<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <title></title> </head> <body> If you check the archives Dave has talked about excessive string breakage in the past.  There were some comments from members on this list that the professors and the students are using excessive force to play the pianos at his school.  I was not part of the discussion, but I remember following it. Tim Coates University of South Dakota University of Sioux Falls David M. Porritt wrote: <blockquote type="cite" cite="mid20030917161352.CDED25700.out004.verizon.net@ITS03563"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; "> <meta content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1226" name="GENERATOR"> <div align="left">The hammers aren't particularly hard, they are just played hard.  They all break at the capo bar.  The school has an "Artist Certificate" program for people wanting to be performers.  The only entrance requirement is exceptional playing and acceptance by a teacher.  It is generally a post graduate program though we've had students as young as 16.  These kids are really serious and have very few academic distractions.  They practice hard 6 - hours a day.  The program is limited to 30 in all disciplines.  Currently we have 9 pianists (I think!).  The rest are in other orchestral instruments or singers.  It's fun to watch them grow, and their practice habits are a good example for the other students.  The downside is that they take a huge toll on the pianos.</div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left">dave</div> <div align="left"> __________________________________________</div> <div align="left">David M. Porritt, RPT</div> <div align="left">Meadows School of the Arts</div> <div align="left">Southern Methodist University</div> <div align="left">Dallas, TX 75275</div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"> ----- Original message ----------------------------------------> From: Alan McCoy <<a href="mailto:amccoy@mail.ewu.edu">amccoy@mail.ewu.edu</a>> To: <<a href="mailto:dm.porritt@verizon.net">dm.porritt@verizon.net</a>>, College and University Technicians <<a href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</a>> Received: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 08:54:28 -0700 Subject: RE: Practice room grands</div> <div align="left"> Dave,</div> <div> </div> <div>Wow. That is a lot of broken strings! Are those hammers rock hard or have you spent time softening them? How the heck do you get anything else done around there after replacing all the strings?</div> <div> </div> <div>Alan McCoy</div> <blockquote dir="ltr" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(128,0,0); padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px;"> <div class="OutlookMessageHeader" dir="ltr" align="left">-----Original Message----- From: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org">caut-bounces@ptg.org</a> [<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org">mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org</a>]On Behalf Of David M. Porritt Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2003 7:58 AM To: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</a> Subject: Re: Practice room grands </div> Wow!  Since Kawai's are pretty high tension scales, I can't imagine how many strings get broken with that kind of use!  Mind you, I like Kawais, but that combination of piano and use!  9 of our 10 piano major practice rooms have Steinway "L"s or "M"s.  The other one is an older Baldwin.  All of them get frequent broken strings.  I probably replace 5 to 8 a week. I'd like to tune them at least once a month too, but I wonder what I'd have to neglect to do it. dave __________________________________________ David M. Porritt, RPT Meadows School of the Arts Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275   ----- Original message ----------------------------------------> From: Avery Todd <<a href="mailto:atodd@UH.EDU">atodd@UH.EDU</a>> To: <<a href="mailto:dm.porritt@verizon.net">dm.porritt@verizon.net</a>>, College and University Technicians <<a href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</a>> Received: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 09:39:52 -0500 Subject: Re: Practice room grands Dave, If I had my "druthers", I'd like to tune them at least once a month! With the kind of music so many of the kids play (Prokofiev, etc.) and the numbers of hours they're in heavy use, ours need that. Probably more. The problem we have here is that those piano major rooms (9 of the 10) have 'lease' Kawais and are changed out every year, so it takes a bit to start getting even a little stability. Avery At 09:28 AM 9/17/2003 -0500, you wrote: <blockquote class="cite" cite="" type="cite">The grand pianos in practice rooms, the ones reserved for the piano performance majors, how often do you tune these?  Do you have a schedule?  How do you determine that?   I have these pianos listed in my inventory as 6x per year and I don't feel that this is enough.   Comments?   dave __________________________________________ David M. Porritt, RPT Meadows School of the Arts Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275    </blockquote> <X-SIGSEP> </X-SIGSEP> ______________________ Avery Todd, RPT Moores School of Music University of Houston Houston, TX </blockquote> </blockquote> </body> </html>