bars.

[Christopher D. Purdy]

>Greetings,
>   Crumb has come to Vanderbilt, and the head of the music department is
>telling me that the plate strut needs to come out of one of the concert
>pianos, so the strings can be "strummed" for a student performance.
>   This looks like some peril, and a lot of retuning.  I do know that one of
>these bars will not go back in unless the tension is dropped a WHOLE lot.
>Anybody got any info that will help me convince them it would be cheaper to
>move one of our B's in, instead of destabilizing the concert pianos?
>Regards,
>Ed Foote RPT

Ed,

I had this happen here.  A visiting artist removed it without even asking.
I had a cat and considered hitting her over the head with it.  She said
that she had always heard that it was only there for when the piano was
moved and it was ok to take it off.  It did go right back on with little or
no effect to the tuning stability.

I called Steinway and got their official position.  I even had them send me
a letter stating it in writting.  They say it is important and should not
be removed.  My position is that unless a performer has insurance to cover
a broken plate (never) it stays on.

chris

-Christopher D. Purdy R.P.T.
-School of Music, Ohio University
-Athens, OH  45701
-mailto:purdy@ohio.edu
-(740) 593-1656 office
-(740) 593-1429 fax