[pianotech] Simon and Garfunkel Piano

Sun Jun 28 04:06:27 MDT 2009

Brian,
Pianos which are used on tour are subject to lot of variants in temperature, humidity, and most importantly,ability of techs. These pianos might end up in areas where there is no highly skilled tech available, yet if strings break or the piano had the move from hell, whoever is on call will be putting his/her little signature on what was once a very nice instrument.  After a while on tour, most pianos will end up with a collection of pretty interesting repairs. Some offensive, some rather creative. Granted there are enough of bad examples where the piano did not have the correct attention from the onslaught of the tour. Things will generally go down hill from that point on.
Tis the reason some artists (with good budgets to work with) choose to have a tech on board with them throughout the tour. At least there is the knowing that consistency of work will be remain stabile throughout the tour.
Tom Servinsky

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: ChicagoTuner at aol.com 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Saturday, June 27, 2009 10:25 PM
  Subject: Re: [pianotech] Simon and Garfunkel Piano

  The strange serial number sounds like a Concert Reserve number, meaning CB 81. I believe that removing the keyslip would have revealed a six digit number that you are used to. Also, on the keybed near the left-hand side. Steinways need to be regulated and voiced, just like any other concert instrument. This piano has probably seen a lot of use and not enough prep. The usual problem of no one wants to pick up the bill for it. Improper hammer alignment, in particular, could be the result of long hours on its side bouncing up and down on a truck or on a plane. 
  And, if this is a recent episode, would someone explain to me how a piano is pulling sharp, during the winter, (in Australia) my experience is they fall flat in the drier air or, is it that humid near the ocean?  I live near Lake Michigan and during the winter, the soundboards flatten out from the dryness, in spite of the presence of so much water. 
  Michael Gutowski
  Chicago

  In a message dated 6/26/2009 9:56:08 P.M. Central Daylight Time, pianocare2 at bigpond.com writes:
    I tuned a late production New York model B (strange serial number, just the numbers 81) for Simon and Garfunkel last night (last of three concerts here in Sydney). All the usual problems re the break, but the regulation was nothing short of a total disgrace. There was nothing there in the way of hammer alignment or burning angle, and the hammers were way too soft to develop a tonal palate suitable for a performance instrument. Each day the tuning went sharp in the tenor. I haven't seen a late New York B before, but it left me underwhelmed.

    Ron O.

    Hi Ron

    I have thought about your comments over the last few days and although my first and gut instinct was to do nothing, I have now decided to change my mind. I consider your comments to be unprofessional, and it had nothing to do with the subject of key levelling.  I don’t believe that Chugg Productions or the American crew would be happy with your post. 

    For the record, I tuned the piano for S&G for the Wednesday and Thursday concerts in Brisbane. The piano arrived on Wednesday from New Zealand, and it was not on pitch, nor was there any resemblance of it being in tune. I thought to myself that the cargo doors must have been left open on the B747.  The piano was tuned Wednesday lunchtime. At 1900 I got back on the stage for the tuning. It was about 440.5 and again had no musicality in the tuning. I went through the tuning twice and I delayed the doors until 1945, in which 10 000 people were trying to get to their seat by 2000hrs. I was told by the American crew that the piano had to be perfect. And no excuses… I did the best I could considering the circumstances and the air conditioning duct blowing directly on the piano. On Thursday night the piano was 441hz. So perhaps the tuning instability was due to the travel and climate. I stayed for the show on Thursday, and although I did the best I could, I was not entirely happy with my tuning. However the client, that is the people who payed me were. The American crew were also happy, and I got a big thank you from the musical director. They had fun with “appearing on stage tonight.. Brian Wilson, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel”. At the end of the Brisbane show, the show was packed up and moved to Sydney via truck. Brisbane was having its coldest night of the year when the show finished, and I might consider that to be part of the tuning problems.

    I hope my tuning met with some approval with you, but I think you should be lucky you didn’t hear the piano when it first arrived.

    Regards

    Brian 

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