damaged piano -- vents

[Jeff Tanner]

Jon,
The real question is: "what numbskull, sorry, absent-minded idiot, sorry
person designed this building?" (not to mention the one who, with small
strokes of the pen, eliminated humidity control, among other very important
things, without our knowing until it was too late)  This building is prime
example of why the lowest bidder shouldn't get the job.

Actually, there isn't much of a practical way to avoid vents in this
building.  These vents are long narrow "slits" in the ceiling about 3 feet
long by 4 to 6 inches wide.  In this particular classroom, there are six
vents.  The center of the room, and the corners are out from under a vent.
I have four such vents in my shop which is only roughly 22 x 17.  It is
almost impossible to position a piano in here which is not under one of
them.  But I will have to say that the current through these vents is not
strong.

Other than for music theory, etc., this particular classroom is used for
voice class, seminars, juries and often times various competitions and
auditions which we host about 4 or so times a year.  In this room, for
those purposes, the best placement of the piano happens to fall right under
this particular vent.  It is supposed to be kept over in a corner, but
moving the piano around in the room involves moving several desks, and is
quite cumbersome at that.  My experience has been that instructors, or
whoever use these rooms for various events tend to position the piano where
they want them, and don't put them back where they found them when they're
finished.

This building was not designed to be piano friendly.  Even the studios are
arranged in such a manner that it is almost impossible to place pianos in
an area of the room such there is good use of space and where vents do not
blow directly on them.  Vents in studios blow in from the side walls across
the rooms, and data jacks are placed in each room which limit the
possibilities for where desks can be.  The studios are narrower on one end
than the other, and so the remaining space has to be arranged in such a way
to maximize teaching area.  About half the time, the piano has to be placed
right where a vent is blowing.  These currents ARE strong.

Incidentally, it is believed that this leak (and others we've had in the
building) is actually a roof problem, rather than a condensation problem,
and this is not the only leak problem we've had.  The company which did the
roof on this building is conveniently no longer in business (wonder why?),
so we have no one to go after to have it repaired, except university
maintenance.  We've had a couple tropical storms come in here from the
coast, and for those we drape all the instruments in the building with
plastic, but we can't do that every time it rains (IF it rains, it's so
unpredictable).  I suppose I'm at fault for not going in at the end of
spring semester and making sure that the piano was in the corner (although
that wouldn't guarantee anyone with a key wouldn't come in and move it
around again).  But it was believed that the leak was finally fixed and
there'd been no sign of a leak in there all year.

It wasn't.

Jeff

>All this raises another question:
>What numbskull, sorry, absent-minded idiot, sorry, person placed the piano
>under the air conditioner in the first place?
>
>Jon Page