Happy New Year!
I like the moderate approach to test blows myself. I have
found that seating the strings at ALL the pressure points on
a regular basis is my best bet for tuning stability. If there
is a problem setting a note, I'll pound as hard as anyone else.
That is one nice thing about working on the same pianos over
and over and over again--I know which notes are troublesome.
Speaking of aches and pains, my 'pounding' shoulder gave me a
lot of trouble for a long time. I won't make this an "organ
recital", but using a Nordic Track almost everyday has taken
care of the problem.
An amusing story (although it wasn't amusing at the time) about
test blows:
Many years ago, I had considered no longer sorking on old
upright pianos. I was tired of the kind of work they require.
I received a call the the customer assured me that all the
notes worked and he hadn't had any trouble with the instrument.
I reluctantly agreed to tune it. (I was such a weenie.) I
arrived for the appointment, started setting the temperment and
BAM, a hammer--shank, butt and all--flew out of the piano.
Argh, a brass rail piano! Of course, it wasn't the little brass
plate that broke, but instead, the tongue of the rail. After
considerable filing to get the replacement piece to fit and
getting the hammer assembly installed, I started to regulate the
note. As I turned the let-off screw, you guessed it, it broke.
Call me a snob, but that was the last old upright for me.......
Old uprights don't drive me crazy anymore, but faculty do!
Barb Richmond
Illinois Wesleyan University
Bloomington, Illinois
P.S. For those who don't know my name I used to be
Barb Bennett.
--
Obey gravity; it's the law.
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