Days

[Farrell]

No, but I once tuned a nice grand for a performance that evening in a
downtown building lobby about 15 feet from a jackhammer going at full tilt.
AccuTuner with a magnetic pickup.  Yamaha C3, FAC, and all unisons by
machine (only time in my life). I could not hear a thing. I never got to
hear the piano after tuning. My contact at the building said the next day
that the pianist said the piano was "just fine".

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Brekne" <Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no>
To: "PTG" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, September 29, 2000 6:34 PM
Subject: Days


> Speaking of these...grin... sheeshh what an experience I had today.
>
> Got called tuesday to do a job for the local Jazz club. I know these guys
> so I had expected that this was going to be a pretty straightforward job,
> even tho it was a special consert in an unusual location. The place was an
> old factory, they make nails and hardware and such stuff. Huge open
> production hall... not attractive in the slightest really, but they did
> their best at making it presentable..
>
> Anyways I show up at the agreed upon time and they got this processing
> machine going. I mean this sucker was really loud. Musta been 90 dbs or so
> going all the time. They had a truck going to just in front of the stage,
> you know, one of those lift trucks for hoisting up lightings and speakers
> and such. Diesel driven thing. I thought that that was what was making all
> the noise so I waited while they finished up with that (about 10 minutes).
> When they turned it off I couldnt hear any difference... it was the
process
> machine making so much noise.. so much that I couldnt even hear the truck
> going right in front of the stage. I was amazed.. They werent about to
turn
> off this machine of theirs either. Administration had aggreed to turn it
of
> 10 minutes before the concert was to begin.
>
> I of course just shook my head and said this was absurdly hopeless and
that
> I would have to just pack up and leave. So a couple factory jocks show up
> just as I was about to leave. And this is where the story REALLY gets
> pathetic. These two guys show up with those mickey mouse ears on... you
> know the hearing protection things. They get right up in my face and open
> one ear and ask (as in screaming so as to be heard) why I cant tune the
> piano.. Incredulous.. This machine was making the most incredible amount
of
> noise. You could get right up to this grand and bang out a big chord as
> hard as you wanted to and you couldnt hardly notice the sound of the piano
> through this noise... A constant... Bdadadadagdeadadagdaa with a few
> Tsjiiaa's thrown in from time to time as the steam overflow was released.
>
> I can not for the life of me come even close to being able to fathom how
> anyone who resembles in the slightest a sane half intellegent gorilla with
> an IQ problem could in their wildest fantasy dream that any living (or
> mechanical) being in this universe could even come close to being able to
> tune a piano in that noise.
>
> On top of it all, on showing up and calling my contact for closer driving
> directions to this building within the factory complex,,, the fellow was
> too busy to talk to me and just told me to find someone around to get
> directions, then he hung up on me without further adui. It was raining
> elephants and giraffes so no one was about to stop and chat you know.
>
> All in all, an insult to my intellegence...and I told them so. The fellow
> responsible for the artists called an hour or so later to ask if I could
> come later on that evening just before the consert (with a hall full of
> people mind you) and go over the piano then... I would have all of 15
> minutes he assured me.... grin..
>
> I mean really... can you top this one ????
>
> --
> Richard Brekne
> RPT, N.P.T.F.
> Bergen, Norway
>
>
>