[CAUT] Workload; was Position announcement

[Ed Sutton]

As I understand it (and I could be wrong), piano technology in Germany is a licensed trade (like electricians in the US).
Training and testing is done by a program funded and run by a mix of national schools and piano factories. Industry and government co-operate to train skilled workers. Pianos in factories are built by Klavierbau Meisters, who are in effect independent contractors. Rates and standards for work are set by a union or guild. You may for at your own pace. If the work is not up to standard, you must make it right. If you are not licensed, you must work for someone who has a trade license. It seems to work well in a small country. I have also know German tradesmen who have left the country as they felt too hemmed in by the system. You must enter the trade as a young student. It is not a system that favors mid-life career change. Similar, I believe, in Japan. It's great if you can fit into the well-made box.
Ed
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: tannertuner 
  To: Ed Sutton ; caut at ptg.org 
  Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2010 1:43 PM
  Subject: Re: [CAUT] Workload; was Position announcement


        This is the attitude I've run into generally. It seems the faculty believe they know what to look for, and few see the RPT designation as any real assistance in that process, because a score of 80 and a score of 100 get you the same lapel pin, despite being miles apart in skill level. When they're looking for cheap, they know what the budget is and they look for cheap because they've been unable to increase the budget. I took over work at a small school for a tech who'd been charging them the same low price for 10 years, and their $3500/year budget for 28 pianos which had been the same for years actually got cut this past year. All that extra stuff good techs do just eats away the insufficient budget. So, that's kind of what you get when the faculty manage the maintenance and you aren't really able to make recommendations and push the bar higher.  You don't need to be an RPT, much less a CAUT endorsed tech, to do that.  

        I've said before, it doesn't take an RPT to make a difference in most of the pianos at a school. And there are a lot of non-RPTs out there who do very high level work.  No PTG designation will ever make a hill of beans until government requires we obtain some sort of certification to practice our trade.

        As for Klavierbauer, is that a private or government program?
        Jeff

        --- On Sat, 7/24/10, Ed Sutton <ed440 at mindspring.com> wrote:


          From: Ed Sutton <ed440 at mindspring.com>
          Subject: Re: [CAUT] Workload; was Position announcement
          To: caut at ptg.org
          Date: Saturday, July 24, 2010, 10:34 AM


          Sadly, it seems to me that most colleges want cheap, discount service. Look at the quality of truck maintenance in most state universities. I would not have my car serviced in the truck service department of the last school where I worked.
          Getting these schools to upgrade to RPT would be a real accomplishment.

          A few of the best schools want something more. Usually they know how to recognize it.

          Klavierbauer is possible in a country the size of New England with a small handful of top notch manufacturers, a national school system that teaches cooperatively with industry, and a centuries-old tradition of exclusive trade and craft guilds. A place where all is well for those who fit in the system.

          es 
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