Is it just me?

[Barbara E. Richmond]

At 07:50 AM 3/14/96 -0700, you wrote:
>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).

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

>
>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.

One time I told a whistler that if he whistled again I would rip his lips
off his face.  He stopped. :-)  When I was doing university concert work,
the only time people seemed to crowd my tuning time was when I was working
on the high end of a harpsichord!

>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?

I found that wearing ear plugs helped cut out the external noises.  But, of
course, at the end of tuning, I removed them to double check the unisons.

>(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?

After my lip ripping threat, I decided that whenever I was in a concert
preparation situation I would address the problem before it started.  I'd
tell the crew or stage manager that the quieter they were, the faster I
would finish my job and be out of their hair.  It worked--mostly.

>(3) is it just me?

Nope.


Barbara Richmond, RPT
Palestine, Texas