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[Eric Leatha]

>On Sat, 7 Sep 1996 BobDavis88@aol.com wrote:
>
>>In a message dated 96-09-07 10:23:34 EDT, Steve Brady writes:
>><snip>
>>Although we have a very mild pitch swing here in my part of California, I see
>>a few pianos in unheated churches, that swing intolerably from season to
>>>season, ...
>
>>Bob Davis, RPT
>>Stockton, CA
>>
>
>Bob,
>I know what you mean, but I would like to point out a possible
>implication which may be a cause of misunderstanding:
>
>It is my experience that pianos that are in truly unheated environments,
>such as unoccupied summer homes, stay in tune extremely well, and drift
>much less than tose in heated buildings.  In the case of the churches
>that you describe, I suspect that that actually are heated at least part
>of the time--  such as Sunday morning at the least.  That would drive
>the humidity dramatically lower, and cause swift and drastic pitch
>changes to a greater degree than in a normally heated home.  This is
>quite different than what happens in a truly unheated building in which
>the humidity actually is much more stable than in a heated building.
>The reason is that the temperature is free to change with the outdorr
>temperature, and the outdoor humidity is much more constant than indoor
>humidity.  Here in Rochester NY, the outdoor humidity rarely drops below
>40%, yet, the same air when heated (indoors) may be at 15%.
>
>Bill Bailer
>
>\\\  William Bailer                              wbailer@cris.com
>\\\  Rochester, NY, USA                       phone: 716-473-9556
>\\\  Interests: acoustics, JSBach, anthropology, piano technology

I will second this.  When I lived in Idaho, I was sent to many "summer
cabins" high in the mountains with old uprights in them.  Though many were
in frightening shape (probably before they were carted up the
mountainside), one or two were dead-on A-440 and required minimum tuning.
One of these, a massive Ludwig upright, was atop a mountain that still had
snow in July!  It hadn't been tuned in thirty years, or so said the owner
(and it probably hadn't).  Perhaps the piano hibernated while it was
frozen.  Hey, then that 80 year-old upright is only 20 years old!



Eric Leatha, RPT
Portland, OR
tunrboy@teleport.com
"Human speech is a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears
to dance to; while all the while we long to make music that will move the
stars to pity..."
-Gustav Flaubert