Hot and Heavy [ON Topic]

[philromano@attglobal.net]

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Last summer while touring Europe with Ryuichi Sakamoto, we used two =
CF-IIIs (one a Disklavier Pro). In Italy, where we spent three weeks, =
most of the concerts were out doors in a piazza or some historic castle =
etc. None of these venues had a roof or even a tent top. I was forced to =
build some sort of shade for the pianos every day. Cafe umbrellas worked =
pretty well! Even so, the ambient temperature was always around 90F +. =
Then, of course, the sun went down and the temp dropped a good fifteen =
degrees or so before show time. I was constantly chasing the tuning. I =
tried Dampp-Chasers but they didn't really help much with any wind =
blowing at all. Anyway it wasn't so much a humidity problem (although it =
was quite humid - 80% +) as the temperature change. Tuning the piano in =
the morning was really just an academic excersise! Try to tune as close =
to the performance as possible.

I love to attend open air concerts in the summer time but it's not =
really the proper environment for any musical instrument much less a =
piano. I believe the artists understand this but try to convince the =
promoters, stage managers, etc..

Phil Romano
Myrtle Beach, SC
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Wilsons=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Monday, August 20, 2001 6:43 AM
  Subject: Re: Hot and Heavy [ON Topic]


  Every year, the WV Symphony treks up to Snowshoe for an outdoor =
concert.  There's a circus tent - huge - that seats about 1,000 plus the =
symphony, up on a stage.  The first time they took the piano, we =
discovered that there are wild swings in humidity:  fog rolling in at =
night, even penetrating into the enclosed tent, and burning off anywhere =
from 8 am to noon or so.  Totally unpredictable.  The first year, since =
we were 5 hours from home, the grounds & stage people scrounged up an =
array of lights, which we placed under the piano, which was then covered =
w moving blankets which draped to the floor.  In subsequent years, the =
symphony has used dampp chaser dehumidifying rods which they purchased =
through me.  We use about 5 rods and 2 humidistats.  What a difference!  =


  Wally Wilson, RPT

  At 08:31 PM 8/19/01 -0500, you wrote:=20

    Hi Z!,
             Both of our concert grands have to the floor fitted tarps, =
that are heavily quilted,  it helps quite a bit.  But there is no real =
way to over come those concerts in the park, stability type things.   =
Minimizing is the best you can hope for.  Besides the heavy tarp, laying =
two moving blankets on the strings inside the piano seems to help.  But =
I may be fooling myself on that one.
    Insulate and protect, in the best way possible.
    Regards Roger.



    At 07:07 PM 8/19/01 -0400, you wrote:=20

      Hi Everyone!

      How hot can a piano get before you run into more serious problems =
than changes in the tuning?  What are some of the problems people have =
observed after a piano got hot?

      Over the summer I tuned at a couple of festivals on what were =
otherwise beautiful summer days here in Detroit but must have been =
nightmares for the pianos.  As usual, I was asked to tune first thing in =
the morning despite the stage manager's full knowledge that the tuning =
will be seriously "altered" by the time the featured artist was going to =
play.  Over the course of all the set changes, the pianos were often =
relegated to some out-of-the-way corner of the stage where they sat out =
in full sunlight, often wearing black naugahyde covers.  Those pianos =
were probably hot enough to roast a fat steak by the time I came back to =
them to "touch them up" just before the performances.  (The stage =
managers have been told repeatedly not to leave the pianos out in full =
sunlight for any length of time ....)

      Since then, those pianos have been doing one-night stands all over =
metro Detroit and I haven't crossed paths with any of them yet since =
their sunbathing sessions.  Nor have I heard any comments from the other =
technicians who have serviced them since then.  Meanwhile I came to yet =
another concert rental recently which had numerous loose lead weights in =
the damper system, and I'm wondering if that one also got a good =
"sunburn" at some point over the summer.

      Thanks in advance --

      Z! Reinhardt  RPT
      Ann Arbor  MI
      diskladame@provide.net







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