---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Hi Andre - A shocking splash of sadistic reality, Not what I would have imagined from= =20 the civilized Dutch. My point, as you courageously demonstrated, is, to=20 try. How would you feel if you never said anything? Perhaps you could have= =20 made your point by coming to a performance (or a rehearsal) and turning on= =20 a vacuum cleaner. A mere thought. Regards David Skolnik Full of mere thoughts At 07:25 PM 11/12/2004 +0100, you wrote: >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. However,= =20 >in most, or at least many cases, this is not possible and in that case you= =20 >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 me= =20 >to do the best that I had to offer, and especially in that place (the=20 >Concertgebouw in Amsterdam). >The opposite was the case! They did not give a damn whether I had a hard=20 >time or not. All they said in response to my complaints was that the=20 >tuners before me had never complained and that I 'd better be a big boy= now. >Whatever I said... it did not help. At a certain moment it was so bad that= =20 >2 people were vacuum cleaning the stage and the seating rows at the same=20 >time while I was preparing a gorgeous instrument for a famous pianist! >It should actually be enough to stop the job, pack your tools and get the= =20 >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 is= =20 >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 be=20 >>experienced as humiliating. >> >>As for your recent experience, congratulations. It would be interesting= =20 >>to hear the circumstances surrounding such a nightmare, but I think your= =20 >>story illuminates my point on multiple levels. For example, what if some= =20 >>aspect of the tuning had, in fact, proved inadequate? Maybe starting out= =20 >>good, but slipping. How would you have felt if some critical attention=20 >>had been brought to the piano, despite your heroic effort. It certainly= =20 >>wouldn't be fair, but you might also attribute that to the tuners'=20 >>existential dilemma. Why, in such a panic situation, was it impossible=20 >>for the venue managers to control the conditions for you? Why SHOULD=20 >>such heroics be allowed to become the standard, as illustrated by the=20 >>quote from Carol Beigel's post, "Yeah, the real professionals can deal=20 >>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) don't=20 >>>>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 time= =20 >>>it is likely to be different people making noise and needing to be=20 >>>educated. This is the piano tuner's existential dilemma, as far as I can= =20 >>>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 no= =20 >>>break in tuning, and doggedly continues the progress toward a 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:=20 >>><https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives>http://www.ptg.org/mailman= /listinfo/pianotech=20 >>> >> >> >>_______________________________________________ >>pianotech list info:=20 >><https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives>http://www.ptg.org/mailman/= listinfo/pianotech=20 >> >> >friendly greetings >from >Andr=E9 Oorebeek > >"where Music is, no harm can be" > ></blockquote></x-html> ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/92/81/55/05/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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