Stage light slump

[Richard Moody]

Tom Cole, List,
	The problem of temperature variations on stage causing tuning problems is
one that the Musician's Union, and Stage Hand Union should be alerted to.
Your post is an excellent beginning. 
	Besides stage lighting, I can relate other causes that are very
detrimental to tuning. 
	This problem will probably never occur again, but it could have cost me a
substantial contract.  It seems the piano players were concerned about the
pianos sounding out of tune starting about  half way throught the program,
that is what the person (Union) who booked the musicians and the piano
tuner for the boradway shows in this particular theater, told me.  So at
the next scheduled tuning (twice a week) I found no discrepency between
the two pianos, and noted it on the invoice.  Well he called again, so
this time I said I would come in the next day and check it out, that the
call would be on me, or if there were tuning problems I would get back to
him.  Still no problems. I left a message with the theater manager to this
effect.  The next day then was the scheduled tuning, and lo and behold the
piano player showed up.  He needed to "pick up some music" and he proceded
to play one of the pianos and said, "This is in tune now."  I told him
that I hadn't tuned it yet as I was still tuning the first one.  But he
couldn't believe it, as it was so out of tune by the second half of the
show last night.  I told him neither could I because he had just
demonstrated a good ear for in tuneness. 
That broke the ice, and it turned out he played in his stocking feet,
because the noise of  his shoes on the pedals was picked up by the
microphone placed in the bottom of the piano.  ( A Kawai upright).  but
his feet got cold, so he turned on a heater with a fan to direct heat to
his feet.  Then I began to look light a light had been turned on.  "That
is the problem"  "The heat from the fan is causing the out of tuneness"
(The complaint was the bass was going out). "But I can't believe it would
cause it to go out as much as it does"  Neither can I" I answered, but try
playing a show without the fan and then we will both know."  And please
get back in touch with me, here is my card"   
	I never heard from him again, but I tuned the  two pianos together, as
usual and never heard a difference.  So much for the appreciation of piano
tuners.
	
	The same Musician Union person asked me to tune a piano to A441 for
another show.  The piano,  Yahama upright was in the pit. I am dead set
against any other pitch standard than A440.  I mean a standard is a
standard, so when do we execpt 440 as that??!!!  Well he showed up and
before I could get my speil off, he explained that the musicians noticed
that the pitch of the piano would drop during performance.  Just when I
was about to ask how they could tell, I spied a Korg tuner sitting on a
chair, and asked him if that is what they used to tune to.  He said yes,
so I told him what it would take to get the piano to 441, and if they
wanted the pitch correct twice a week, or once every two weeks.  (and the
cost difference) , and demonstrated with my Korg. A great little
instrument for setting 440, I might add. Or 441.5 if need be.  The needle
gives "visual aides" the visual for anybody. : )
	For those of you who tune for Rock-n-Roll concerts, after a while you
might feel you would be justified in charging extra, because you are also
being used  as a lighting dummy.   Or I suddenly  "saw the light" on this
as a spot light came on while tuning.  It was set two feet from the curve
of a white baby grand piano and hit me full in the face as I was standing.
 After thirty seconds the paint on the side of the piano started
blistering!!.  This is when you should tell whom ever should know that
such heat will most likely throw the piano out of tune. 
	Other tuning problems occur when the show is held out of doors. If there
is not a canopy over the stage to keep direct sun off the piano, forget
it.  But be sure to tell the stage manager if you want to continue tuning
for them.  Space blankets work (ish), but not for cold if it is left on
the out door stage overnight. 

Richard Moody.  

----------
> From: Tom Cole <tcole@cruzio.com>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Stage light slump
> Date: Tuesday, April 07, 1998 1:16 AM
> 
> Dear List,
> 
> Reading some posts regarding pitch-guessing or "overshoot" when
> pitch-raising reminds me of a related consideration alluded to in a
> recent post. The concert instrument you carefully tuned to A440 during
> the cool, damp morning by evening has fallen a hertz or two at A4, the
> tenor even more and the octaves across the break are beating noticeably.
> The soundboard has apparently been parched by the heat of the stage
> lights causing the uneven out-of-tuneness.
> 
> Question: do any of you anticipate "stage light slump" by putting a
> tolerable "hump" in the middle of the tuning?
> 
> You may accuse me of being way too fussy - the two words "solid unisons"
> come immediately to your lips. But I do aspire to the _art_ of tuning,
> even though there may not be many in the audience who are going to
> appreciate it consciously. If only for the reason of attracting the
> business of discerning musicians, I want my best efforts to be displayed
> on my concert tunings.
> 
> What I try to do is to make the tuning _unnoticeable_, to paraphrase
> Horace, and so I wonder what others have done to cope with or maybe
> control temperature changes on the concert stage.
> 
> Tom
>