Dear Friends, (Newton, thank you so much for your information about dampers... some of it I already know, but it is good to be reminded of it again!) My question is about whether to tune pianos to A-440 or to let them float somewhat. I know this has been covered in the list previously, but I would like to hear from technicians who work for a college or university. Last semester I tuned four pianos for our local college, sort of on a trial basis. Friday, I got to tune one of the two Steinway D's that are used for concerts. On Friday, the temperature in the auditorium was about 74 F and humidity was about 66% RH. The piano was about 25 cents sharp, and this surprised me, because I know that in April, this piano was tuned quite a few times right on A-440. (Thanks Kent!) (Also, this Steinway D is stored in a humidity controlled room... so it really surprised me that it should be that sharp. Does anyone have any experience with this?) Because this tuning was for a vocal concert, I lowered the pitch to A-440 and then tuned, and turned in an invoice for both the pitch correction and the tuning. The music department head and I discussed my fee, and arrived at a fair discount, but he requested that I discuss with them BEFORE tuning if there is to be an extra charge for a pitch correction. SO... Which pianos absolutely NEED to be tuned to A-440 every time, and which ones can be left to float with the seasons? So far, I have tried to tune every piano to A-440 as I come to it, with a few exceptions. Does anyone have a written policy that you use with your music department about this matter? Here is a list I came up with: Concert pianos: A-440 Teacher's studio pianos: A-440 (or perhaps float?) Practice room pianos: Float The good news is that I just got called to tune 5 more pianos for our local college, and they will increase my fee by $5.00 per tuning! The music department is giving me an open ended purchase order, with the request that I put that P.O. number on any invoice I turn in. I would like to correspond with any university techs who have an interest in answering my questions as they arise! Thanks! Sincerely, David A. Vanderhoofven dkvander@clandjop.com Joplin, Missouri, USA Associate Member, Piano Technicians Guild web page: http://www.clandjop.com/~dkvander/ *****P.S.***** The web page is finally up again!
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