A-440 Policy?

[Joel Jones]

on 10/26/00 11:57 AM, Avery Todd at atodd@UH.EDU wrote:

> List,
> 
> Just thought I'd vent a little. I worked off-campus all day
> yesterday and didn't check my messages until around 6 PM. The
> Houston Symphony is here for 3 days beginning today (at _their_
> request, not ours) for an all-Copeland concert Saturday night
> and we were not "informed" until 4:45 yesterday afternoon that
> they wanted the piano at A-442. You'll notice I said informed,
> not asked! As in "permission".
> Needless to say, my hackles are STILL up. I had to get here
> about 6 AM this morning to do the pitch raise job for them
> because we were informed so late, that I had no chance to fight
> it. When that alarm went off at 4:30 AM, well, let's just say
> that you'd rather not hear my "thoughts" about why.
> I just had a talk with the Director of the School of Music
> and he's in total agreement with me. After this concert is over,
> the OFFICIAL policy is that our performance halls are A-440 halls
> and if any other pitch is desired, the organization will bring
> their own instrument(s). I'll tune it to whatever is desired, if
> they want, but _our_ 4 instruments are to stay at A-440!
> The director also told me that the symphony is to be billed
> for a pitch raise job and a pitch lowering job.
> It's wonderful working at a school that gives me this kind of
> support and backing!
> Just curious. Does anyone else have that kind of official
> policy at your school?
> 
> Avery
Avey,
Bravo !  Make A-440 an OFFICIAL Policy.  I like the idea of having the group
bring in their own piano for A-442 .  My experience is that it takes more
than one tuning to stabilize after the raise.  It took about 2 months of
concert tunings before I felt secure with the stability.
    Keep that director.  Support like that is hard to find.  Guess you'll
read the contract closer next time.   Contract?  I find our contracts are
somewhat  vague in our rentals, but so far nothing like what you describe
has happened with out prior notice.
    We have a concert manager who does the rental contracts.  He screens the
set-up and equipment needs.  If something like A-442 would drop on us, his
seat would be hot.
    Joel 
-- Joel A. Jones
Senior Piano Technician
1501 Humanities Building
455 North Park Street
Madison, WI  53706
FAX 608 - 262 - 8876
608 - 263 - 1887