David's stories remind me of my uncle Bob. He had a talent of mimicking
sounds. Car sounds, birds, dogs, cats, people, you would SWEAR that was
baby crying in the other room! He had his most fun (He's passed on now so,
he can't get into trouble with anyone) tuning with noisy dogs. Or, maybe I
should say, he was the "occasional" instigator of the noisy dogs? Sometimes
we all have these dogs that just will NOT shut up! This is where he had his
most fun. Trying to tune under these circumstances is nearly impossible
anyway with dogs barking, hollowing and barking some more. So, here's how
his routine might go.
Dog when Bob arrived there. Bark bark bark etc.. Customer, "be quiet dog,
he's trying to tune." Uncle Bob used to say, "Yeah, like the darn dog knows
this?" And he'd laugh! - Dog, bark bark bark bark bark... Customer- after
finally having enough of this, shuddap dog! Smack! The dog would be quiet
for 3 minutes and start barking again. Customer, SMACK! I said, shut up
dog! The dog would finally shut up. Now, you have to know my uncle Bob. I
can see him smiling now just thinking about it. Under his breath my uncle
Bob would make it sound as if another dog was rather close but, it was a
quiet sound. So, with his voice he would gooooo - Bowwowowowowowowowow.
Bow wow wowwowowwowowowow. Dog, BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK!!! Customer,
I said SHUTUP DOG! SMACK! He got quite the kick out of doing that.... The
customer would come in to the room and say "I just don't understand what got
into that dog! Usually it listens to me!" Uncle Bob would just smile and
say, oh well, maybe he's having a bad day today. We'll muddle through
it.... When he was sure it was safe again? "Bow wowowowowowow. Bow wow
wowowowowowow.....
Hey, don't yell at me, I'm just the story teller!
Jer
-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of David Nereson
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 8:49 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] animals interrupting tunings
Yeah, all of the above-- I've had birds sit on my shoulder,
on my head, cockatiels that were trained to scream, "I love
you!!" every few minutes, parrots that sing along, CLIENTS who
sing or whistle along, as they're dusting or mopping; dogs that
come up and put their slobbery jowls onto your freshly-cleaned
pants, cats that jump onto the bench, your lap, on top of the
piano; cats that are used to sleeping on the strings of a grand,
cats that chase the end of the temperament strip as you insert
it into the strings, or when you're rolling it up after the
tuning; little yappers that nip your ankles, steal your
temperament strips, swallow your ear plugs, run off with your
dust rag, or your handle mutes, etc.
Have also had to be careful upon leaving, not to let the
loose ferrets get out the door.
Once I was tuning a square which had a large heavy tapestry
draped over it. I had left the cloth on when I raised the lid.
The cat came over and from an adjacent shelf and slowly but
cautiously began climbing up the lid during the tuning, grabbing
onto the tapestry with its claws. Enough tapestry was hanging
over the edge and down in front to counteract the weight of the
cat. Up to a point. When the cat was almost to the top of the
lid, the tapestry slipped and avalanched down the lid, cat and
all, onto the floor, accompanied by a loud
"Rrreeeeoooowwwrrrr!!! and a lightning flash dash into the next
room. I knew it was going to happen the whole time, but didn't
have the heart to stop things before the (hilarious) climax.
Also have had little kitties on top of the pinblock of
spinets and consoles, reaching down and batting at the moving
hammers as I tune. (To make them jump up in the air about 8
inches, hit the soft pedal quickly.)
Have had a dog shudder with each and every test blow. All
they have to do is walk into the next room, but no, it preferred
to suffer.
Once I heard the loudest, most non-piano sounding buzz I've
ever heard in my life, like the electric sparking of bumper cars
at the amusement park. There was a live cicada (katydid)
trapped between the tail of the plate/soundboard and a lace
tablecloth that was draped over the lid such that it hug into
the tail of the piano. If I hadn't had my earplugs in, I would
have recognized the sound right away.
Also had a client's neighbor's dog howl along with the
tuning from the yard next door. I was tuning the piano outdoors
in the open carport on a warm day. I don't remember the
reasoning for keeping it out there. After 20 minutes of yelping
and howling, the neighbor yelled over, "Whattaya tryna do to my
dog?!" I said, "Well, they want me to tune this piano, and this
is when they scheduled me." (The client had gone to the grocery
store or something.) "Well, yer drivin' 'im nuts!!" This was
30 years ago; I forget the actual dialogue, but I think he
eventually brought his dog inside.
Went to tune out in a rural area once, turned up the long
muddy driveway, and my truck started slipping in the mud, going
up a steep hill. When the wheels, slip, the engine revs. All
of the sudden, a herd of cows started charging toward my truck.
It was freaky. They kept charging as long as the truck slipped
in the mud and the engine revved, until they were almost up to
my windows. Turns out that at the end of the day, the farm
owner goes out in his truck and revs the engine to let the cows
know it's time to come in for milking. But for me, it was
almost The Twilight Zone.
What's annoying is when one day you decide to dress a
little nicer to look more professional so you can feel justified
in charging a bit more. First appointment on a day like that,
and you will have to crawl under a grand piano where a
long-haired white dog is accustomed to lounging, in order to
work on the pedal lyre. All that white dog hair will stick to
your new dark corduroys. Or you will have to crawl around on
the floor of a client who is not so great at keeping the floor
swept, and all their household dust, hair and lint will transfer
to your new slacks. I've had to start carrying a lint pick-up
roller in the car.
--David Nereson, RPT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wally Scherer" <afinetune at yahoo.com>
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 7:52 AM
Subject: [pianotech] animals interrupting tunings
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