many topics

[Barb Richmond]

On Tue, 5 Sep 1995, richard west wrote:

> 1.  Bulk tuning - I bulk tune in November/December and May/June.  For
> years I have tried to minimize tuning at the beginning of the school
> year since it seems like such a waste of time.  I tune the piano
> faculty pianos, the practice grands, the classroom pianos, and of
> course the performance area pianos.  I find most to be 4 to 8 cents
> sharp which is usually not a big problem.  The pianos aren't any
> higher because back in June they were brought down 4 to 8 cents.
> The rest of the pianos wait until later.  Occassionally I get a
> faculty member that *has* to have his/her piano tuned right away,
> but it is rare.  We do have some humidity control, but it isn't that
> great.  In any case, by holding off until later I start my real bulk
> tuning and find most instruments no more than 4 cents off--no pitch
> raising/lowering, just a once-through easy tuning.
>

I'm trying to stay away from doing any bulk tuning.  The humidity control
in our music building is practically non-existent, so I've found that
keeping a steady pace of tuning thoughout the year is the answer.  The
problem I've found with "bulking" it is, it's great to walk around and
have everything sound great, but then the weather changes and bam!
Nothing sounds good and *everybody* starts complaining at once.  Another
advantage is that it's a lot easier on me--physically and mentally-- and
the practice room pianos are happier since they're not just getting tuned
during the extremes of the semster starting humidity swings (August &
January).  I keep separate records on the computer for the practice rooms
and faculty studios. By calling them up in order of the date of tuning,
it's easy to keep track of who/what piano is next.  The system has worked
great for me.  Hope someone finds this helpful.

Barbara Richmond
Illinois Wesleyan University
Bloomington, Illinois
brichmon@titan.iwu.edu