Yes... I carry always an instrument regularly calibrated with the universal clock thingy in case I run into one of these guys... along with my Seiko I got from Cybertuner when I bought that years ago with its cents offset sticker on to illustrate that those inexpensive pitch sources are anything but reliable. This usually does the job of disarming them. I generally hold instruments between 440 and 442 the whole year... but then our climate pretty much makes this an easy task. Still the observation I initially posted is something I stand by. Most real life situations are nearly laughable. An philiharmonic Orchestra recently visited town demanding pitch to be set at 443. The harpist in the orchestra refused to cooperate based on some reasoning that her harp fit in better when it was tuned 442-. and the vibes were set at 444. I asked her to play an A whilst I hit the corresponding A on the vibe just for illustration... she just shrugged her head at the obvious discrepancy but agreed that it put the piano tech in a rather absurd position. I run into this kind of thing all the time. Another one I love is the insistance on the part of some pop stars who are capable only of the most rudimentary piano playing to use 9 foot brand new Steinway & Sons concert grands. Only to pump the sound through ofte times running the sound through sound systems run by sound techs who have no idea how to deal with a piano in the first place. The resulatant piano sound is on a level with an average so-so keyboard. Yet anything but a S&S D is usless to the group. Ignorance abounds to be sure... and I suppose I am guilty of my share as well. Cheers RicB In recent years there are quite a few musician's that like to check the pitch with their own pitch measuring device, however in adequate the device might be. Wayne Matley
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC