Geof First of all, welcome to the CAUT list. Congratulation on a successful move. Good luck in Walla Walla. Visit the CAUT web site, http://ptg.org/caut.php/, print out the Piano Maintenance Guidelines, and hand it to the department chairman. That will give him an idea of what is necessary to maintain the pianos in his department. Unfortunately, as you indicated, there isn't too much you can do with $4000 spread out over 40 pianos. Hopefully the school will give the music department more money. But in the mean time, get the department chairman involved with the maintenance decisions. Make a list of all the repairs and regulations that are needed for all the instrument, with a time and cost factor for each piano. Then ask the chairman to pick and choose what he wants done. For now, if you want to keep this account, try to avoid the "pitch correction" fee, even it does mean spending a little extra time on each piano without getting paid for it. It will be worth it in the long run. Wim Willem Blees, RPT Piano Tuner/Technician School of Music University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL USA Quoting Geoffrey Arnold <welltemperedtuning at yahoo.com>: > Hello all! > > I > have already contacted some university employed technicians regarding > my dilemma, but I thought I would offer it up here for any further > insights you all might have. > > My wife and I just relocated due to > extreme saturation of technicians in our old hometown. We jumped at > the > chance to take over an established business from a retiring > technician > in a different area, and indeed I have had more work the last 6 > months > than the entire 2 previous years spent in a saturated market! > There's > still room to grow but my insides are saying, "Oh! This is what it > feels like to be a working piano technician!" (and its great) > Though > Walla Walla is small (about 50k population) we boast 3 institutes of > higher learning. I was elated to get my foot in the door so soon with > two of these, and have done everything to respect the longstanding > relationships they have had with other tuners in the area. The first > sign of trouble came when the head of the piano department at the > college politely informed me that were I to maintain my prices at > their > current level, they would be unable to afford my services. I know for > a > fact that my tuning fee is quite similar to the competition in > question, and soon realized they were objecting to a new charge for > "pitch correction" showing up on their invoices. A charge they had > not > seen before in decades of service. > I > had a decision to make. I could stop charging for pitch corrections > or > I could provide an additional service discount on all of my work, > such > that the average cost of maintenance would be comparable to the > competition. The opinion I hold, and have heard echoed plenty in the > guild, is that pitch corrections are a separate service, extra time > and > energy, and should be charged separately. In the field I feel it is > unfair to make one family subsidize another family's neglect by > incorporating pitch corrections into one flat rate for everyone. > In > a spirit of openness I decided to level with the the head of the > department, and so requested a bit of his time. I came loaded with > technical bulletins, pamphlets, journal articles, etc. just in case. > It > turns out he is well aware of both what a pitch correction is and why > it is necessary. I was glad to hear that the previous technicians > were > performing the task but dismayed to hear they simply charged the same > for a one pass touch up as for a hairy multi-pass job. Colleges are > underfunded enough, and already expect world class service at > Wal-Mart > prices, and to hear that a precedent is established for systemic > freebies, gives me pause. > So I got to thinking about the whole > institute of learning environment, vs tuning in the field. It also > set me thinking, from the university's perspective, about a "vendor" > style relationship (involving no contracts or benefits), versus a > salaried employee relationship with their piano service provider. > I > offer teachers discounts in the hope that they will send me more > business. The concept seems sound. I offer referral discounts to all > my > customers to encourage word of mouth. So it seems natural that this > should be extended to a university calling me on a vendor basis. > Though > I have no guarantee of future business, I want to keep them happy for > the potential of a reliable work source. But where does one draw the > line at "wholesale" pricing. 50% off field price? 70%? At present I > am > simply charging the university as I would a family and then giving a > 25% discount off all work done. I'm happy with this arrangement for > now, it allows me to fit into the business model established by the > college. > My problem is when I open up a grand and pull out a dust bunny > 2ft long, telling me that piano hasn't been opened up in a good > decade > at least. This theory is supported by abysmal regulation (hammertails > seized by backchecks, resulting in stuck keys), deep string grooves > on > the hammers etc... While other practicerooms have almost new Kawaii > grands and are in good shape, the others are essentially wasted real > estate for the music department.The students hate them, and avoid > them, > so the Kawaiis get played 24/7, accelerating their deterioration, and > the cycle continues. > I > do everything in my power to let families know, there is no such > thing > as just a tuning. I always incorporate some other service into a > service visit and hope to inspire them to learn the joy of a dynamic, > functioning piano. Why should my ethic be different for a university? > From practice room, to classroom/studio, to performance halls, these > pianos are not getting enough attention. The college gives a $4,000 > annual budget for 40+ pianos. Considering the performance hall might > get tuned 15-20 times a year, whats left for the rest? They're lucky > to > get annual tunings, leave alone regulation or voicing. Yet the > college > is a private college, with national recognition, and great pride in > art, architecture, faculty, curriculum. How does one inspire a > college > to view their pianos technical health as just as much a hallmark of > prestige as the green hue of the grass in their landscaping? > Assuming > the budget becomes available, can a college attain a year round, > consistent level of performance from their pianos without hiring a > staff technician? Even if it is a part-time position, it seems vital > to > me because it gives that technician discretionary authority to make > maintenance decisions, without constant thought of justifying cost, > etc. > How can a "vendor" truly tie his/her reputation to a college when > only > being paid and given access to pianos episodically? > The head of the > piano department is entirely on my side, has tried to petition for > more > funding and the creation of a technician position, with little > success. > He is excited to hear that I share his concern for the neglected > pianos > and has asked that I put together a more detailed analysis of what a > possible year of maintenance "should" look like. This would give > leverage for bringing our concerns to higher administrative > positions. > The > easiest solution is simply to say, give me a salary and I'll figure > it > out. If I end up having to work overtime for no additional pay, so be > it. This seems to be the plight of most university technicians that > I've > spoken with. But here it seems I need to come up with the budget and > maintenance forecast, before any hope of funds are made available. > I intend to write something up, broken into 1) practice rooms > 2)classrooms/studios 3)performance pianos > and > establish a criteria for minimum performance for each category, then > provide an educated guess on how many man hours are required to > maintain a consistent level of performance throughout the year. I own > the field guide for estimating time of various repairs that is > published by the guild. This is a perfect example of an attempt at > such time forecasting, but > one can not predict what will be required in any given year. Is there > anyway to support the claims I make, and to keep my estimates > grounded > in reality? > 1) 4hrs tuning a year per practice room, 1 hr preventative > maintenance/discretionary repairs per practice room per year (rolling > voicing/regulation) > 2) 6 hrs tuning per classroom/studio per year, 1hr...., 1 hr voicing > per year, 1 hr regulation > 3) 20 hrs tuning per performance piano per year, 5 hrs...., 3hrs..., > 3hrs.... ? > > Sorry for the length, guess I'm making up for never having posted > before, and I've been thinking about this way too much lately. > > Thanks so much for your thoughts! > > Greg Arnold > www.welltemperedtuning.com > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________________________________ _____________ > Don't pick lemons. > See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos. > http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html
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