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<DIV>I have to point out that there are some people who can and do prepare
pianos without damage. We have a contemporary music group in residence at
SMU. They _only_ perform contemporary music. The pianist who is also
the director is very skilled at preparing and unpreparing the instrument (her
husband is a part-time, very good piano technician). She occasionally
gives classes on campus on how to do these things without damage. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So far -- although I've only been here 15 years -- I've never had to repair
any damage done by preparing the instrument. It's the skill and care of
the preparer, not the music, that makes the difference. Now,
broken strings and action parts from traditional music like Liszt, Prokofieff
and Stravinsky.........</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>dave</DIV></BODY></HTML>
<PRE>
_____________________________
David M. Porritt
dporritt@mail.smu.edu
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX 75275
_____________________________</PRE>