> I'm curious how many others, especially university techs, who
>touch up unisons, if needed, at intermission. I just returned from a
Speaking as a private concert tech, it's not unusual to have an intermission
touchup scheduled under the contract although I rarely find it really
necessary. Many of those contracts specify the lights be on the piano an
hour before tuning as well.
>sit through the second half listening to one or two wild unisons I wish I'd
>touched up at intermission. I had comp tickets and was there anyway, but
>didn't happen to notice the strings go out in the first half. What do the
>rest of you do in these situations?
I try to prevent that from happening in the first place if I can. If the
concert is a big one, I will have tuned the piano at least once before
attending the rehearsal and will take notes and be familiar enough with the
problem areas by the end. At that point they can get more attention before
the concert begins rather than during it.
On the other hand, we're dealing with a very sensitive and imperfect
instrument. In my collection of live and studio piano recordings I can't
think of a single one where tuning, voicing or regulation imperfections are
_totally_ inaudible. All things being equal the best we can strive for (IMO)
is that it won't be too terrible and that the artist and the music will
transcend the instrument and it's problems.
John
... Hope for the best, but expect the worst.
John Musselwhite, RPT Calgary, Alberta Canada
musselj@cadvision.com sysop@67.cambo.cuug.ab.ca
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