Don Quixote and opening Ceremony

Ron Koval drwoodwind@hotmail.com
Thu, 20 Jun 2002 18:14:07 +0000


Tom, I guess I'll miss hearing you, we're scheduled to practice singing 
during that time. (Windy City Warblers)
Wait, I just saw my name go by, how'd I get dragged into this one?

Bill Bremmer wrote:
<snip>
Instead, he begrudgingly
allows Ron Koval to haul in a beat up old school piano to tune a few
temperaments in the hallway.  That's pathetic.  There is no reason 
whatsoever that he should not allow Ron or anyone else to tune your piano in 
a way that Ron considers appropriate for what you are going to do.
<snip>

Just to burst any conspiracy theories, the temperament sampler was a last 
minute addition to the convention.  The question was if another piano could 
be added to the moving truck without incurring too much of a last minute 
expense.  There wasn't a "he", or any begrudging going on.

As to the condition of the piano,  I WANTED to use a "normal" piano.  I've 
been to many demonstrations with souped-up, freshly voiced big instruments.  
Most of my clients have average pianos, and I like to find a way to help 
them make music with them. Let people hear what temperaments can do for the 
average piano.  Also, I felt that a hands-on interactive display would get 
more exposure that any classroom demonstration, with a performer playing a 
few pieces.  If techs are going to begin using optimizing temperaments, they 
need to feel for themselves the differences that a tuning can make.

I have a feeling that "gentle" temperament differences make more of an 
impression to the performer, not the listener.  Kindof like a wind player 
that changes mouthpieces.  He still sounds like the same player, but one may 
make it easier for him to express the music.

My next project is a chapter meeting where we will see what each of the 
tuning machines calculate for a tuning on those same Baldwin uprights.  I'll 
be following the directions that come with the machines, no tweaking 
allowed. Everyone will have a chance to play on all the pianos. Graphs, 
comparisons, it should be a lot of fun!  Using big, nicely scaled pianos 
doesn't let the tech see what the machine is capable of, nor is using every 
trick in the book from an experienced tech.

Can you tell I like the "show and tell" approach?

Looking forward to next week

Ron Koval



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