument. Assembling the pianos takes months, with a lot of waiting between steps so that the wood can be conditioned properly. Near the end of the process, each piano is wheeled into the ''pounding room,'' where 88 rubber fingers play the instrument for hours, breaking in the piano and exposing any problems or weaknesses. After being tuned several times, each piano has a final inspection. The last hands that touch every piano belong to Wally Boot, who has worked at the factory for almost 50 years and checks every key to ensure an even tone. Anthony Gilroy, a Steinway spokesman, says, ''There are still some things that are better done by hand.'' Pianos produced per year at the Queens factory: 1,500 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]