[CAUT] Prepared pianos

[Fred Sturm]

On Jan 31, 2011, at 12:21 PM, Horace Greeley wrote:

> It seems to me that we had something like this thread a while back  
> and that DavidI (RIP, David), had some source for either additional  
> copies of Bunger's book and/or PDFs of it.


	I was the one: I got a copy through interlibrary loan and photocopied  
it. I made copies available to anyone on the list who contacted me and  
sent enough to cover the expense of copying and mailing, probably 15  
to 20. That was 2006, I think, before the Rochester convention where  
Alan Eder presented a class on preparing pianos. I still have it (a  
couple copies), and could probably scan to pdf (didn't have that  
capability at the time, at least not conveniently). I think either  
David I or Alan Eder expressed the opinion that Bunger probably would  
not mind having bootleg copies created, since it has been long out of  
print and with nobody planning to print it. I just looked on the web,  
and I think what I got was the original edition, 1973 Colorado  
College, and he revised it in 1981 and published with Litoral Press.  
The 1981 edition is available from him through his web site at $75 (it  
says he has a few copies). But I think Alan's video is much more  
useful as a tool for educating pianists.
	With respect to potential damage, there are a lot of prepared piano  
procedures that can cause a lot of damage. One of them is putting  
tacks in hammers, pretty widespread at one time. The devices John Cage  
used do not necessarily cause damage if done with care, but they have  
that potential. Screws placed between strings need to be chosen VERY  
carefully for size. They have to be wide enough to hold between the  
strings securely, but not so wide as to cause damage when they are  
slid close to the bridge or to wedge felts of dampers, as one example.  
In the process of preparing, it is quite easy to drop a screw or other  
foreign object, possibly causing a buzz on the soundboard or a  
malfunction if it gets into the action.
	Inside the piano techniques like those George Crumb used are also not  
necessarily damaging, but still have that potential. Banging on  
various case parts can cause visual furniture damage, obviously.  
Strumming of strings and similar finger/hand actions can easily  
displace damper felt or misalign a damper head. The result is not  
"permanent damage" by any means, but the piano is not functional for  
the next concert, or the next piece on the same concert. All it takes  
is one non-functioning damper to make a piano useless for performance.
	So, in answer to Jim Busby's original post, above are some thoughts,  
but I would also consider re-visiting a little bit of your policy  
document. I think it is quite reasonable for the most part. But I  
don't think it matters what material screws are made of, as long as  
they are carefully threaded ("screwed in") between the strings (plain,  
not wrapped). And I find that marking nodes on strings with a thin  
(1/8" or so) strip of the gummed part of a sticky note, wrapped around  
and stuck to itself, is an acceptable compromise. No residue to speak  
of, not enough weight to throw the unison, easily visible and stays in  
place. A little hard to remove without it falling onto the soundboard,  
but that's no big deal (blow it out). You might also want to address  
other "inside the piano techniques," if there is enough need: ie,  
students and faculty doing a good bit.
	I try to keep one of the recital instruments "mostly out of bounds"  
for inside the piano and prepared stuff, just so that there will  
always be a functional piano available (I'm not always there to do the  
- usually - minor fix). But I really can't enforce an absolute ban  
that way, because so many recitals will have a piece where something  
is done inside, whether it is a bit of strumming, touching some nodes,  
or similar. So that kind of stuff I don't sweat (although the official  
policy is pretty plain). If it happens to cause a problem, then the  
faculty and students can fight amongst themselves about it: if  
somebody's action has a negative impact on somebody else's  
performance, that makes the whole issue far more real to them, and  
they actually learn something, as opposed to hearing me give a sermon  
about it.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
fssturm at unm.edu
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination." -  
Einstein