Dear List & Steve Brady,
Following is a letter for the PTG Journal regarding our State's yearly
tech seminar. Hope you find it interesting. Special thanks to Teri Meredyth
for her outstanding program.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey T. Hickey, RPT
Oregon Coast Piano Services
TunerJeff @ aol.com
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Oregon Day '96
Ever wondered what it was like to be a service consultant for a large piano
company? Are you curious about the job they do? The pianos they might
service? The problems they encounter? Well... you should have been at our
yearly technical seminar! Our thanks to Yamaha International for sponsoring a
unique and interesting technician's visit to our area. Teri Meredyth gave us
full measure (...and beyond!) with this year's fascinating program. We've all
attended programs with technical agendas, that's the point isn't it? We go to
learn whatever is offered, from grand damper replacement to new ideas for
hammer re-shaping, but rarely are we given the chance to peek inside the
world of a 'piano technical consultant'. It was an interesting opportunity
for all of us.
Rather than trying to specialize on any particular topic, the program
actually was a 'Slice of Life' from Teri's perspective. We started with a
little role-playing, with Keith Kopp as a studio owner 'hiring' her to do her
best with a piano that had just been delivered for a taping session scheduled
later in the day. The piano (a Yamaha C7 grand) had just spent the last
several years on tour with a traveling musician, and sadly needed attention.
It was clear that it had received minimal care throughout it's career on the
road, and would require some major work to bring it up to playability. But...
there's a time limit! The taping session is 'scheduled' for 6 hours from now!
What choices have to be made? How far can you go? What's most important?
These are the questions Teri deals with every time she's asked to service
pianos out there in the "real world". Working in the LA area, she has both
private clients (...including recording studios and university pianos) and
her work as a 'Service Consultant" to keep her busy. The Oregon Day program
gave her a chance to share her world with all who attended.
This was a real test of her abilities, too. She had no chance to 'preview'
the piano, and it truly had spent the last few years on the road
(...somewhere along the line the artist-bench had been re-done. Ever seen an
heavily overstuffed artist-bench wrapped in an Indian blanket? Strange tastes
there!). The regulation was shot, the hammers pounded flat, masking tape
adorned the areas where sound-techs had attached microphones, the soundboard
& action coated with dust and dirt, there were particles of broken glass
throughout the instrument (some party, eh!?), the strings rusty, and ...got
the picture? This piano needed far more work than she had time to give it!
When you add 20+ piano technicians asking questions and offering advice, you
have some understanding of the tough job that Teri was handed. She carried it
off quite admirably, and to the benefit of all who attended (...and the piano
too!).
My notes from the beginning of the session are quite complete. The opening
gamut of; "What can we do? What can we NOT do?" is faithfully recorded.
First, Teri helped us determine what our working parameters were; "No, we
can't replace the hammers. No, we can't replace dampers or keyfelts in the
time allowed. Yes, we can re-shape the hammers and voice 'em. Yes, we can
clean the action, tighten the plate screws, and regulate as much as
possible.". What happened to my superb notes? Why wasn't the rest of the day
detailed as neatly in my notebook? Simple. Everyone got up and pitched in!
Imagine the scene; Technicians running out to their cars for tools and
supplies. Knots of people surrounding the action, the case, and the lid while
working, working working. Throughout the day, Teri was as much referee as
instructor while she helped lead the class through the piano's 'face-lift',
fielded questions, and sought to improve the piano's playability and tone
while surrounded by her 'helpers'. It was a non-stop operation, and she
handled it with the same precision and accuracy she gave to the piano. It
really was quite a handful!
Some highlights;
1. The discussion on hammer voicing included input from several experienced
techs and covered the spectrum from needling to steaming to alter a piano's
tone. Teri advised us that sound-techs prefer a 'bright' piano, as it gives
them a more controllable sound to mix in the studio. She uses a weighted
voicing tool with 3 needles, and sought to hear the piano tone "bloom" from
her efforts. A too hard hammer gives the piano a 'closed' or 'nasal' sound,
and leads to odd partial "twangs" or other problems.
2. Clean the piano! Teri pointed out that most of our work is 'invisible' to
the owner, and shiny strings and clean soundboard may actually improve the
client's perception of the work performed. Besides, she prefers a 'clean'
work area. Don't we all? This was when we found the shards, splinters, and
glass-dust from some forgotten incident. Kudos to James Schmitt for having a
can of naphtha in his car and for taking charge of cleaning the masking-tape
glue residue from the lid, music rack, and plate (...an enormous improvement
in appearance). Also thanks to the techs who scrubbed the strings with
"Scotch-Brite" pads to remove surface rust.
3. Tech/Client Communications. Teri made clear the need for properly talking
with the client. The client needs to understand what should be done, and what
will be done before beginning any work. Be firm on any requests that may
compromise the action's workability (...ask her how she knows!). Don't
promise more than can be delivered, and deliver what you promise.
4. Do what needs doing the most. For this piano; Cleaning, re-shaping,
voicing, and regulation. Most important tend to be; Bedding the keyframe,
Blow Distance, Let-Off, and Drop. This particular piano had zero aftertouch
throughout, and was greatly improved by a neat 'trick'; The Yamaha keyframe
is slightly flexible and the balance rail can actually be raised (increasing
key height & therefore dip) by careful adjustment of the glide-bolts. There's
not too much play in the height, but you can get 1 or 2 mm from this
technique.
5. Lightly sand 'shiny spots' on the underside of the keyframe with 180-grit
sandpaper. Removes problem squeaks!
6. Use a 'solvent-brush' to dust the keyframe and felt punchings. A
stiff-bristled narrow brush and vacuum can work wonders. Use 4/0 Steel wool
and McLube products on the pins. After removing dust and debris, spray pins
and underside of the frame with McLube 1725. Used CF-tool to open the balance
rail openings slightly (...and breathing on them can tighten 'em if they're
just a 'smidge loose). The keys worked very smoothly after this process (...I
know because I helped lever them from the keyframe. Way too tight at the
start, they almost fell into place after the treatment.).
7. String leveling worked on many of the 'twangy' notes in the mid-range.
Don't neglect hammer spacing and squaring before voicing.
8. Eat lunch! (Hey, the techs need their energy, too! Randy Potter has some
great video footage of this technician gently nodding his head late in the
afternoon, as Teri re-shaped the hammers in the grand. Did I thank Randy for
providing the up-close video and full-size TV-monitor so those in back could
see what was happening?)
There was more going on, and more information passed about, than these brief
words can relate. I hope I've given you some sense of how much we learned,
and how much we enjoyed Teri Meredyth's program at Oregon Day '96. Such
seminars are a tremendous opportunity for all of us to learn something(s)
new, aren't they? See you next year at Oregon Day '97!
Sincerely,
Jeffrey T. Hickey, RPT
Oregon Coast Piano Services
TunerJeff @ aol.com
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Hey!
Do our techie-brethren across the water have similiar opportunities? Do your
technical organizations sponsor such seminars and training classes? It's
certainly one of the benefits of our PTG. Please let me know!
Thanks for your time,
Jeffrey T. Hickey, RPT
Oregon Coast Piano Services
TunerJeff @ aol.com
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC