Wim asks: << There is minor argument between the piano faculty and myself as to how often their pianos should be tuned. They want to know why their pianos need tuning once a week. (and they do need it, especially during the winter). How often are you guys tuning the piano faculty pianos, presuming they get played heavily about 30 hours a week? >> I usually tune the piano instructors pianos at Vanderbilt 3 times per year,unless we have problem with the HVAC system. The practise rooms are tuned each semester. I don't find more than a couple of cents movement over the whole piano in the three month period of use. I find that my unisons will go the distance, unless the piano moves with humidity swings more than 5 cents, then the unisons begin to wake up, and it is the norm that all the right hand strings of the trichords move more than any of the others. How are the pianos going out? If it is unisons, then I have to suspect hammer technique. If it is the whole piano moving around, with the bass break octave really getting out of shape, I suspect it is the humidity control system. Regards, Ed Foote RPT http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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