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<DIV><FONT size=2>December of '99 I tuned a Baldwin Studio =
Upright in a
small rural church in extreme northwest Tennessee--the heat had been on =
in the
sanctuary over night, was a bit cool, yet comfortable, I would judge =
around 70
or 72</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>degrees. Humidity in this part of the
country averages around 50-60% Often around 90%-seldom less =
than
around 30% (we are in the Mississippi River Valley). The piano has =
been in
the church for around 20 years. Generally in good shape. =
Tuned it
before, no problem with stability.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>The lady who contacted me to tune the piano called =
the latter
part of January and said her son, who is the pianist there, sounded like =
it had
gone out of tune real bad. I made an appointment to go by the =
church and
meet her son there. When I walked in the sanctuary, he was =
playing.
The piano sounded very well in tune--and I began to wonder what was =
going
on. I spoke to him and he turned around and exclaimed, "the piano =
sounds
great!" It was the same temperature as when I tuned it. I =
asked him
if this was the temperature in the sanctuary on Sunday mornings. =
He
exclaimed, "We try to keep it this temperature, when the old folks come =
in they
crank it up to where it is burning up!" </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>At my own church I tuned the concert grand in the =
Worship
Center when it was cool outside, and although the heat was on, it was =
barely
on--around 72 degrees in WC. Two weeks later we had a cold snap =
and piano
did not sound as good as it had. Temperature was 72 degrees in the =
WC, yet
the heat was on. A couple of weeks later we had a warming trend, =
and piano
was back in tune. During the week, the heat is generally reduced =
to in the
50-60 degree range.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I believe that the humidity, rather than =
temperature, has more
effect on a piano stability. Around here where we have fairly high =
humidity, it manifests itself pretty dramatically. At the same =
time
temperature (as well as heat, AC, type of heat) has an effect on the =
amount of
humidity in a room.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Joy!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Elwood Doss, Jr.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>University of Tennessee at =
Martin</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>