[CAUT] University piano replacement program

[tony]

Fred,

I couldn't agree more......... Once again it is the juggling act between the
unpredictability of the Faculty and the priority demands for the performance
and teaching instruments. 
No one likes to lower their tonal standards. But most colleges and
Universities I've experience have the practice room verticals as the lowest
priority at least for tuning.

My simple question is, if the tone of a "Mid -priced" (not least expensive)
vertical piano is less desirable, but cost affordable, would that be a
reasonable compromise for the non-pianist practice rooms? Given these
instruments seam to have a history of tuning stability, wouldn't this be the
logical place to compromise?

Tony



-------Original Message-------
 
From: Fred Sturm
Date: 7/2/2008 12:03:45 PM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: Re: [CAUT] University piano replacement program
 
On Jul 2, 2008, at 5:45 AM, tony wrote:


My experience is the more expensive the piano, the more delicate it is (more
sensitive to humidity changes and less tuning stability. In a new piano,
assuming the pinblock is tight, doesn't the board move more in a "high
quality" piano with a thinner board designed for better tone? Is that
necessary for the Practice room pianos? How frequently can you get to these
pianos to tune them in a year? Doesn't the care & maintenance of the 
Quality" Concert and Studio pianos constantly change you tuning plans and
become priority?


I don't know that tuning stability relative to humidity change is related to
"how expensive a piano is." I don't think thickness of the board has much to
do with it either. There do seem to be some models that move more and faster
in response to a humidity change, but I haven't found that this is very
predictable, and certainly not relative to "high versus low quality/price
point." I think the biggest factor is idiosyncrasies of the particular
stringing scale (and the factor that leads to tuning instability may have
other positive effects).
One thing that does seem to lead to a bit more tuning stability sometimes is
age - older boards and bridges maybe are less sensitive, I suspect. Usually
but not always this is accompanied by reduced tonal output.
How frequently can we get to practice pianos? Depends on our total hours as
opposed to number of pianos, and what priorities we set. Concert instruments
get highest priority, and get tuned very often, because they need to be as
near perfect as we can get them, every single unison all the time. The
number of tunings given to any individual piano is dependent mostly on how
critical it is, not on how sensitive it is. 
Tuning stability is lower on my list than tone production and quality, and
action responsiveness. The piano needs to be capable of making music. Tuning
takes a lot of our time, but is not the most important thing we do. An
institution that focuses on number of tunings to design its piano
maintenance program needs to talk to somebody who knows a bit about
comprehensive service.

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu




 
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