Being called out on stage

[David Ilvedson]

Lemons or not, that sounds like a lot of fun!   For a short time of course...



David Ilvedson, RPT

Pacifica, CA 94044









Original message

From: "Tom Servinsky" 

To: "Pianotech List" 

Received: 12/30/2007 11:21:03 AM

Subject: Re: Being called out on stage





A few years back I was doing the Transatlantic crossing on the QE2 for their "Piano" themed cruise which sailed from England to New York. I was in charge of doing all the daily concert tunings prior to each recital. Due to the tight scheduling I was given 28 mins prior to each show to do a tuning which was always to a full house. It became a running joke that after the tuning was completed I would go to stage center, take a bow,and the audience would give me a standing O. I would  then I  announce..." for my next number...."  

  By the end of the cruise the audience treated me like the warm-up act for each of the concerts. Since I am a pianist, I usually would play something light and silly, sometimes in 2 different keys making light that the tunings weren't very good. Nothing better than an audience with a good sense of humor. Even the great Irish pianist,John O'Connor, who was one of the artists on the trip, was intrigued that I was able to get the job in front of a full house at a blazing speed and still have the composure to have fun with the audience.

As my wife always says...."When you're given lemons, make lemonade."

Tom Servinsky



----- Original Message ----- 

From: Willem Blees 

To: pianotech at ptg.org 

Sent: Sunday, December 30, 2007 1:12 PM

Subject: Re: Being called out on stage





 In the late 70's I was the tuner for the Mississippi River Festival, an outdoor concert venue. One of the last concerts of the year was the Grateful Dead. You can imagine the audience. Not only did the the truck got there late, but the Dead also wanted to warm up and do a sound check before they would allow me to tune the piano. That left me with 30 minutes just before before show time. 



It was a Yamaha CP-70, and fortunately they had earphones for me. What I didn't know is that the piano was also being amplified to the speakers, so everyone heard what I was doing. There must have been at least 20,000 people out there. When I got done, I got a big applause. I don't know if it was because I was finally done, or because they thought I did such a great job. It's probably the former, but it makes me feel better to pretend it was the latter.  





Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT

Piano Tuner/Technician

Honolulu, HI

Author of 

The Business of Piano Tuning

available from Potter Press

www.pianotuning.com





-----Original Message-----

From: Robin Stevens <pianobee at bigpond.com>

To: 'Pianotech List' <pianotech at ptg.org>

Sent: Sat, 29 Dec 2007 11:41 am

Subject: Being called out on stage





Many years ago when Peter Nero came to my city (Adelaide, South Australia) I

and two of my friends decided to see Peter who was very popular at that

time. On arriving at the hall we sat in the back row of the packed hall and

waited for the concert to start. A manager walked out onto the stage and

asked...Is there a piano tuner in the house!! My two friends who, liked me,

were well primed from the pre concert meal and drinks immediately jumped to

their feet and pointed to me! Could I come up and see Peter, was the

question? On going to the front of the hall, (to a arousing applause from

the audience) I went back stage and met a very nervous Peter Nero who

informed me the Steinway D's sustain pedal did not work! Could I have a

look? My tools were miles away so I thought I would access the problem first

and go from there. On going out onto the stage (to another arousing round of

applause) I dropped to the floor on my back and noticed that the adjustment

rod had half an inch travel before even engaging the dampers. When I tried

to adjust the rod with my fingers I found the locking nut was beyond undoing

with fingers! Going back stage again I asked the awaiting group if anyone

had a adjustable spanner?...no such luck...my brain was going into a spin as

to what to do next when I noticed some cardboard boxes in the corner.

Tearing off a large piece I folded into what I thought was right for the

space that had to be filled. Back on stage again (to another round of

applause) the packing spacer was spot on ;-))



Peter came onto the stage and started playing as if nothing had every

happened.



 In hindsight the town hall in those days used to hire a piano from the

local Steinway dealer. None of their tuners were actually piano players and

I assume whoever tuned it never sat and played a short piece after the

tuning which would have indicated the pedal problem!!

The question that might need to be asked...do non playing tuners have a

check list they go through, rather than playing a small tune?

Have a prosperous new year

Robin Stevens ARPT

South Australia

      











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