[CAUT] Tuning--again

[Ed Sutton]

Paul-

Thank you for putting it clearly.

Consider the situation of tuning a wretched Wurlitzer console. It will never please me, or be what I consider a piano I can recommend. Shall I tune for 4 hours trying to make all the unisons as clear as possible, and charge for a half-day's work? Or shall I do the best I can in 90 minutes and say (to myself) "I've given them what they have paid for?" How do I decide what constitutes a proper "practice room tuning?" 

These answers involve compromises, judgements of "good enough," that I must make, one note at a time while tuning. How many checks can I perform? How do I decide  "this is the best this piano can be tuned?" If I see a piano I don't like, shall I say "Sorry, call someone else," or shall I do my best,  do a little unpaid voicing across the break, hoping for a miracle?

When a person asks what I think of their piano, shall I give my factual best, bluntly honest, or shall I try to answer with some consideration for their situation, in a way that I hope will move things toward something better?

The rules for being human are not always as clear as we might wish.

Ed
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: PAULREVENKOJONES at aol.com 
  To: caut at ptg.org 
  Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 1:04 PM
  Subject: Re: [CAUT] Tuning--again


  Fred, and others:

  It's no joke. What is good? What is perfect? What's good enough? Who's there to tell? Who's there who can tell. Driving to the good is intensely moral. Or perhaps ethical is better. This is not a put-down to ministers or anyone else, but a cogent statement which highlights the personal (moral) activity of creating a value. Joke? I think not.

  Paul

  In a message dated 6/16/2009 11:11:57 A.M. Central Daylight Time, fssturm at unm.edu writes:
    On Jun 15, 2009, at 8:27 PM, tcoates1 at sio.midco.net wrote:

    > I read the quote  below to my wife and neither one of us understand  
    > it.  My father was a minister and one of my best friends is a  
    > minister.  I must not be tuning the right pianos because I don't  
    > consider myself even close to the type of decisions they make.  I  
    > really am in awe of piano techs whose tunings truly have moral  
    > implications.

    Hi TIm,
        I think the point is that, for the obsessed, rather silly piano  
    technicians, those decisions about where to place some individual note  
    become so important as to become "moral" decisions. It's a poke at how  
    seriously we take our work, when it really doesn't have anywhere near  
    that level of importance. Though from the heat and passion generated  
    in some of the discussions, we certainly give the impression of  
    talking about life and death issues.
        It's a joke, okay? Poking fun at ourselves and what we do, and our  
    attitude toward it.
    Regards,
    Fred Sturm
    University of New Mexico
    fssturm at unm.edu






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