Is it just me?

[Jim_Harvey@yca.ccmail.compuserve.com]

While this may seem humorous, the intent is serious.

It appears as though the amount of external noise during a tuning is
directly proportional to where I am in the scale, and/or how close to
completion I am. In addition to common noises, I've recently
encountered more than my share of people humming, singing or
whistling, and usually when I'm trying to clear unisons in the last
octave (or less).

Others, not so musically endowed, seem to find it necessary to SHOUT
at me or others, as if they are in the presence of someone who is hard
of hearing. I wish during these times they would at least say, "WOULD
YOU LIKE A CUP OF COFFEE?" Instead, and inevitably, it's "HOW MUCH
LONGER ARE YOU GOING TO BE?" This shouting breaks my hypnotic state,
and I usually respond... "WHAT?"

While this usually applies to home environments, I offer the following
additional examples to the topic:

Aside 1: if I'm working with a stage crew, it's at the same area of
the piano (or within 5 minutes of my finishing) that the stage manager
requests I stop tuning so the crew can "communicate" (i.e. yell) to
each other. Up until this point, I've been tuning "in the cracks"
between their yelling, so I don't know what determines the exact
moment that something different occurs!

Aside 2: during a recent concert tuning, one 'new' member of a stage
crew apparently thought it was 'cute' to whistle the notes that I was
tuning. I provided a sarcastic smile the first time, then with a
finger, uh, on my lips to signify "shhh", and finally verbal
chastising. That *was* three times, right? That particular problem
won't exist in the future, but I hope no one notices the
grapefruit-sized dents in the fireproof stage door.

It *is* unfortunate that the fast decay time in the high treble causes
us to excite the strings more often than lower notes, and that those
frequencies are often irritating to the point of causing tooth
fillings to fall out.

So the question(s) then become:

(1) is it that these external noises exist when I'm tuning other
portions of the piano, and I'm simply tuning them out?

(2) is this a defense mechanism for the listener? They've been putting
up with MY noise, and finally, even subconsciously, they must do...
something,,, to preserve their sanity?

(3) is it just me?

Jim Harvey, RPT
"I never met a man I couldn't learn to dislike." - Jim Harvey
Jim_Harvey@yca.ccmail.compuserve.com