Aggressive players

ATodd@UH.EDU ATodd@UH.EDU
Thu, 05 Oct 1995 09:40:02 -0500 (CDT)


Keith,
   I don't have much to add, but just thought I'd tell what happened to me
once when I was working for a Yamaha dealer in Mississippi once.
   I had the same problem on a studio size Yamaha in a bar and it was a
fairly new instrument, so string fatigue probably was not much of a factor.
I called Yamaha to ask their advice after several strings had been replaced.
One thing they suggested was increasing the let-off some, which I did.
Less than a week later, I read in the paper that this paticular pianist had
committed suicide.
   I always hoped it was just a coincidence!!!
   Seriously though, with that type of pianist, if you have corrected any
hard hammer voicing problems and the piano is correctly regulated (maybe a
little on the wide side for let-off) there probably isn't too much else
you can do. Especially if you have determined that it isn't just faulty
strings. Under that type of abuse, one can only do so much to try to stop
the problem.
   Maybe you could get the church to amplify the piano and put the speaker
close to and facing the pianist?????

Avery Todd
University of Houston
atodd@uh.edu



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