Piano Technology: craft in service to other people’s art

Rewiring your  brain when you learn how to tune. You have more synapses then the average person and you should have fun with it

You may not hear IT, but you’d better hear something!

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1. Be A Caretaker

•  Do no harm
• There is no tonal standard
• Different cultures have different  cultural histories with the piano
• uncover the characteristic sound, don’t instill yours

2. Everything Matters

everything matters on all pianos, but at the high level the subtle distinctions of each brand are easily buried

cycle of refinement

3. Results (and efforts to get them) can be subtle

 

 

“Life’s a beach” – Udo Steingraeber

At some point, a piano stops being an industrial product and starts becoming a tool for artistic expression.

Don’t look  at it as an industrial product.

Look at it as an assembly capable of being slightly better then the sum of the quality of parts and craftsmanship.

the factory gives it body, the technician gives it soul (depends on the factory)

 

body of sound – tonal variety –  volume control

 

Short Term – Long Term

rough it in – incremental improvements

 

Always be 30 minutes from walking

 

 

 

Tuning: – stability, clean unisons, octaves, 5ths … everything!

1 mute (no or little strip)

Using an ETD but keep yourself honest

Using a wheelbarrow doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten how to carry sh*t in a bucket

What is a “concert” tuning? Do That

String: seating, path, stability, level

 Action: friction BALANCE RAIL HOLE travel  HEIGHT & DIP rep spring blow AFTER TOUCH

Hammer: Shape, travel, fit, density

not an academic exercise. You need to know how a piano sounds different from a good key level