Olympic Tuning Tests Technicians' Endurance

[Keith McGavern]

>>Shoot!  That's good, but not the record by a long shot.  For
>>the 1984 Olympic opening ceremonies, my share of the 84
>>grands used came to 22, all tuned in one day!  And these
>>were Kimball grands, not E-Z tuning Yamahas.
>>Mark Wisner
>
>Wasn't that an assembly line type thing?  You, Ray Reuter, and one other
>individual followed each other, each making a single pass, or something
>like that?
>
>Keith A. McGavern

List,

I found the article that tells all about those 84 Kimball grands, the 1984
Olympics, and the process of tuning them.

Piano Technicians Journal
September 1985, page 13
Olympic Tuning Tests Technicians' Endurance
Industry News

Here is a taste:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Reuter was managing the placement of 84 Kimball grand pianos to be featured
in George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" performed during the opening
ceremony.  "...Everyone--from our truck drivers who delivered the pianos,
to people who installed the grands, to technicians who faced a potential
nightmare--was up to the challenge." (Reuter)

"...Once we had installed the 84 grands, we still had to final-tune them.
To do that, five tuners from the Los Angeles area who I had worked with
before were hired: Teri Powell, Bob Cloutier, Mark Wisner, Alan Slater and
Emily Goya," Ray said.

Reuter and Powell arrived at 6AM...Reuter commented, "Teri and I used the
new Accu-Tuner, a computerized tuning mechanism, to tune one string from
bass to treble.  We left the unison tuning for the others who were to
follow..."

Two hours later, Cloutier, Wisner, Slater and Goya joined the pair of
technicians..."

The pianos were kept under the Coliseum arches so few were exposed to
direct sunlight...each piano was covered with a space blanket...

After tuning via an "assembly line"...

They tuned without a bread until noon and counted about 40 ...pianos behind
them...It was almost 7PM when the last instrument was tuned as well as
conditions allowed...

"After a week and a half of preparation--moving all those pianos into the
Coliseum, rehearsing for four days, plus a marathon tuning session--we were
exhausted, but I was pleased with a job well done." (Reuter)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

There is much more interesting information about what was going during the
day of tunings.  A truly spectacular feat performed by some incredible
people.  By the way all 84 pianos were blue!

Keith A. McGavern
kam544@ionet.net
Registered Piano Technician
Oklahoma Chapter 731
Piano Technicians Guild
USA