My question!

[Clyde Hollinger]

Joe, Marcel, and list,

These questions may not receive answers immediately from Stephen Airy, since he
may have already left for vacation.  No doubt he will respond when he gets back
in a week or two, but maybe I can add a little input, which he can correct
later if I have it wrong.

I have emailed Stephen both on and off list.  My impression is that he is
exactly what he appears to be, someone who is intensely interested in pianos
and how they work.  But he has very little experience to speak of, since most
of it is tinkering with his old upright, for which he seems to have a great
deal of fondness.  Therefore, some of his input and questions ... well, I'm not
going any further with that.

He is a young man in college studying for an occupation in another field.  I
have encouraged him to seriously consider changing his focus to piano
technology, since this seems to be where his heart is.  Only time will tell if
he will do this, but if he does and if he gets the proper coaching, we may find
him making notable contributions to piano technology twenty years from now, if
not sooner.

When I started in piano service way back when, I too had absolutely no idea
what I was doing.  My first tuning was on my parents' old upright when I was a
teenager, using a pitchpipe (borrowed from my dad who was a song leader in
church) and a tuning hammer my dad borrowed from someone who also wasn't a
piano tuner.  No mutes, no instruction, nothing else.  But the piano sounded
much better when I was finished, which gives you a good idea how it sounded
before I started!

>From there I sort of blundered my way foreward, over the years buying a cheap
and bad piano tuning correspondence course (which I never finished), tuning for
family and friends and then as a summer job beginning around 1980.  I still
knew next to nothing.  I got good enough, though, that while on sabbatical in
1987-88 and completing my master's degree a respected local piano retailer
hired me to work for them part-time.  I joined PTG in 1989, went full-time in
the trade in 1992, and became an RPT in 1996.

I will never be a mover and shaker in the world, and since I sort of came into
this profession "through the back door," some of the discussions that take
place here are still far beyond me.  But I keep learning and improving my
knowledge and skills slowly.

Sometimes I find it almost amazing that my local chapter has put me to work at
various times as secretary, vice president, president, clinician and alternate
delegate -- and I am grateful to them, the local community, and God, for the
favor that has been shown me.  And I am also grateful to those of you who
through this pianotech list have taught me a great deal by answering my
sometimes good and sometimes bad questions.  :-)

Merry Christmas!

Regards,
Clyde Hollinger, RPT

Marcel Carey wrote:

> I have another question for Stephen. How old are you?
> I'd like to know.
>
> Marcel Carey RPT
>
>
> Stephen,
> You still haven't answered my question! I posted the first time, privately.
> This time I purposely have it posted on the list. You are apparently still
> lurking about, so how about a straight answer to a straight forward
> question: Are you interested in becoming a technician or are you just a
> musician that lurks on the Pianotech list?
> Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)
> P.S.
> To all else: I hope this is ok to ask.