Concert nightmares/no time

[Tom Driscoll]

Group, Give me kimball a  spinet ,a leaf blower outside, bad coffee that I
dump in the sink, and an appreciative client  anyday over this situation .
Look it up in the dictionary under "no win" .
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Jorgensen <Michael.Jorgensen@cmich.edu>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2001 12:58 AM
Subject: Re: Concert nightmares/no time


> David,
>       Totally unfair!  You should write a brief letter explaining your
> experience, how you were treated, how badly it makes you feel.   Explain
> requirements for quality tuning, (time, piano condition, etc.), and what
to
> do to avoid future problems. Tactfully remind them how proper planning,
> appropriate investment in instruments and people, proper scheduling,
affect
> individuals' moods, the quality or the work, the music, and ultimately the
> success or failure of the festival.  Written carefully, this bad thing can
> become a good thing for your reputation, income, our profession, and the
> organization.  Copy it to all concerned persons including, management,
> directors, board, tuner, artist, and employee.  It's quite likely the
> artist had other negative experiences that day which all came out on you.
>
> --Mike Jorgensen
>
> David Renaud wrote:
>
> > Here's one for my book.
> > Perhaps there is something to learn from it.
> >
> > How many established concert tuners out there would be comftorable
> > with these time constraints. I need one hour for each piano for my best
> > concert tuning, assuming it is within reach of pitch.
> > Have I been spoiled by regular clients.
> >
> > Our local Arts Centre technician, and Yamaha man is away at a
> > convention.
> > He recommends me for tuning pianos at a string quartet festival at our
> > National Art Gallery....all week. It is a last min. call. There is a
> > Yamaha CF, and
> > a 9' Steinway brought in from a local university that needs work. One of
> > the
> > artists had to have a Steinway as he had used the Yamaha three years
> > before,
> > and would refuse to play it again(I did not know this at the time).
> >
> > I am told, as there three concerts/ day, plus rehearsals, I must tune at
> > night.
> > 10pm till 10am, anytime. I show up at 10 pm, start at 10:30pm
> >  Within minutes I am alone with the security guard.
> > He informs me I have to be out by 11:30.
> > I have 40 min left. There are two grands to tune to each other.
> > The Steinway is at A442, the Yamaha at 440. I decide to finish the
> > Yamaha with my best 40 min.effort and spend 20 min quickly lowering
> > the pitch of the Steinway to A440. For that last 20 min security is on
> > my back.
> > I think as there is a current strike of Art Gallery workers, and picket
> > line, they made
> > an exception to let the concerts go on, but they apparently are not
> > anxious to
> > do overtime for the tuner.
> > I leave a message for the person that booked me that Yamaha is done,
> > but if they need Steinway I will have to get in to tune it. I am told
> > not to worry
> > about it as there are no piano duets tomorrow. They will just use
> > Yamaha,
> > tune the Steinway tomorrow night.
> >
> > Well,  the pianist(from France), used Steinway for the dress rehearsal
> > anyway.
> > He did not want to play Yamaha, but in the end he did, for live
> > broadcast.
> > I heard about this, and went to find him, hoping to assure him it would
> > be done
> > overnight for tomorrow. I never got to tell him as he went ballistic.
> > Ranting
> > and raving a long time about the condition of the Steinway, and not
> > liking the
> > Yamaha,, threatened to quit the week, and stomped out of the room.
> > The result of it all was the next time I went in, I found another tuner
> > there tuning.
> > The pianist is boarding with a person on the committee who called their
> > personnel tuner
> > to "fix it" without informing me or the person who hired me, or even
> > realizing
> > the Steinway had not been done. I've somehow gone through 10 years
> > without
> > a tuning complaint, and I do some concerts venues regularly.This is sure
> > a kick
> > in the pants and a confidence breaker. I should have stood up and
> > demanded time,
> > and defended myself when the artist was ranting instead of standing
> > there shocked.
> >
> > Committees
> > Too many chiefs, too little communication.
> >
> >                                                    Dave Renaud
> >                                                    RPT
>