[CAUT] Church Heat

[Elwood Doss]

When the sanctuary piano is tuned, it's important to have the
temperature of the sanctuary the same as it will be at the time of the
worship service.  What happens after the piano is tuned is of only a
little importance.  The piano will come back in tune when the
temperature (humidity) is the same as when it is tuned.  It will happen
over and over.  I lead the music at a small open country church and
regularly tune the piano...more for me and God than anyone else.  I can
tell when the environmental conditions are the same as when I tuned it,
primarily the temperature, because the piano is in tune.  When the
conditions are not, the piano is a bit out of tune.

A prime example:  I tuned a piano for an open country Methodist church
one December.  It was comfortable in the sanctuary, certainly not warm,
but comfortable for me.  In January I received a call from the mother of
the pianist, who is my contact person, and she said her son indicated
the piano went suddenly out of tune.  I set up a time to meet her son
and find out what the problem was.  When I entered the sanctuary he was
playing, and I thought to myself, "that piano is still in tune."  He
heard me walking down the aisle and exclaimed, the piano sounded great.
He asked what happened between then and today?  The temperature was
about what it was when I tuned it.  I asked if the temp was the same on
Sunday?  He said we always keep it at this temperature but when the
little old ladies come in, they turn it way up.  Problem solved!

Just a few degrees of temperature change...especially in the winter in
our area (relative humidity averages 70% or more year-round) will make a
difference in the tuning.  In rural churches where they leave just
enough heat on to keep the pipes from freezing, it makes all the
difference in the world.

Another story:  I tuned a Steinway A for a Methodist church in a small
neighboring town.  I asked the contact person to have the heat at the
temperature it is when they worship, which they did.  As I was tuning
the lady minister came in and asked in a rather exasperated voice, "are
you comfortable?"  I asked her if the temperature was the same as when
they worship and she said yes.  I said, "I'm a bit warm, but if the
piano is 'comfortable,' so am I!"  She exclaimed, "I thought you wanted
the heat turned up for your comfort!"  I said no, I can tune under some
extreme conditions, but the piano would go out of tune when the
temperature moderated.  She was quite happy with my explanation.

Joy!
Elwood  

Rev. Elwood Doss, Jr., M.M.E., RPT
Piano Technician/Technical Director
Department of Music
145 Fine Arts Building
The University of Tennessee at Martin
Martin, TN  38238
731/881-1852
FAX: 731/881-7415
HOME: 731/587-5700

-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of
Tim Coates
Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2007 5:10 PM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: [CAUT] Church Heat

I found this question and answer in the Sunday paper.  I understand the 
answer is concerning the building, but with churches I tend to be 
concerned about other issues besides just the building.

Anyone have some thoughts about this issue?

Tim Coates