[CAUT] Subservience, was CAF

[David Ilvedson]

I have no problem with Jeff's attitude and I especially like the ad in the program...at least, I am going to start requesting my name be in the program as piano technician.   How much does an agent cost?

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "Porritt, David" <dporritt at mail.smu.edu>
To: caut at ptg.org
Received: 8/21/2009 5:50:28 AM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Subservience, was CAF


>I haven't really tried this approach but I never thought we'd get more respect for 
>our profession by denigrating the pianists ("The ones who become stars do so 
>because they have brilliant agents and marketing campaigns") or the ticket buyers 
>("the ticket buyers are season ticket holders and just go to the concerts because it 
>makes them look well to do in the eyes of other people")

>I have taken short, ill-advised trips to cynical.  I just tried to avoid living there.

>dave


>David M. Porritt, RPT
>dporritt at smu.edu

>From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Jeff 
>Tanner
>Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 10:22 PM
>To: caut at ptg.org
>Subject: Re: [CAUT] Subservience, was CAF

>My thinking was along the lines of this. When Tiger starts hitting the ball in the 
>woods (pun fully intended), he goes to someone who is an expert in the MECHANICS 
>of the golf swing and equipment to show him what HE is doing wrong and help HIM 
>correct his technique.  The expert might also alter the equipment or suggest 
>different equipment. But usually, they work on Tiger's technique (at that level, they 
>can play about as well with KMart clubs - they just get paid more money not to).  
>With pianists and piano coaches, like no other musicians, when it comes to 
>mechanics, we essentially have the blind leading the blind. Sometimes it helps to 
>have the perspective of the mechanics expert in how the thing functions to explain 
>what's going on. And we shouldn't think so lowly of ourselves that our understanding 
>of how the piano functions isn't important.  (Susan, yes, I've had a very similar 
>experience with assisting with pedaling -- how pedaling too slowly will create zings 
>and zoinks no matter how good the regulation is)

>The phenomenon we started out describing is action failure, and using the 
>assistance of the rest cushion to "correct" it.  The more I have contemplated this, I 
>have realized that if the cushion is coming into play during repetition at all, ACTION 
>FAILURE has already occurred. Raising the cushion does not SOLVE the action 
>failure. It is by simple coincidence that the jack can reset at all if the shank is 
>bouncing off the cushion at whatever height.  My thinking is that a situation like this 
>(as rare as Fred has described that it is) is one that the performers should be 
>educated on.  "If I may explain what's going on mechanically: What you're doing is 
>creating something of a false start in the key, and by doing so you are actually 
>causing action failure.  It may work on some actions and not on others. But by 
>raising the cushions, we are not eliminating the action failure. It is still happening.  
>This is in some respect a bandaid approach which increases the probability that you 
>will be able to repeat the note."

>But along the lines of the "self-deprecating vibe", yes, I hear this subserviant 
>attitude way too much from us, which is part of why I responded the way I did. 
>Humility is one thing, but subservience is not a healthy attitude. We don't garner 
>respect because we don't respect ourselves.  And this is most of why CAUT work is 
>so poorly compensated. It's a combination of "we're beneath the DMA music faculty 
>gods, so we shouldn't make as much as they do, and, besides, the local tooner who 
>charges less might get this job if I let them think I should be earning more."  CAUTs 
>net $125 a day plus some version of health care and retirement benefits instead of 
>$400 because we don't respect what we do.  So nobody else will either. Fred, it's 
>not mutual respect when we don't even respect the value of what we do.

>Ed Sutton wrote:
>"It is not very often that the public buys tickets to hear some unknown player 
>perform a tuning by Ed Sutton."

>Actually, Ed, that is exactly what they're doing every time. They just don't think 
>about it that way because you haven't let them know you exist.  They don't know 
>who the player is, they've just read the opinionated reviews (many of these "stars" 
>are made by opinion writers who can't play chopsticks). Or, more often, the ticket 
>buyers are season ticket holders and just go to the concerts because it makes them 
>look well to do in the eyes of other people.  These players don't become stars 
>because of their talent.  There are tons of talented musicians in the world (I was 
>floored to find our outstanding faculty member actually paying the record company 
>for the privilege of making a record that the record company was going to sell). The 
>ones who become stars do so because they have brilliant agents and marketing 
>campaigns.

>The audiences don't know these musicians from Adam. But you prepare the piano no 
>matter who is playing it. They come to hear your work every time. You are part of 
>the TEAM that makes each concert possible. You are a big part of why they buy 
>tickets. When this concert is over, YOU get called back before the performer does. 
>Why should we should think of ourselves as beneath the performer? Without us, the 
>performers can't do what they do. Without our expertise, no matter how much they 
>practice, they can't get to where they are unless we've done our work.  That's 
>actually us making the music when they push those buttons.

>I GUARANTEE YOU, if you placed an ad in the program that says, "The performers 
>can do what they do because Ed does what he does" with a nice, professional 
>picture, the respect given you would be completely different.  Can't you just imagine 
>hearing folks walking into the auditorium, and you might hear "I wonder what 
>tonight's pianist is going to be able to do with Ed's piano tonight?"

>We have got to have more respect for and pride in what we do.

>Jeff
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Fred Sturm<mailto:fssturm at unm.edu>
>To: caut at ptg.org<mailto:caut at ptg.org>
>Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 7:58 PM
>Subject: Re: [CAUT] CAF

>On Aug 20, 2009, at 7:56 AM, Jeff Tanner wrote:


>Geesh, Fred. Should we not look directly into their faces lest their countenance blind 
>us?  Perhaps piano tuners should wear veils when we go out in public.
>Jeff

>Actually, I think there is a middle ground. I call it mutual respect. But I would also 
>say the the piano technician is on the lower side of the equation. We are support 
>staff. We are definitely not the star.
>I don't tell the pianist how to play, or not play the piano. The pianist doesn't tell me 
>how to do my work. The pianist does point out defects in the piano from his or her 
>point of view, and it is my job to address them the best I can. I do not point out 
>defects in the pianist's approach to the piano, whether or not I think they are 
>present. I may try to explain how the piano action functions in order to establish 
>better communication. Or not, depending on the person involved.
>Regards,
>Fred Sturm
>University of New Mexico
>fssturm at unm.edu<mailto:fssturm at unm.edu>