<HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="IncrediMail 1.0" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE>v\:* { BEHAVIOR: url (#default#vml) } </STYLE> <style>v\:* { BEHAVIOR: url (#default#vml) } </style>  </HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 5px 10px 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bgColor=#ffffff background="" scroll=yes> <TABLE id=INCREDIMAINTABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD id=INCREDITEXTREGION dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; DIRECTION: ltr" width="100%"> <DIV>Fred,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I couldn't agree more......... Once again it is the juggling act between the unpredictability of the Faculty and the priority demands for the performance and teaching instruments. </DIV> <DIV>No one likes to lower their tonal standards. But most colleges and Universities I've experience have the practice room verticals as the lowest priority at least for tuning.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My simple question is, if the tone of a "Mid -priced" (not least expensive) vertical piano is less desirable, but cost affordable, would that be a reasonable compromise for the non-pianist practice rooms? Given these instruments seam to have a history of tuning stability, wouldn't this be the logical place to compromise?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Tony</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr> <DIV id=IncrediOriginalMessage dir=ltr><I>-------Original Message-------</I></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV id=receivestrings> <DIV dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><I><B>From:</B></I> <A href="mailto:fssturm@unm.edu">Fred Sturm</A></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><I><B>Date:</B></I> 7/2/2008 12:03:45 PM</DIV> <DIV dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><I><B>To:</B></I> <A href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">College and University Technicians</A></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><I><B>Subject:</B></I> Re: [CAUT] University piano replacement program</DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>On Jul 2, 2008, at 5:45 AM, tony wrote:</DIV><BR class=Apple-interchange-newline> <DIV type="cite"><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 16px Arial; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; orphans: 2; widows: 2; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0">My experience is the more expensive the piano, the more delicate it is (more sensitive to humidity changes and less tuning stability. In a new piano, assuming the pinblock is tight, doesn't the board move more in a "high quality" piano with a thinner board designed for better tone? Is that necessary for the Practice room pianos? How frequently can you get to these pianos to tune them in a year? Doesn't the care & maintenance of the "Quality" Concert and Studio pianos constantly change you tuning plans and become priority?</SPAN></DIV></DIV><BR> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV style="WORD-WRAP: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space"> <DIV><SPAN class=Apple-tab-span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></SPAN>I don't know that tuning stability relative to humidity change is related to "how expensive a piano is." I don't think thickness of the board has much to do with it either. There do seem to be some models that move more and faster in response to a humidity change, but I haven't found that this is very predictable, and certainly not relative to "high versus low quality/price point." I think the biggest factor is idiosyncrasies of the particular stringing scale (and the factor that leads to tuning instability may have other positive effects).</DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=Apple-tab-span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></SPAN>One thing that does seem to lead to a bit more tuning stability sometimes is age - older boards and bridges maybe are less sensitive, I suspect. Usually but not always this is accompanied by reduced tonal output.</DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=Apple-tab-span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></SPAN>How frequently can we get to practice pianos? Depends on our total hours as opposed to number of pianos, and what priorities we set. Concert instruments get highest priority, and get tuned very often, because they need to be as near perfect as we can get them, every single unison all the time. The number of tunings given to any individual piano is dependent mostly on how critical it is, not on how sensitive it is. </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=Apple-tab-span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></SPAN>Tuning stability is lower on my list than tone production and quality, and action responsiveness. The piano needs to be capable of making music. Tuning takes a lot of our time, but is not the most important thing we do. An institution that focuses on number of tunings to design its piano maintenance program needs to talk to somebody who knows a bit about comprehensive service.</DIV> <DIV><BR class=Apple-interchange-newline>Regards,</DIV> <DIV>Fred Sturm</DIV> <DIV>University of New Mexico</DIV> <DIV><A href="mailto:fssturm@unm.edu">fssturm@unm.edu</A></DIV> <DIV><BR class=webkit-block-placeholder></DIV></DIV></DIV><BR> <DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></TD></TR> <TR> <TD id=INCREDIFOOTER width="100%"> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD width="100%"></TD> <TD id=INCREDISOUND vAlign=bottom align=middle></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></BODY></HTML>