[pianotech] CONCERT PITCH 440/442?

[David Ilvedson]

I am beginning to like the idea of leaving the piano at 441.  Close enough to 440 and 442...

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "Delwin D Fandrich" <del at fandrichpiano.com>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Received: 4/29/2009 5:01:06 PM
Subject: Re: [pianotech] CONCERT PITCH 440/442?


>Probably me. This was the approach I took some years back when I was faced with
>a similar problem. I had (have) no problem tuning pianos to whatever pitch the
>artist/orchestra wanted as long as they were willing to pay for the extra work.
>I didn't think it was fair for them to expect me to absorb the cost nor did I
>think it fair to pass it on to the piano owner (the auditorium). 
> 
>Once we (I and the auditorium) adopted this policy it became a rare thing to
>tune to any pitch other than the Internationally recognized pitch standard of
>A=440 Hz.
> 
>I took the same approach with requests for voicing changes that were (in my
>opinion) outside the norm. I would accommodate what I considered to be
>reasonable requests without comment. Some requests, however, would have 
>required
>extensive lacquering and/or radical sanding to accommodate. When faced with the
>potential cost of replacing the hammers after their one-night performance the
>demands for radical voicing changes diminished substantially. 
> 
>"Artists" also tended to take more care in setting up and performing their
>"prepared" piano pieces when they realized--per a signed document--that they
>would be held financially responsible for any damage their "preparations" did to
>the auditorium's pianos. 
> 
>This approach saved everyone a lot of argument and misunderstanding. It was all
>fairly simple; we would accommodate any reasonable request without discussion
>but when the request cost the owner additional money (or had the potential for
>doing so) the financial obligation fell to the person or organization making the
>request.
> 
>ddf
>Delwin D Fandrich
>Piano Design & Manufacturing Consultant
>620 South Tower Avenue
>Centralia, Washington 98531  USA
>Phone  360.736.7563
>Cell  360.388.6525
>Fax  360.736.5239
> <mailto:E-maildel at fandrichpiano.com> E-mail 1: del at fandrichpiano.com
>E-mail 2:  <mailto:ddfandrich at gmail.com> ddfandrich at gmail.com

> 




>  _____  

>From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf 
>Of
>RON MAY, RPT
>Sent: April 29, 2009 5:38 PM
>To: Pianotech
>Subject: [pianotech] CONCERT PITCH 440/442?


> 
> . . . I thank sombody on this list that made this suggestion some time ago
>which we now use.
> 
>I wrote a form letter from the Symphonic Association Piano Technician that
>merely states that, "We will be happy to tune the piano to A442 for you,
>however, This fine piano is maintained at A440 to satisfy the  majority of the
>artists as well as the church. If you wish the piano tuned to A442 we will be
>happy to do so, however, it will require that the piano be retuned back to A440
>immediately after the concert and we will have no choice but to charge you
>$500.00 for the several tunings it will take to bring it back to 440..
> 
>Since then we have had no problems---that is until about 2 weeks ago.  We had an
>orchestra,(no pianist) coming in demanding a piano and for it to be tuned A442.
>When we informed them of our situation they said fine, we will bring our own
>piano which they did.  It was some kind of an electric keyboard that I would bet
>was maybe 439.
> 
>Ron May
>Vero Beach