Night Tuning

[Jim]

When I worked at ASU for 15 years, I elected to work from 3PM to
11PM, or whenever I got thru. If I went home for Dinner, I worked until
midnight or later.   This gave me good efficient use of my
time.  I was there for important concerts.  I did not have the phone
ringing much, and I did not have to schedule around lessons,
classes, etc.  I had a master key, so I could get into any room or bldg.

People communicated their piano needs to me by notes left in my mail
box.  The halls were reserved for me for 1 hour before each concert.
The stage hands worked around me and sometimes vice-versa.  Once a week,
I came in early at 2PM for staff meetings.  Faculty always knew when
they could find me.  Monday was always broken string fixing day.  I
always found it strange that piano faculty wanted their studio
pianos tuned each month, but they would only have their home pianos
tuned once a year whether it was needed or not. My favorite gripe was
that some piano faculty would let favorite students into their studio to
practice at night and then they would wonder why their studio pianos
sounded like practice room pianos.

It takes a lot of trust on the part of the administration to let someone
work on my kind of schedule.  This trust has to be earned.  It is
tempting to slack off on the work when you know nobody is watching over
your shoulder.  I made up a self imposed rule that I would not quit
until I had accomplished a certain basic amount of work each day.  I had
a very wise "boss" (term of endearment) who once said "if I have to
always look over the shoulder of a staff member to see that he does his
job, I don't need him."  Whenever there was staff that goofed off,
he was patient but somehow knew what was going on.  Their contracts
were not renewed.

During most of the time I worked alone and had 149 pianos.  That is
more than a full load.  I think there are about 200 pianos there now and
there are two full time technicians who are doing a good job.  I
think they have varied schedules which they work out among themselves.
Perhaps they might join in on this thread and give you the advantage of
their working arrangement.

Jim Coleman, Sr.

On Thu, 7 Nov 1996 A440A@aol.com wrote:

> David asks:
>
> >I would like to know how many of the full time institutional
> >technicians depend on nighttime access to pianos (either for yourselves or
> >your staff)  in order to accomplish the required maintenance.   If so,
> >please give some details.
>
>        Perhaps it would be the same to ask how many of us are able to get all
> the work done during school hours... While not working at night,  I often go
> to the school at 4:00 a.m. and get four hours in before classes or teaching
> start.  Most performance work is done very early, as the hall is usually
> booked solid during the day,  often up to performance time.  Tuning in this
> season is a white-knuckle chore at times.
>
> Regards,
> Ed Foote
>