[CAUT] Care and feeding of stage grands

[Barbara Richmond]

Hi Kent,

Probably along with the touch-up question comes the one about how the piano 
is covered and stored (or not) when the piano isn't being played.  When I 
was on staff at IWU, we were pretty strict about access to the pianos, which 
were kept locked and covered when not in use.  I serviced each piano at 
least once a week (we weren't Carnegie Hall, but faculty performances did 
get their own prep sessions) when I also cleaned/polished the cabinet.  It 
didn't take long, because I was always doing it.  There were occasional 
small dings that I took care of with a touch-up marker.   After 5 1/2 years 
the newest piano still looked <really> good.

8-9 years later, when I returned to Central Illinois and was asked to sub at 
the school for a concert, I was surprised when talking with the office 
manager that the pianos were no longer kept locked or covered.  I was pretty 
horrified to see the condition of the pianos--huge scratches, layers of 
filth.  I attributed it to not only had the change of technicians, but there 
had also been a change in administration.

When working on other institutional pianos, I've often thought of the techs 
at Arizona who even have the practice room piano cases fixed up because they 
feel they get treated better.

Barbara Richmond, RPT
near Peoria, Illinois




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kent Swafford" <kswafford at gmail.com>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 9:00 PM
Subject: [CAUT] Care and feeding of stage grands


>I have a couple questions about maintaining concert pianos on stages  at 
>universities.
>
> 1) Do you have a policy about the touch-up of finish damage? I would 
> think a good-looking piano would generate more respect and care than a 
> beat-up one.  (Although I didn't think that the time a couple years  ago 
> when we had a D refinished and the first week-end it was back in  service, 
> it received more damage than it had before being refinished.  I still 
> haven't recovered from that one.) Does anyone touch-up as  needed? Or 
> perhaps annually? Never?
>
> 2) Do you have a policy on removing lids? It seems like every  recording 
> project, every duo-piano performance, every large ensemble  performance 
> requires the lid to be removed. There is also a history of  damage being 
> done while removing and replacing grand piano lids.
>
> Sure would like to know what various schools do. Thanks.
>
>
> Kent Swafford
>