This Wurly burly post has, as is inevitable with this kind of discussion, diverged and degenerated into a host of varying subject matters. It always amazes me how this particular theme get to thee degree off point. But to zoom in on what actually is at root here is really not so difficult. Point 1. The right of any piano tech to draw his/her own lines as to what quality in material and workmanship is acceptable. Point 2. The manner in which said piano tech expresses such judgement in daily work with pianos. Point 3. The responsibility (if any) piano techs have in affecting and influencing quality in the manufacturing of instruments. Point 4. To what degree these matters are instrument specific. Point 5. The right of any piano tech to choose not to work on any specific piano, or type of piano. I suppose there are others... but this will suffice to show how easily we can end up talking about different sub issues and throwing grenades at one another. All of these issues have grey area borders and its difficult to draw any precise lines. At some point however things get beyond rights and opinions and go over to the area of realities, and at that point it is absurd to try and defend a particular "instrument". To snub or disdain a piano tech for basically setting high standards is to my mind of thinking truly disdainable. That some piano technicians have a tendency to base their judgements on too high a degree of subjectivity is of course unfortunate, but it is very human indeed and given the nature of this buisness extremely understandable. We should all (and I mean ALL) strive to better our abilities to look objectively at such issues, and increasingly equip ourselves with knowledge of our disciplin to do so. That certain specific piano makes are subject to high degrees of skepticism by the piano tech community at large is a clear indicator of that manufacturers general quality. That simply can not be brushed away by any kind of commentary from those who dont like what they are hearing, nor by pointing out the unfairness of generalization. The higher the percentage of our technical community that expresses said skepticism, the higher the degree of truth that lies therein. The technical community at large represents to no small significant degree a force within the industry and society at large which affects influence on the general quality and awareness of this. This is true whether we use this influence conciously or not, or are even aware of it. We can not shirk the responsibilty this entails by simply espousing free market concepts or citing differing perceptions. Our influence as individual piano techs, and as a community of techs remains. It is up to us to decide what to do with this power. And decide we do. We exert influence and bear the responsibility for that influence whether we want to admit it or not. -- Richard Brekne RPT, N.P.T.F. Bergen, Norway
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC