Artic Circle pianos

[Don Rose]

Hi All,

At 03:10 AM 10/4/96 -0400, you wrote:
>Dear Al,
>
>      Don't usually have problems I can pin (...blame?) on climate. But have
>had regulation and tuning 'go off' after as much as 6 to 8 months on
>relocated pianos with a dramatic climate shift. Oregon is very kind to
>pianos, really. Didn't see many pianos lock-up with moisture after moves to
>the Coast either... but a few have made complaints with slow hammers and
>such.
>
>      What I want to know is this; What about you guys in Alaska, Canada, and
>Hawai??? Ever have a piano arrive on your shores... and give up the ghost? I
>can imagine a pinblock, soundboard, or set of old glue joints surendering to
>a big shift... but I've never seen it. Have you? (Not counting horror stories
>of "heated" storage units, or leaving a piano in the garage 'for a few
>weeks', or the remains of pianos after a fire, earthquake, or flooded by a
>busted water line.... I've seen those. I want to know what happens to a piano
>dumped in the Arctic on a cold Tuesday?! Or heaved into a sauna on Maui?!
>Or.... well... what have YOU seen?))
>
>With baited breath,
>
>Jeffrey T. Hickey  RPT
>Oregon Coast Piano Services
>TunerJeff @ aol.com
>
Having tuned in the far north I can tell you what happens. The piano dries
out. If you then tune it and tighten all the screws it will stay beautifully
in tune. Why, because the humidity simply is never high enough long enough
for the parts to swell. The data I have for Iqaluit, Nunavet (formerly NWT)
indicates less than 4 cents pitch change after 5 years!

Regards,
Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.M.T., R.P.T.
"Tuner for the Centre of the Arts"
drose@dlcwest.com
3004 Grant Rd.
REGINA, SK
S4S 5G7
306-352-3620