The AP report of the piano breakdown during a concert of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra was mystifying. It is scary how we rely on journalism, be it print or broadcast, for information that guides our perceptions on a wide range of issues, but when they report on something we know well, they get it all botched up. A staff writer for the L.A. Times interviewed the technician and reported the following: A 9-foot Hamburg Steinway broke down while Jeffrey Kahane was conducting from the keyboard a performance of the Beethoven Triple Concerto. From the wings and to the rescue came Brian P. Alexander, a partner in Pro Piano, described as an international firm that rents high-end pianos. The culprit was a broken jack. To quote the article: "The whippen, a tiny platform that holds the key-striking levers, was broken -- specifically the repetition jack, which allow notes to repeat." I suspect that the jack tender glue joint failed. How the AP arrived at their version is anybody's guess. The article does not say what he did to get the concert back and running as quickly as possible. What would you do -- assuming the jack tender was at fault? Or, given the description of the problem from the article, what do you think happened and how would you have done a quick fix? Jim McCormac, RPT Fallbrook, CA
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