[CAUT] slick keytops

[Susan Kline]

You're welcome, Jim. Glad the beeswax did the 
trick! Sometimes my fingers get a little hot and 
bothered by all the rubbing, but it doesn't last, 
and the beeswax effect does. The beeswax has 
gotten two pianists very happy (the second 
overcame his doubts after the first raved about 
my beeswax to him), both times just a few minutes 
before concerts. They are SO relieved when 
they've been fighting slickness to feel some grip 
under their fingertips. It seems equally good on ivory or plastic keytops.

It's something I can do to concert rental pianos, 
too, since with careful rubbing there's no way to 
tell I've been there. One can be quite subtle 
about it, doing just enough for the artist, but 
not enough to attract the attention of any "piano police".

I'm not partial to hairspray or sandpaper -- I 
imagine one leaving nasty lacquer on the keys, 
and the other scratching the ivory - and ivory is 
too nice to mess up, especially these days.

Best,
Sssssnnn

>Thanks Susan!
>
>I had some beeswax here and it worked well. 
>You’re right about “varying amounts”. From 
>“still a bit slick” to a regular flytrap
 He’s going to try it out tomorrow.
>
>I tried some hairspray (on a different piano) 
>and it didn’t seem to do much. Maybe the brand 
>isn’t right. I’ve heard some pianists spray their fingers with it.
>
>Regards,
>Jim
>
>
>----------
>From: caut-bounces at ptg.org 
>[mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Susan Kline
>Sent: Monday, November 12, 2007 3:58 PM
>To: College and University Technicians
>Subject: Re: [CAUT] slick keytops
>
>What I do (adapting an idea from Steve Brady) is 
>to take a real beeswax candle, and make a short 
>mark on each key, then smear it around until it 
>"disappears" into an even trace layer all over 
>the key, using my fingers and a shop towel. You 
>can try varying amounts of wax, and have the pianist try them out.
>
>I don't bother with any "product" for cleaning. 
>I just wet the corner of a shop towel, squeeze 
>it into the rest so it's barely damp, and clean 
>off only the visible dirt. Using minimal water 
>seems to help keep the keys from being slick afterwards.
>
>I've found that pianists are most bothered by 
>slick sharps, which they can slide off of.
>I like the beeswax because it is easy to keep in 
>the kit, has a pleasant odor, is completely 
>nontoxic, and could be removed if need be. It 
>gives just enough stickiness, without any visible changes.
>
>Susan Kline
>Oregon State, Newport Arts Center
>
>
>List,
>
>A professor says the keys on our CF are too 
>slickor slippery. This is real ivory. And they 
>were dirty too. I cleaned them with Keybrite, 
>and now theyre even more slick. Any quick 
>solutions? (Light sanding? Hairspray?)
>
>Thanks,
>
>Jim Busby BYU
>
>p.s. I couldnt find anything for ivory on the archives.
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