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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Robin I had to tune for Peter in Melbourne during
that tour you mentioned. The only significant happening that I can report
was that after the performance I took my young wife out back to meet Peter Nero,
who was a great bloke.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>He took her hand and kissed it, and I swear Lois
did not wash it for weeks!!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Happy New Year everyone.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>David Lawson Wangaratta Australia.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=ilvey@sbcglobal.net href="mailto:ilvey@sbcglobal.net">David
Ilvedson</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, December 31, 2007 11:37
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Being called out on
stage</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV align=left>Lemons or not, that sounds like a lot of fun! For
a short time of course...<BR><BR>David Ilvedson, RPT<BR>Pacifica, CA
94044<BR><BR>
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Original message<BR>From: "Tom Servinsky"
<TOMPIANO@BELLSOUTH.NET> </TOMPIANO@BELLSOUTH.NET><BR>To: "Pianotech
List" <PIANOTECH@PTG.ORG> </PIANOTECH@PTG.ORG><BR>Received: 12/30/2007
11:21:03 AM<BR>Subject: Re: Being called out on stage<BR><BR>
<DIV align=left><FONT face="Century Schoolbook" size=2>A few years back I was
doing the Transatlantic crossing on the QE2 for their "Piano" themed cruise
which sailed from England to New York. I was in charge of doing all the
daily concert tunings prior to each recital. Due to the tight
scheduling I was given 28 mins prior to each show to do a tuning which
was always to a full house. It became a running joke that after the tuning was
completed I would go to stage center, take a bow,and the audience would
give me a standing O. I would then I
announce...</FONT><FONT face="Century Schoolbook" size=2>" for my next
number...." </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Schoolbook" size=2> By the end of the cruise
the audience treated me like the warm-up act for each of the concerts. Since I
am a pianist, I usually would play something light and silly, sometimes in 2
different keys making light that the tunings weren't very good. Nothing better
than an audience with a good sense of humor. Even the great Irish pianist,John
O'Connor, who was one of the artists on the trip, was intrigued that I
was able to get the job in front of a full house at a blazing speed
and still have the composure to have fun with the audience.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Schoolbook" size=2>As my wife always says...."When
you're given lemons, make lemonade."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Schoolbook" size=2>Tom Servinsky</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Schoolbook" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=wimblees@aol.com href="mailto:wimblees@aol.com">Willem Blees</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, December 30, 2007 1:12
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Being called out on
stage</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><WBR> </WBR> In the late 70's I was the tuner for
the Mississippi River Festival, an outdoor concert venue. One of the last
concerts of the year was the Grateful Dead. You can imagine the audience.
Not only did the the truck got there late, but the Dead also wanted to warm
up and do a sound check before they would allow me to tune the piano. That
left me with 30 minutes just before before show time. <BR><BR>It was a
Yamaha CP-70, and fortunately they had earphones for me. What I didn't
know is that the piano was also being amplified to the speakers, so everyone
heard what I was doing. There must have been at least 20,000 people out
there. When I got done, I got a big applause. I don't know if
it was because I was finally done, or because they thought I did such a
great job. It's probably the former, but it makes me feel better to
pretend it was the latter. <BR><BR>
<DIV style="CLEAR: both">Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT<BR>Piano
Tuner/Technician<BR>Honolulu, HI<BR>Author of <BR>The Business of Piano
Tuning<BR>available from Potter
Press<BR>www.pianotuning.com</DIV><BR><BR>-----Original
Message-----<BR>From: Robin Stevens <pianobee@bigpond.com><BR>To:
'Pianotech List' <pianotech@ptg.org><BR>Sent: Sat, 29 Dec 2007 11:41
am<BR>Subject: Being called out on stage<BR><BR>
<DIV id=AOLMsgPart_0_8b8a132f-821d-4334-924a-15a1126d422b
style="FONT-SIZE: 12px; MARGIN: 0px; COLOR: #000; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff"><PRE style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><TT>Many years ago when Peter Nero came to my city (Adelaide, South Australia) I
and two of my friends decided to see Peter who was very popular at that
time. On arriving at the hall we sat in the back row of the packed hall and
waited for the concert to start. A manager walked out onto the stage and
asked...Is there a piano tuner in the house!! My two friends who, liked me,
were well primed from the pre concert meal and drinks immediately jumped to
their feet and pointed to me! Could I come up and see Peter, was the
question? On going to the front of the hall, (to a arousing applause from
the audience) I went back stage and met a very nervous Peter Nero who
informed me the Steinway D's sustain pedal did not work! Could I have a
look? My tools were miles away so I thought I would access the problem first
and go from there. On going out onto the stage (to another arousing round of
applause) I dropped to the floor on my back and noticed that the adjustment
rod had half an inch travel before even engaging the dampers. When I tried
to adjust the rod with my fingers I found the locking nut was beyond undoing
with fingers! Going back stage again I asked the awaiting group if anyone
had a adjustable spanner?...no such luck...my brain was going into a spin as
to what to do next when I noticed some cardboard boxes in the corner.
Tearing off a large piece I folded into what I thought was right for the
space that had to be filled. Back on stage again (to another round of
applause) the packing spacer was spot on ;-))
Peter came onto the stage and started playing as if nothing had every
happened.
In hindsight the town hall in those days used to hire a piano from the
local Steinway dealer. None of their tuners were actually piano players and
I assume whoever tuned it never sat and played a short piece after the
tuning which would have indicated the pedal problem!!
The question that might need to be asked...do non playing tuners have a
check list they go through, rather than playing a small tune?
Have a prosperous new year
Robin Stevens ARPT
South Australia
</TT></PRE></DIV><!-- end of AOLMsgPart_0_8b8a132f-821d-4334-924a-15a1126d422b -->
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