Complex sentence: He tried several ways of using his deteriorating hearing before it completely disappeared; for example, he had the legs of his pianoforte (an early model of piano) cut off, so that it was sitting directly on the floor.
Split into simpler sentences: He tried several ways of using his deteriorating hearing before it completely disappeared. He had the legs of his pianoforte (an early model of piano) cut off, so that it was sitting directly on the floor.