At times, the piano on the patio of Mike’s Place spurred beautiful harmonies and joyful moments. In the wrong hands, however, it played a different tune.

What began in early July as a fun experiment for visitors and shoppers downtown became a headache for nearby businesses. Poor and untimely usage of the piano by children and adults led to its removal Friday morning. Langley Main Street Association Program Manager Lorinda Kay said kids were making more racket than music with the piano while adults would sometimes play past an 8 p.m. curfew. Nearby businesses that require quiet environments requested the Langley Chamber of Commerce prohibit public usage of the piano. While many who used it were proficient pianists, too many saw it as a toy rather than a musical instrument, Executive Director Michaleen McGarry said.

“There’s a difference between people playing music and people banging it,” McGarry said. “It was becoming a bit disruptive to some of the businesses. It’s unfortunate.”

Both the piano and concept came from Langley Councilwoman Rene Neff. Neff said she was inspired to incorporate street pianos in downtown Langley after traveling to Paris, where street pianos and spontaneous concerts are common. Neff envisioned a similar atmosphere in Langley, where pianists would play while people could sing along.

Neff said the 70-plus-year-old piano came from a bar that she owned in Bozeman, Mont. It was primarily used by patrons and other pianists who enjoyed honky-tonk and country tunes.

Its removal was unfortunate, said Neff, because it had been drawing skilled pianists in the month or so that it had been available.

“And that was way cool,” Neff said.

While the idea can work in Europe and large cities in Washington, Langley may be too small with people too nearby, Neff said.

“It’s a tricky thing,” Neff said. “We’re small. With a big city like Paris, Everett or Seattle, nobody expects it to be quiet in the downtown core.”

Most of those who were involved with the idea do not regret the effort. McGarry, Kay and Neff agreed that in theory, the experiment had its moments. It was only until the unexpected happened that the song soured.

“It was very entertaining,” Kay said. “People would just spontaneously start playing. There was some wonderful music provided.”

“It had its great moments and it had its falling apart moments,” she added.

Cheri Bricker, a Coupeville resident who works in Langley, was disappointed that the piano had to be packed up. She felt residents and tourists are now robbed of an opportunity to witness true pianists playing downtown, and that some of the noise may have been a result of people trying to have some fun. She said she met a pianist from out of town who had heard about the piano and traveled to Langley to play it. After playing it once, he came back another day to find that it was sealed shut.

“Gosh, he was just so disappointed that it was screwed shut,” Bricker said. “I guess he had been there the day before and played, and came back to do it again.”

“He was really kind of heartbroken,” she added.

Bricker grew up in Munich, Germany. She said street pianos are common there and other places around Europe. That it couldn’t work here is disappointing, she said.

“I just thought it was joyful and a super great idea to bring something like that to Langley,” Bricker said. “That’s just kind of cool and out of the ordinary.”

Neff said efforts to identify other locations to put the piano are underway, and that it will return to her home in the meantime.