We had a major disaster at the university last week. In the recital hall workers are installing a complete audio/visual projection system. As part of the system there is to be a giant retractable screen above the stage. Just behind where the screen is going is a huge custom built pipe organ made in Germany that was installed just a few years ago. Current value is somewhere around $400,000. On either side of the organ we keep two concert D’s when not in use, and a Shigeru SK-6 sits along one side wall when not used. A couple weeks ago some workers where assembling hardware getting ready to install the giant retractable screen. Somehow in the process they bumped into a fire sprinkler. No apparent damage, they just resumed their work and left. Then over the three day weekend the sprinkler let loose. At full force water poured from the ceiling. A security camera recorded the event with water coming down so hard you could not see the organ behind it. An alarm went off but of course it took some time for campus security to respond to verify there was a problem, then call and wait for the fire department to arrive, and then shut the water down. The organ has suffered detrimental damage. Water poured down through the open pipes, especially the trumpet resonators which flare out upward making them perfect funnels. One of the Ds and the SK-6 had covers which were completely saturated. After inspection it appears they were spared, there was actually dry dust inside. The water just ran off the sides of the cover once it saturated like a sponge. Only time will tell how the massive influx of humidity will have effected them but this past Friday all of the flanges in the D were loose with the hammers flopping around and a buzz. The other D just happened to be gone at the time. Due to another event it had been moved into the other music building for a week. That piano lives in the hall, I don’t think we have moved it out in at least five years so by total chance it avoided the entire incident. A local organ tech arrived on Tuesday. When he opened one of the wind chests water came pouring out of it. The console lid was so swollen it wouldn’t open and veneer is now pulling up. At minimum the entire right half of the organ will have to be completely rebuilt, the tech estimated the cost to be around $200,000. Next week a couple of the original organ builders are flying in from Germany to inspect it further. The wood floor on the stage has wide gaps between the boards and is starting to cup on the edges. Humidity in Las Vegas is now about 8-9% so soon I would expect to see the real effects on the pianos as they completely dry out. And that’s the news from the UNLV Music Department. Rob Goodale, RPT Las Vegas, NV -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20120603/4489fd1b/attachment-0001.htm>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC