[CAUT] Practicing on concert hall pianos piano

Tue Feb 24 15:36:25 PST 2009

HI Bob,

Well, as I wrote, I HAD them modified (i. e, I didn't do it personally).  I believe it involves a spring that allows the barrel responsible for locking (which gets it's leading edge beveled) to retract out of the way as the lock is being slid back on.  

Also, all of our performance pianos are keyed alike.

Hope that helps,

Alan Eder

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Hull <hullfam5 at yahoo.com>
To: caut at ptg.org
Sent: Tue, 24 Feb 2009 9:35 am
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Practicing on concert hall pianos piano

Alan,

I would like to know how you modified the locks as you mentioned.

Bob H.

From: "reggaepass at aol.com" <reggaepass at aol.com>
To: caut at ptg.org
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 6:39:29 AM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Practicing on concert hall pianos piano

Hi Jim,

To clarify, all of our pianos have fallboard locks (of the "Hands Off " variety).  I had them modified so you need a key to unlock them, but not to lock them.  This way, I or faculty can unlock a performance piano for a student and they can lock it without them having a key.

Alan

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Busby <jim_busby at byu.edu>
To: caut at ptg.org <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 5:09 pm
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Practicing on concert hall pianos piano

Thanks Alan. 

I suppose you’ve considered fallboard locks. That being said, I don’t recommend them because 
they end up losing the key or mechanism, bugging you to open them, crying about it, etc. I got tired of students “borrowing” a piano and took some keys out of the middle octave… Danged if they still didn’t try to use it.

Best,

Jim Busby

From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of reggaepass at aol.com
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 5:45 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Practicing on concert hall pianos piano

The heavy use throughout the day of our one and only recital hall precludes excessive use for concert preparation.  Our performance pianos are locked and, although I don't control the hall, I do control access to the pianos themselves (for the most part, that is).  While there is no policy per se, I don't grant access if I detect that it is for practice, as opposed to actual preparation for a concert that is about to ha ppen.   

That said, just today I found out that someone has been practicing in our recording studio (!!).  Now I have to plot how to bring an end to that...

Alan Eder

CalArts

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Busby <jim_busby at byu.edu>
To: caut at ptg.org <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 4:01 pm
Subject: [CAUT] Practicing on concert hall pianos piano

All,

I know we have had this on the list before, but what policy do you have concernin
g students practicing on concert hall instruments? Here is ours;

- 0        Students are allowed only one rehearsal prior to their recital, and then only if time/schedule allows. 

- &nb sp;        Students cannot practice w/o their teacher being present.

Does this sound unreasonable? Does excessive practicing wear out the piano, or make it more difficult to keep in the best condition? Mind you, we have had up to 19 concerts in one week. What would you consider excessive, considering the rigorous concert schedule that the pianos must already endure?

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Jim Busby BYU

P.S. You can guess why I’m writing.  We’re being pressed to allow students to play more than our “policy” allows. Please do let me quote your short, to the point comments, as well as your policies to our piano faculty. You may quote me on the above.

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