[CAUT] Unauthorized "prepared pianos"

[Kent Swafford]

Things ebb and flow in popularity. Ten years ago, duo piano playing  
was all the rage, and we had to constantly maintain pairs of pianos.  
Now, inside-the-piano techniques appear to be particularly popular.  
There is too much inside-the-piano activity here to limit it to  
certain pianos. All pianists can understand that if inside-the-piano  
techniques cause damage, they won't have good pianos on which to play  
their traditional pieces. Unauthorized piano moving has caused  
considerably more damage than inside-the-piano techniques. For that  
matter, simple heavy playing can cause more damage to pianos than  
inside-the-piano techniques. I try to take care of a Yamaha MIDI C6 at  
a church where the pianist (he did his undergraduate work at an Ivy  
league school) plays almost exclusively classical music. During the  
busy times of the year, I hear from him every couple weeks to repair  
broken strings, loose hammer heads, etc. The heavy playing and  
constant presence of new strings make it impossible to keep the piano  
in tune. And don't get me started about the damage caused by removing  
piano lids; I thought I had successfully banned the practice of  
removing piano lids; then one of the faculty scheduled a performance  
of Crumb's Makrokosmos III with Bartok's Sonata for Two Pianos and  
Percussion; off came the lids, but I was there myself to do it safely.

 From my point of view, I see little reason to single out inside-the- 
piano techniques.

Kent Swafford


On Apr 12, 2008, at 10:45 PM, David Ilvedson wrote:

> I think I would be pushing for a prepared performance piano.   Do  
> they expect to use the best concert instrument?
>
> David Ilvedson, RPT
> Pacifica, CA  94044
>
> ----- Original message ----------------------------------------
> From: "Kent Swafford" <kswafford at gmail.com>
> To: "College and University Technicians" <caut at ptg.org>
> Received: 4/12/2008 9:15:45 AM
> Subject: Re: [CAUT] Unauthorized "prepared pianos"
>
>
>> Here at UMKC, just down the road from you, 3 of the 4 piano
>> performance professors actively perform and teach prepared piano
>> pieces, so it would be pointless for the piano tech to oppose such
>> performances. Actually, I performed such pieces when I was a student,
>> so I guess I'm part of the opposition. The best you may be able to do
>> is regulate non-traditional piano use; you will not be able to stop  
>> it.
>
>> Run, do not walk, to purchase a copy of "Non-traditional Piano Use",
>> the video from Alan Eder at ReggaePass at aol.com. It describes
>> responsible inside-the-piano techniques, and you should try to get as
>> many pianists as possible to watch this video.
>
>> A problem I have had this school year is pianist's believing that  
>> they
>> should be able to leave preparations in between the time of their
>> rehearsals and recitals. This is forbidden, of course, but it has
>> still created resentment when I have had to explain the obvious, that
>> in busy halls with multiple pianists using the pianos each day, no
>> preparations of any kind are allowed to remain in a piano after a
>> given rehearsal or performance are over. I remove all marks and
>> preparations on sight, of course. Pianists should leave pianos with
>> absolutely no evidence of any kind that inside-the-piano techniques
>> were used.
>
>> We _are_ making special arrangements to dedicate a piano for a few
>> days to an upcoming series of dance performances for which a prepared
>> piano will provide the accompaniment, but that's the only exception  
>> of
>> which I'm aware.
>
>> All the best,
>
>> Kent Swafford
>
>
>
>> On Apr 12, 2008, at 10:26 AM, Paul T Williams wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi List,
>>>
>>> In the last two weeks, our best Steinway D has been damaged by
>>> unauthorized "prepared" piano use twice!  The first occurrance was
>>> three weeks ago during our "Clarifest Day" where a guest artist,
>>> without permission started banging on the right cheekblock and side
>>> of the rim with his fist.  He pounded so hard it knocked loose the
>>> cheek screw and was causing a clicking in the upper regesters.  I
>>> was called from home to come down to fix it, and fortunately it was
>>> indeed only the loose screw.
>>>
>>> The second time was this week; a student composer used a mallet and
>>> banged on the plate and severely bent up several bass damper heads
>>> AND strumming the strings with a wire brush.  The stage manager, the
>>> professor of composition, and I were not told this was going to take
>>> place and this student beleives he is going to demonstrate it again
>>> in the same hall and in our smaller recital room that also has a
>>> "D".   The assistant stage manager (in charge that evening) SHOULD
>>> have stopped the pre-performance rehersal and swapped out the
>>> Steinway for our semi- decent Yamaha C-3.   I'm not sure how to
>>> prevent the abuse of prepared pianos.  The faculty doesn't seem to
>>> care or think about it, except for the piano faculty, of course.
>>>
>>> Do I have a right to prevent such use/abuse?  Could I actually step
>>> in and stop a performance?  Should I?  How do you all get faculty
>>> and students to get this in their fat heads that this behaviour is
>>> not OK? He could have cracked the plate!!!
>>>
>>> Concerned
>>>
>>> Paul T. Williams