LA Times article

[Tom Servinsky]

Sounds like a rebuttal letter or interview should be the next move for the 
LA Times to print.  Get going LA techs, here's your opportunity to take a 
stance to create some  fair and balance informational reporting.
Although I too found some pretty big tall-tail, story telling issues in this 
story, I'm going give Mr. Elliot a small pass.  First of all , I doubt if he 
called the Times and asked for an interview. Probably it was a writer who 
happened to be in the stage area, needed a story, ran into Mr. Elliot, and 
before you know it, there's a story. Factual or not.... a story. And if you 
do have that type of position taking care of important halls, your skill 
aren't too shabby! And   like it or not, die-hard aural tuners still find 
the use of ETD as a sign of artistic void. Anyone who uses doesn't deserve 
to be in this position.
To Mr. Elliot's defense, I have been interviewed dozens of times for feature 
articles by our Tri- county newspapers. Each and every time, the journalist 
ended up getting the message wrong....way wrong.  It is as though they never 
got it from me in the first place.
That being said, I found it humorous to walk through the logic on his 10 
min. interlude as he blessed the piano and pronounced it fit for the artist. 
In all actuallality the series of events went more like this.
Blessed tech raced through his first tuning earlier that day. Tech probably 
not on top of his game(that day). Been there done that.
Artist banged the hell out of it during rehearsal
Artist expected a follow up touch up of tuning prior to concert
No Tech returns
Artist is getting nervous
Artist calls to complain
Tech summoned to get the hell over here pronto
Tech arrives 10 mins. prior to concert
Tech has sweat running down both eye brows hoping this doesn't issue doesn't 
get back Steinway
Tech cleans up some unisons
Tech gets an evil stare from the Artist and Carnegie staff
Carnegie staff informs him this better not happen again
5 yrs later, Tech rewrites the events of the day....fails to include why 
things went wrong, who was wrong, and includes more heroics to dress up 
story.
6 yrs later, article appears in newspaper.
Tom Servinsky
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Love" <davidlovepianos at comcast.net>
To: <schecter at pacbell.net>; "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 1:01 AM
Subject: RE: LA Times article


> Couldn't have said it better.
>
> David Love
> davidlovepianos at comcast.net
> www.davidlovepianos.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On 
> Behalf
> Of Mark Schecter
> Sent: Sunday, September 03, 2006 9:12 PM
> To: Pianotech List
> Subject: Re: LA Times article
>
> Hi, David.
>
> Thanks for posting this. I must say, I'm provoked. It's fine for someone
> to get press, wherein he elucidates the difficulties and challenges of
> our work. That the public might be more appreciative of us
> behind-the-scenes folk is all to the good.
>
> But, regardless of the skills this person (Elliot) no doubt has, for him
> to propound this old saw where he (Superman) swoops in at the last
> minute to miraculously save the day and do a superior, artistic job of
> it no less, while simultaneously implying that it takes someone like
> himself to fulfill the role he describes, and probably no one else
> really has the right stuff, is nothing more than shameless,
> self-aggrandizing, colleague-demeaning bullcrap. One, he can't do what
> he says he did, because nobody can. And two, to suggest that others are
> therefore inferior is to build on a false premise, the epitomy of illogic.
>
> I don't care who he used to work for. I don't care who he works for now.
> I don't care if he's the greatest technician on earth. I'd like to hear
> him explain why his Carnegie Hall piano sounded terrible, and why he
> waited until 10 minutes to showtime before deigning to appear to work
> his magic. And I'd like to know how many strings he tuned, at how many
> seconds per string, before the piano sounded beautiful and resonant, an
> artistic triumph before a note was even played. But he's an ear tuner,
> the real deal. Wow, I'm impressed.
>
> The idea that some guy claiming Steinway's imprimatur could lay it on
> this thick, talking as if there is no Guild, implying that he is the
> ultimate authority on what it _really_ takes to be a _real_ technician,
> and then describe his own services in such unbelievable terms, is just
> galling. I think that article deserves a rejoinder.
>
> Thanks again for posting the article. I guess it was predictable that
> somebody would take the bait. I guess it's my turn. But I hope there are
> plenty of technicians of all description who take umbrage at the kind of
> aspersions this guy cast over nearly all of us, regardless of our
> choices of methods or tools.
>
> But would you like to know how I really feel?
>
> Tell me if I've taken this too seriously.
>
> -Mark Schecter
>
> David Love wrote:
>> I see that the article might be difficult to access.  So I've attached it
>> for those interested.
>
>
>
>