[CAUT] University piano replacement program

[Fred Sturm]

On Jun 30, 2008, at 12:32 PM, tony wrote:
> I have a question........
>
> In creating a "realistic" Piano replacement plan for approval by an  
> university administration,
>
> What would you recommend the basic specifications of the practice  
> room pianos be?
That's a really tough question. I have had no luck whatsoever coming  
up with spec for pianos. It tends to be meaningless. You can spec  
stuff like "solid spruce soundboard" and "stapled hammers" (this kind  
of thing is on most public school system spec sheets) and come up with  
everything from junk to top quality.
	Instead, in my purchase process I name specific brands and models  
that are, IMO and from my experience, of sufficient quality, and then  
ask for bids on those models "and other pianos of comparable quality"  
with the proviso that we will determine whether they meet standard.  
And then we "audition" individual pianos. Buying according to spec  
"out of the back of a truck" (taking whatever they might deliver of X  
brand/model) doesn't appeal to me. I don't think I'd come up with very  
good instruments.
>
> How would you compare their importance to the school verses the  
> studio and performance instruments.
For me, practice grands are very high priority for quality, very  
similar to performance and top studio instruments. Practice uprights  
need to be decent, not absolutely premium. The grands are what the  
piano majors get their chops on. They are a big part of why I am  
there, and why pianos need to be in good musical shape.
>
> If you would need to "cut" would this be the natural place?
Nope, I'd cut the studios that don't use piano much - musicology,  
music theory, percussion, band, music ed, that sort of thing - and  
possibly select classrooms ("used only for theory").
>
> And how many times a year do you get to these pianos for tuning?
Practice grands get three a semester usually. Practice uprights 1.5  
times a semester.
>
>  Tony Mastadonna
> Institutional Sales Consultant
>


Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
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