Dear Friends, I have been asked to make a proposal to our local college for the tuning and maintenance of the pianos in the music department. I have been tuning on an as needed basis for the past year and a half. The head of the music department has asked for my input so that he will know how much to request for a tuning/maintenance budget. There is a good chance that eventually the budget will increase to a reasonable level. Recently several new pianos have been purchased. About 2/3 to 3/4 of the pianos now have complete Dampp-Chaser Systems installed and functioning. I need to write a proposal for the tuning/maintenance of 24 pianos... 3 concert grands (1 used very infrequently, older - needs regulation; 1 used infrequently - about 5 or 6 times a year; and 1 used heavily - about 10 concerts per year, plus about 35 to 50 student and faculty recitals, also used for weekly practice of advanced students, faculty trio, etc.) 3 larger classroom grands - used daily, moderate to heavy use (2 need COMPLETE regulation; 1 needs new soundboard and pinblock and action) 3 smaller grands - (2 used daily by piano teachers with fairly heavy use, both need regulation/hammer filing; 1 untunable, needs new pinblock, not used at all) 4 studio uprights in practice rooms - (2 brand new and now getting heavy use; 2 older and need full regulation) 10 studio uprights and 1 spinet in faculty studios - (1 brand new, but most about 20 to 30 years old in need of hammer filing/voicing and regulation) ******************************* My goals for the Piano Department I. Every Useable Piano in Tune Suggested Tuning Schedule (Pianos should be tuned often enough to prevent ANY complaints A. Concert Pianos tuned every major concert (before rehearsal and before concert) Concert pianos tuned as needed for recitals B. Other Grands and pianos used in teachers studios - Tuned 3 or 4 times per year as needed (Before Fall Semester; After weather change in Fall; in January and again in April/May) C. Practice room pianos tuned 3 times per year or as needed (Before Fall Semester, after Weather change in fall, again in spring) II. Every piano playing up to its potential A. Concert Grands completely regulated and voiced before each concert season begins in the fall B. Other pianos regulated and voiced according to their usage - every 2 to five years C. String, key and action repairs being done immediately on every piano to prevent further damage III. Every Piano protected from humidity extremes (to prevent the need for additional tuning and to prevent premature failure and the need for replacement) A. Every piano should have a complete five part Dampp-Chaser Humidity Control System installed B. Every Dampp-Chaser system should be plugged in and fully operating at all times C. Every piano should be checked regularly to make sure the D-C system is plugged in and water is in the humidifier (at least every week and more often in the winter) D. Every Dampp-Chaser system should have the humidifier pads changed annually or twice a year IV. Pianos in poor shape to be repaired, regulated, rebuilt or replaced as necessary A. Good quality pianos attract good students and teachers B. Poor quality pianos should be replaced When old pianos reach the end of their life span, replace them instead of rebuilding them C. Good Quality pianos in poor shape should be completely rebuilt or remanufactured with a new soundboard, a new pinblock and a new action as necessary D. Better quality pianos can be regulated as needed or rebuilt with a new pinblock and a new action ************************************************* The above items are an ideal situation that I would propose for the music department. Based on the booklet from the CAUT, I estimate that about 15 to 20 hours every week could easily be spent to bring the pianos in the music department up to good playing condition. It is unlikely at this point that a position would be created with any benefits. The position would still be on a subcontracting basis. If you were in charge of maintaining these pianos, what would you do? Does my list of Goals sound reasonable? Would you suggest any changes? I also would like to write a job description that would outline the ideal situation where a piano technician would be allowed to do everything the pianos need. Does anyone have a job description that you would care to forward to me that I could use for a guideline when writing my own job description? Many thanks in advance, David David A. Vanderhoofven, RPT Joplin, Missouri, USA e-mail: dkvander@clandjop.com web page: http://www.clandjop.com/~dkvander/ #pianotech page: http://www.clandjop.com/~dkvander/ircpiano.html
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