[CAUT] Prepared pianos

[Edward Sambell]

One time I went to tune a grand at the Banff Center and wondered what in the 
world was happening, the tuning was so weird. A close look revealed residue from 
masking tape on many strings. It was quite difficult to clean off. If I had 
known someone was about to do this, I could have steered them to use painters 
tape, which leaves little or no trace

Ted Sambell.




________________________________
From: Fred Sturm <fssturm at unm.edu>
To: caut at ptg.org
Sent: Tue, February 1, 2011 9:47:46 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Prepared pianos

On Feb 1, 2011, at 6:54 PM, Kent Swafford wrote:

> I thought one marked on either side of the node so one doesn't have to touch 
>the marks themselves.
> 
> Kent


    If you can mark with a piece of chalk on a bit of shiny music wire precisely 
enough so that you can get a little mark on one or another side of a node, and 
so that it can be seen fairly easily, you are far better than I am. I find it 
very difficult to get chalk to transfer to the wire unless it is rather rusty. 
So I end up with a smear of chalk dust that is just barely holding onto the 
wire. And that is the sort of thing I often find on our pianos that students are 
using. It's pretty iffy whether it will still be there and visible when you 
actually need it in the performance. That has been my experience, in any case, 
the few times I have performed music where that was needed. I'd much prefer to 
have Sauter's lines on the soundboard as a reference, but you still need to know 
which string (which could then be marked on the damper). But a tiny strip of 
paper is quite visible and stays put (sticky part of sticky note). A piece of 
white thread is another option I have used/recommended.
    If your strings are at least a bit rusty, chalk works just fine, sticks and 
is visible enough. And then, sure, not precisely at the node, just in front or 
just behind, as you choose. Both sides if you can't remember what you decided 
<G>.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
fssturm at unm.edu
http://www.createculture.org/profile/FredSturm

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