In my limited experience, Japanese and German-trained techs are often technically virtuosic, but maybe not quite so good at thinking outside the box in order to solve problems of unfamiliar, run-down pianos, of which US techs see lots. Like car mechanics who specialize in one make or even one model, they can sometimes be flummoxed by anomalies they rarely encounter, especially in second-rate instruments. Still, their rigorous schooling has much to recommend it, if only more Americans could afford it and had the patience and mind-set it requires. However, American techs, at least as represented in this cohort, seem more willing to share knowledge and tips, and this collegiality goes a long way toward keeping standards high. Laurence ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Busby To: caut at ptg.org Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 5:10 PM Subject: Re: [CAUT] Congratulations to Don Mannino Don, Is Terri Otake (sp?) an MPA? How about Terri Nimmi? I've spent time with both of them and they are amazing. Still, and I'm truly NOT brown nosing here, I'd rather learn from you because of the language thing. It was hard to understand some things, and they certainly didn't volunteer all the additional info that you teach in your classes. That's another reason why it's a giant thing that you did. I've heard how Americans (at least so the story goes in Yamaha) are not exactly idolized by the Japanese piano tech community. It would be a great to hear more of this, and maybe of others places like Germany and their training. Sometimes I wish we had access to such schooling. Regards, Jim From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Don Mannino Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 12:09 PM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] Congratulations to Don Mannino Jim, Kawai will be sending an MPA to Utah for this visit. :-) I am not the only non-Japanese MPA, as there are some in other countries as well. Other techs can go take the test if approved, but I wouldn't recommend it - it's not an enjoyable experience, and I'm not sure there would be much benefit to it at this time unless one is actively working with a Shigeru Kawai dealer. We're working on a plan, though, to sort out how to have more from the US and Canada take the test. Some year - ? I would need to pre-train for a week here in California before subjecting anyone to the test in Japan. As Fred mentioned, the Pianotek .001 punchings just weren't fine enough. Actually they use thin punchings that are about .003, and they work OK but if the key ends up slightly high (for the test) you have to then squeeze the key down afterwards and compress the felt punching a little. They were kind enough to let me use a special jig for this, and it works well. I am not sure how stable it is, but it got me through the test with no points off on the key level / spacing / tilt area. They do use this technique in the Shigeru Kawai final regulation, though, and the keyboard level on these pianos is very stable from my observations. Another annoying side of the test was that I haven't convinced them yet that the results of the tuning mean more than how it is achieved. They still have strictly aural tuning as a requirement, so RCT was used to set the A to 443, then put away. Don Mannino -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20100329/c247fbba/attachment.htm>
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