Way to go! Yes, I've had a couple of those jobs, and it puts my feet in the clouds too! Congrats.... Ed Carwithen At 12:05 PM 5/18/98 -0400, you wrote: >Dear Listmates -- > >Have any of you found yourself crying tears of joy when asked to tune a >console? > >After some recent postings on the more human side of piano service, working >in general, and just going about the business of being human, I began to >think about some of those moments that have made my work around pianos >worthwhile just for the *love* of it. > >More than once, some sweet elderly customers have called to ask me to >service their pianos. In 2 of these cases, I didn't know until then that >the customer was still living -- earlier appointments had been cancelled >because of hospitalization for some life-threatening condition, >complications, whatever. > >Friday afternoon's call was one of a slightly different kind. The >"customer" was the 70-year-old Gem Theatre in Detroit that had literally >been picked up and moved about 5 city blocks within the past year. (The >business manager quipped, "This is known as taking the show on the road." >the first day the building started to move aboard 576 truck tires.) There >had been numerous threats of demolition, numerous delays, and there were >probably numerous questions about its surviving such a move. The call was >from the business manager, asking me to tune the console [that had remained >in the building during the move], because they are going to hold auditions >there in a couple of weeks. Opening Night is scheduled for early >September. > >Perhaps at this point my career has come around in a full circle the past >almost-7 years. The Gem Theatre was my first true *concert* job, shortly >after it reopened after many years of being boarded up and shortly after I >moved to Michigan to work at a dealer. I thought at the time that >particular call was a one-shot deal, that I was just filling in for a more >seasoned technician. The next day I learned that I was the technician of >choice, which meant servicing the piano (a nice grand) twice a week for the >next 2 years. It was in there where I did all of my experimentation with >newly-learned procedures picked up at regionals and conventions ... and it >was in there that my skills improved rapidly ... and ... ... and yes, I got >referrals from there to other theatres that were being restored, and then >on to other performance venues. The only reason why the job ended was that >the next show didn't use a real piano. > >Once again, the Gem is being restored. Once again they plan on using a >real piano. Once again I'll have the opportunity to experiment and master >concert-level techniques. Once again, we ALL get lucky, and it's all out >of love. > >Don't worry, there is money in this too -- full rates no less. Here, it is >simply nice stuff to have around. I once heard a Japanese proverb that >essentially said, "Promote happiness, and the money will follow." A book I >read some years back was written on the premise that the best jobs are >those in which you can get others to pay for your fun. Some of you might >argue that a checking account doesn't know the difference between a concert >grand and a special spinet, but the *love* thing like what I have going at >the Gem gives the intangible "value-added extras" money cannot touch. > >ZR! RPT >Ann Arbor MI >diskladame@provide.net > > > Ed Carwithen Oregon
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC