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<DIV align=left><SPAN class=661285215-17092003><FONT=
face=Garamond color=#800000>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 accademic distractions. They=
practice hard 6 - hours a day. The program is limited to=
30 in all disiplines. 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.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SPAN class=661285215-17092003><FONT=
face=Garamond color=#800000></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><SPAN class=661285215-17092003><FONT=
face=Garamond color=#800000>dave</FONT></SPAN></DIV><SPAN=
class=661285215-17092003><FONT face=Garamond color=#800000>
<DIV=
align=left><BR>__________________________________________</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><BR>----- Original message=
----------------------------------------><BR>From: Alan McCoy=
<<A=
href="mailto:amccoy@mail.ewu.edu">amccoy@mail.ewu.edu</A>><BR=
>To: <<A=
href="mailto:dm.porritt@verizon.net">dm.porritt@verizon.net</A>&=
gt;, College and University Technicians <<A=
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</A>><BR>Received:=
Wed, 17 Sep 2003 08:54:28 -0700<BR>Subject: RE: Practice room=
grands</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SPAN class=661285215-17092003><FONT=
face=Garamond color=#800000><BR>Dave,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=661285215-17092003><FONT face=Garamond=
color=#800000></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=661285215-17092003><FONT face=Garamond=
color=#800000>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?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=661285215-17092003><FONT face=Garamond=
color=#800000></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=661285215-17092003><FONT face=Garamond=
color=#800000>Alan McCoy</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px;=
BORDER-LEFT: #800000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT=
face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>=
caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org]<B>On Behalf=
Of </B>David M. Porritt<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, September 17,=
2003 7:58 AM<BR><B>To:</B> caut@ptg.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re:=
Practice room grands<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<P align=left><FONT size=3>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! </FONT></P>
<P align=left>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.</P>
<P align=left>I'd like to tune them at least once a month too,=
but I wonder what I'd have to neglect to do it.</P>
<P align=left>dave</P><FONT size=3>
<P align=left><BR>__________________________________________</P>
<P align=left>David M. Porritt, RPT</P>
<P align=left>Meadows School of the Arts</P>
<P align=left>Southern Methodist University</P>
<P align=left>Dallas, TX 75275</P>
<P align=left> </P>
<P align=left><BR>----- Original message=
----------------------------------------><BR>From: Avery Todd=
<<A href="mailto:atodd@UH.EDU">atodd@UH.EDU</A>><BR>To:=
<<A=
href="mailto:dm.porritt@verizon.net">dm.porritt@verizon.net</A>&=
gt;, College and University Technicians <<A=
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</A>><BR>Received:=
Wed, 17 Sep 2003 09:39:52 -0500<BR>Subject: Re: Practice room=
grands</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT size=3><BR>Dave, <BR><BR>If I had my=
"druthers", I'd like to tune them at least once a month! With=
the<BR>kind of music so many of the kids play (Prokofiev, etc.)=
and the numbers of <BR>hours they're in heavy use, ours need=
that. Probably more. <BR><BR>The problem we have here is that=
those piano major rooms (9 of the 10) have <BR>'lease' Kawais=
and are changed out every year, so it takes a bit to start=
<BR>getting even a little stability.<BR><BR>Avery <BR><BR>At=
09:28 AM 9/17/2003 -0500, you wrote:<BR><BR></P>
<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?<BR><BR> <BR><BR>I have these pianos listed in my=
inventory as 6x per year and I don't feel that this is=
enough.<BR><BR> <BR><BR>Comments?<BR><BR> <BR><BR>dave=
<BR><BR><BR>__________________________________________<BR><BR>Dav=
id M. Porritt, RPT<BR><BR>Meadows School of the=
Arts<BR><BR>Southern Methodist University<BR><BR>Dallas, TX=
75275<BR><BR> <BR><BR><BR> </BLOCKQUOTE><X-SIGSEP>
<P></X-SIGSEP>______________________<BR>Avery Todd, RPT<BR>Moores=
School of Music<BR>University of Houston<BR>Houston, TX</FONT>=
</P></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>