Days

[Tom Driscoll]

1974 -While apprenticing with a Guild member in Florida ,My mentor(now
deceased) opened the lid of a small vertical and hoards of cockroaches
poured out!  He looks at me and says" you tune this one" turns and walks
out! And by the way , my second solo piano tuning! It was hard enough
finding the correct tuning pins ,never mind  dodging those critters.Give me
a warehouse of Kincaids to tune , cause after that Its all a breeze.< Tom
Driscoll->--- Original Message -----
From: "Kristinn Leifsson" <istuner@islandia.is>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, September 29, 2000 11:34 PM
Subject: Re: Days


> My utmost sympathy Richard.
>
> I have never EVER heard anything like this.
>
> This makes me ashamed to be human.
>
> I mean, euthanasia for these people would be too kind!
>
> I´m always SO amazed as to how people don´t realize that the tuner is
> trying to make the piano SOUND good, and therefore a prerequisite for
doing
> that is to actually HEAR the instrument.
>
> And when they admit not having known that pianos NEED to be tuned.
> And when they say that the piano sounds fine when it hasn´t been tuned for
> 0.1 centuries.
> And when they think the tuner is stealing the temperament strip out of the
> piano.
> And when they say, "Do you hear that?"  and there is nothing out of the
> ordinary.
> And when they put a 200 liter fish tank next to a piano.
> And when they don´t offer me refreshments.
> And when they are really cute girls that I can´t ask out because they´re
> customers.
>
>
> Come on people, blow off some steam,
>
> Kristinn Leifsson,
> Reykjavík, Iceland
>
>
>
>
> At 00:34 30.9.2000 +0200, you wrote:
> >Speaking of these...grin... sheeshh what an experience I had today.
> >
> >Got called tuesday to do a job for the local Jazz club. I know these guys
> >so I had expected that this was going to be a pretty straightforward job,
> >even tho it was a special consert in an unusual location. The place was
an
> >old factory, they make nails and hardware and such stuff. Huge open
> >production hall... not attractive in the slightest really, but they did
> >their best at making it presentable..
> >
> >Anyways I show up at the agreed upon time and they got this processing
> >machine going. I mean this sucker was really loud. Musta been 90 dbs or
so
> >going all the time. They had a truck going to just in front of the stage,
> >you know, one of those lift trucks for hoisting up lightings and speakers
> >and such. Diesel driven thing. I thought that that was what was making
all
> >the noise so I waited while they finished up with that (about 10
minutes).
> >When they turned it off I couldnt hear any difference... it was the
process
> >machine making so much noise.. so much that I couldnt even hear the truck
> >going right in front of the stage. I was amazed.. They werent about to
turn
> >off this machine of theirs either. Administration had aggreed to turn it
of
> >10 minutes before the concert was to begin.
> >
> >I of course just shook my head and said this was absurdly hopeless and
that
> >I would have to just pack up and leave. So a couple factory jocks show up
> >just as I was about to leave. And this is where the story REALLY gets
> >pathetic. These two guys show up with those mickey mouse ears on... you
> >know the hearing protection things. They get right up in my face and open
> >one ear and ask (as in screaming so as to be heard) why I cant tune the
> >piano.. Incredulous.. This machine was making the most incredible amount
of
> >noise. You could get right up to this grand and bang out a big chord as
> >hard as you wanted to and you couldnt hardly notice the sound of the
piano
> >through this noise... A constant... Bdadadadagdeadadagdaa with a few
> >Tsjiiaa's thrown in from time to time as the steam overflow was released.
> >
> >I can not for the life of me come even close to being able to fathom how
> >anyone who resembles in the slightest a sane half intellegent gorilla
with
> >an IQ problem could in their wildest fantasy dream that any living (or
> >mechanical) being in this universe could even come close to being able to
> >tune a piano in that noise.
> >
> >On top of it all, on showing up and calling my contact for closer driving
> >directions to this building within the factory complex,,, the fellow was
> >too busy to talk to me and just told me to find someone around to get
> >directions, then he hung up on me without further adui. It was raining
> >elephants and giraffes so no one was about to stop and chat you know.
> >
> >All in all, an insult to my intellegence...and I told them so. The fellow
> >responsible for the artists called an hour or so later to ask if I could
> >come later on that evening just before the consert (with a hall full of
> >people mind you) and go over the piano then... I would have all of 15
> >minutes he assured me.... grin..
> >
> >I mean really... can you top this one ????
> >
> >--
> >Richard Brekne
> >RPT, N.P.T.F.
> >Bergen, Norway
>