Days

[Richard Brekne]

Wouldnta thought a pickup would have helped... but maybe so. interesting enough.

But regardless I am like really uncomfortable with what that says about how
music and musicians are viewed, let alone piano tuners. I simply cant justify
tuning under such circumstances. And what pianists say after a show the next day
is something I take with a clip of salt... not out of disrespect.. just turns
out that this is very undependable information.. grin.

No... the line is drawn   Herea !! They want a mechanical tuning in the middle
of all that noise, they want to look at you like you are somekinda snobby idiot,
they want to basically treat you and what you do like some piece of trash, then
I say SCREW EM..

Sorry... grin... I got really upset yesterday you see..

Farrell wrote:

> No, but I once tuned a nice grand for a performance that evening in a
> downtown building lobby about 15 feet from a jackhammer going at full tilt.
> AccuTuner with a magnetic pickup.  Yamaha C3, FAC, and all unisons by
> machine (only time in my life). I could not hear a thing. I never got to
> hear the piano after tuning. My contact at the building said the next day
> that the pianist said the piano was "just fine".
>
> Terry Farrell
> Piano Tuning & Service
> Tampa, Florida
> mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Richard Brekne" <Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no>
> To: "PTG" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Friday, September 29, 2000 6:34 PM
> Subject: Days
>
> > 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
> >
> >
> >

--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway