---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Hi David Skolnik, Of course it is true that there circumstances where you can train the=20 stage crew of a certain theater to be quiet when you are tuning.=20 However, in most, or at least many cases, this is not possible and in=20 that case you just have to live with it. Here is a clear example : I worked for some time for the most famous=20 concert hall in Holland, and my expectations were that they would help=20= me to do the best that I had to offer, and especially in that place=20 (the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam). The opposite was the case! They did not give a damn whether I had a=20 hard time or not. All they said in response to my complaints was that=20 the tuners before me had never complained and that I 'd better be a big=20= boy now. Whatever I said... it did not help. At a certain moment it was so bad=20 that 2 people were vacuum cleaning the stage and the seating rows at=20 the same time while I was preparing a gorgeous instrument for a famous=20= pianist! It should actually be enough to stop the job, pack your tools and get=20 the hell out. And you know what? After a long time of this humiliating treatment... I packed my tools, and I got the hell out, and I never returned, even=20 though this was the most prestigious client I had ever had. There are however other cases where you try to keep the job, even if it=20= is almost impossible. That's where you have to grin and ignore. Andr=E9 On 12-nov-04, at 15:45, David Skolnik wrote: > Hi Kent - > > I don't think we disagree. I credit my own early theatre-tuning=20 > experience with the my ability to through-tune, but I'm going for a=20 > little nuance here. Let me say this. As to how many of those same=20 > people would ever again be confronted with a piano tuner at work, why=20= > should you assume it to be so unlikely? These were stage hands and=20 > such. The next time, they might very likely remember...maybe it would=20= > take a few times. That's a learning curve. As to the existential=20 > characteristics, I am trying to distinguish between those conditions=20= > which are mutable from those that are im-, (pi). I see no virtue in=20= > suffering in silence if, by speaking up, the situation can be altered,=20= > and I don't accept the idea that asking / demanding silence ought to=20= > be experienced as humiliating. > > As for your recent experience, congratulations. It would be=20 > interesting to hear the circumstances surrounding such a nightmare,=20 > but I think your story illuminates my point on multiple levels. For=20= > example, what if some aspect of the tuning had, in fact, proved=20 > inadequate? Maybe starting out good, but slipping. How would you=20 > have felt if some critical attention had been brought to the piano,=20 > despite your heroic effort. It certainly wouldn't be fair, but you=20 > might also attribute that to the tuners' existential dilemma. Why, in=20= > such a panic situation, was it impossible for the venue managers to=20 > control the conditions for you? Why SHOULD such heroics be allowed to=20= > become the standard, as illustrated by the quote from Carol Beigel's=20= > post, "Yeah, the real professionals can deal with anything". > > Overall, a much wordier version of what David Love just posted. > > > David Skolnik > > > At 06:50 AM 11/12/2004 -0600, you wrote: >> On Nov 12, 2004, at 12:02 AM, David Skolnik wrote: >> >>> The point is, SOMEONE has to teach these people. If I (or you)=20 >>> don't tell them, why SHOULD they know better? >> >> You are right. My position is indefensible. But it is my position,=20 >> nevertheless. I wonder how many of those people that you successfully=20= >> shooed away will ever be faced with the same situation again. Next=20 >> time it is likely to be different people making noise and needing to=20= >> be educated. This is the piano tuner's existential dilemma, as far as=20= >> I can see. We can suffer (the noise) in silence, or we can suffer the=20= >> humiliation of having to ask for quiet. Suffering in silence involves=20= >> no break in tuning, and doggedly continues the progress toward a=20 >> finished tuning. >> >> Last weekend I tuned for Olga Kern, the Cliburn gold medalist. I had=20= >> prepared one piano in ideal conditions, but there was a last minute=20= >> change of pianos. I had half an hour to bring the other piano up to=20= >> pitch and tune it at the last minute while chaos reigned in the hall.=20= >> Impossible. But as far as they know, I did it, and the reviews of the=20= >> concert were raves. Maybe I was able to do that because of the=20 >> experience I have tuning in adverse conditions. ? >> >> Kent >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > > _______________________________________________ > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > friendly greetings from Andr=E9 Oorebeek "where Music is, no harm can be" ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 4780 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/7a/14/5a/9d/attachment.bin ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC