a short piano story

[Dave Nereson]

----- Original Message -----
From: <kam544@flash.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2001 8:32 PM
Subject: a short piano story


> For those interested in such things,
>
> Tuned a 1900 Bush & Gerts this week.  Way flat and needing bookoo (anybody
> want to give me the correct spelling) repairs. >

It's 'beaucoup', and pronounced "bow-coo", not "bookoo" .  (That's 'bow' as
in violin bow, not 'bow' as in bow-wow.  I know everybody says 'bookoo
bucks', but it's wrong, I tell you, wrong!)  Another one that grates on my
gizzard:  The Montreux Jazz Festival.  It's "mohn-treu", with the 'eu'
sounding a bit like the 'oo' in 'book', and NOT 'Mon-troh'.  To be
pronounced "Mon-troh", it would have to be spelled "Mantreaux".  This is not
graduate level French, but stuff I remember from 7th grade.

>My oh my, what a sweet sounding and playing old thing after all was said
and done!<

Yes, I'm a fan of many of the old uprights also, especially if they've never
changed climates since they were new.  Some of them really have gutsy bass
sections, great sustain, and are better instruments at 90 years old than
many brand new "baby grands".      --Dave Nereson, RPT, Denver