Practical Concert Work

[Otto Keyes]

I worked with Jim on numerous occasions over a period of several years
before leaving the Chicago area.  He was fairly new in the business at the
time, but a very competent technician.  Since I had a rather wide-ranging
clientel, I selected several technicians of superior ability to whom I
entrusted their care when I left many moons ago.  He took over a number of
my customers who were in his immediate vicinity, including North Park
College Conservatory.  While I have had little contact with him since, given
Jim's attitude toward his work and thirst for knowledge, I'm sure his skills
have steadily increased over the years.

While humidity may spike on occasion in NM, & certainly gets up there &
stays in Dallas, the conditions in the midwest are considerably more
challenging than you guys (or I here in Idaho) have.  That's one of the
reasons I'm not in a hurry to go back!  I must confess that I have not read
Jim's article in full detail, but in general I would agree with his
approach.  On a few occasions I have regulated to the "gnat's eyelash"
specs. when I had a particular objective to achieve.  In those instances I
made sure of the reliability of that regulation right before the concert, &
did not particularly enjoy the concert, knowing the kinds of things which
can occur that Jim described in his article.  For the most part though, I
take the more conservative (practical) approach, which gives everyone a bit
of breathing space.  While we may differ somewhat on particular procedures &
specs., I have found that an action which works well & and feels consistent
will be much preferred over the hair-trigger approach.  The current penchant
for over-stretched tuning is also counter-productive, since tone is richer
(shoulder voicing or not) when all the harmonics of the scale of a
particular instrument work together to build the sound, rather than each
high treble note screaming away on a pitch of its own.  (no bias displayed
here, of course!  :-))

As to what an artist can or can't feel, the most important thing is that
he/she feel the same thing on each key -- whether the measurements on them
are the same or not -- and often they aren't.  But, as I learned from Fred
Drasche long ago, the specs. are secondary to the feel of the action, and
consistency is the key.  As long as the regulation and voicing are solid and
consistent, a good pianist can adapt.  Those who can't should cart their own
pianos & personal tech. around.

In general, the "gnat's eyelash" approach has caused me more grief than
benefit, except in the above instances.  The artists put on their pants one
leg at a time, just like I do.  My job is just to make sure their bloomers
don't get in a bunch on the piano bench because I tried to tread too close
to (or too far from) the line.  That way nobody walks out of the hall
feeling like they just had the ultimate wedgy, everybody goes home happy, &
hopes for good reviews.  Mission accomplished, & I've been relaxed enough to
enjoy the concert.

Otto

----- Original Message -----
From: "Fred Sturm" <fssturm@unm.edu>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut@ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2004 1:11 PM
Subject: Re: Practical Concert Work


> --On Saturday, May 29, 2004 1:00 PM -0500 "David M. Porritt"
> <dporritt@mail.smu.edu> wrote:
>
> > Richard:
> >
> > In Part 1 of the series he states "....I never imagined I would spend
ten
> > years as the technician for one of the big five American Orchestras."
> > He is a member of the Chicago chapter so unless he travels A LOT I'd
have
> > to guess that he is the tech for the Chicago Symphony.
> >
> > dave
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________
> > David M. Porritt, RPT
> > Meadows School of the Arts
> > Southern Methodist University
> > Dallas, TX 75275
>
> That is probably the case. I don't like to run down any fellow tech - he
> probably is found to do reliable quality work. But Ron Coners told me last
> fall that David Barenboim insists on flying Coners out to Chicago to prep
> the piano any time he (Barenboim) plays it. Barenboim being the conductor
> of the Chicago Symphony, and a remarkable pianist as well. So who knows?
> I do hate to see anyone giving out what I consider to be misinformation,
> though. Maybe his system works for him, but my experience says that
> pianists appreciate the "finer and finer circles of refinement." Maybe you
> can get by with that kind of attitude - which I would describe as avoiding
> complaints rather than seeking perfection - but noone will leave a note
for
> you thanking you profusely for a "wonderful instrument that almost plays
> itself" or the like. I'm not a starry-eyed idealist, but I do try to put
> out the special effort for those concert instruments, in hopes of helping
> someone "create magic." I don't think you can create much magic on an
> instrument prepped as he describes.
> Regards,
> Fred
>
>
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