Tuning for Correctional Institute

[Cy Shuster]

Finally!  Some knowledge I can contribute!  Two basic rules:

1.  No metal-cutting tools.
2.  No recording devices.

You'll need to fill out a form well in advance (a few weeks) with a lot of personal identity info in order to get approved.  You'll need a government-issued picture ID (driver's license).  They will inventory your tools going in and coming out, so make it easy, and just carry the minimum.  On the other hand, it can be a big deal if you have to out to the car and come back in again...  Find out as much as you can about what might be wrong with the pianos.  Spare screws and other small parts are helpful; parts tend to disappear.  I had to MacGyver a broken key repair once.  You might bring a snack if you're doing a couple of pianos.

Find out their schedule, and start early.  You don't want to get stuck past the lockdown time for the afternoon count (!).  And it also helps to find out the prisoner's dress code; my standard khaki slacks blended in a little too well (at least I wasn't wearing the matching khaki shirt!).  There may be more guards some days than others, which make it easier on them to follow you around.

The "recording device" rule killed me.  I admitted that my iPaq with TuneLab had a microphone, and could indeed record sound.  So they didn't let me bring it in.  Not knowing aural tuning then, I struggled for an hour and then begged for an exception.  I got it, as long as a guard was with me full-time (which I didn't mind).

The one I tuned for in WV preferred to pay by credit card.  PayPal allows this easily, for a small fee.  Only you need to join; the customer does not.  Email me for details (see my site, shusterpiano.com).

Let them know if any parts are missing, especially strings; they're used for tattoo needles.  Check the bottom cabinets of uprights for missing or extra items.  Curiously, they allow only acoustic pianos, and not electric.  I thought, hey, more people have been killed with piano wire than with resistors.  But I was told they can tell if an acoustic has been tampered with or has had parts removed, while a digital is harder for them to check out.

All in all, it was a comfortable experience.  The facility was large, clean, and pleasant, and I never felt threatened (I had a guard full-time).  (Unfortunately, it was much nicer than any high school I was in!)  Music is a privilege which can be taken away, so it's important to the prisoners.  They had an old spinet in the band room, a nicer Yamaha upright in a separate room used for lessons, one in the chapel, and another in an outbuilding.  I felt good about helping with a positive aspect of their lives.

--Cy--
shusterpiano.com

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Michelle Smith 
  To: 'Pianotech List' 
  Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2006 10:38 AM
  Subject: Tuning for Correctional Institute


  I'm scheduled to tune a piano for a federal correctional institute.  (The Chaplin attends my church.)  Are there any restrictions on what tools I can bring onto the premises?  Any red flags my friend hasn't thought about?

   

  Thanks!

   

  Michelle Smith

   
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20060716/b6118ab9/attachment-0001.html