Yamaha Factory

[oorebeek]

Subject:     Re: Yamahafactory
Sent:        10/21/96 8:13 AM
Received:    10/22/96 8:28 PM
From:        Richard  m, remoody@iw.net
To:          andr=E9 oorebeek, oorebeek@euronet.nl



Hi Andre
	You mentioned that you were at the Yamaha factory.  I am curious =
about
several things.  How did you get to go there, did you have to pay?  =
What
language did you speak there?  What kind of a program did you go =
through?
What was the factory like?  Do they really have robot tuners?  Are the
bridges drilled before or after they are put in the piano?  Do they =
have
to match the pin blocks individually to the plate, ?

	Thank you for your consideration

Richard Moody


Hello Richard Moody and other colleagues,
About your first question (how did I get there) the following:
About 6 years ago I was contacted by (then)Yamaha Music Benelux and =
they asked me to do guarantee? or warranty? (what is the proper =
english word ?) and promotional (concert tuning on their demo's) work =
for them.
I have always liked Yamaha piano's very much and I was thrilled by =
the opportunity.
Shortly after I started working for them I came into contact with one =
of their piano-techno-wizzards, his name is Ito-San, and he was at =
the time head of the international piano division in Hamamatsu.
He was extremely friendly and congenial to me and took care of my =
first trip to Japan.
I underwent a training called "basic grand piano course" and it =
lasted 5 weeks.
When I went back to Holland I was loaded with new knowledge and I =
felt very much inspired.
One other thing I knew for sure: I had to get back as fast as was =
possible to do the "concert grand course.
After two years of lobbying I was lucky again and went for the second =
time.
It was very tough because there is another course which I skipped : =
the so called masterclass, and I had double work because many things =
I had not done yet.
In 4,5 weeks I lost much weight and left Japan with a certificate but =
also totally exhausted and badly in need of vacation. (luckily my =
flight home passed the Islands of Hawaii)
This last course changed my professional life entirely, I feel on top =
of things and my business goes very well because of it.
second question:
How much did I pay:
Yamaha paid for both my trips (thank you Mr Yamaha!).
The program:
On trip one the program for me was altered a bit because I was older =
and more experienced, after about one week I started doing hammer =
changes every day (installing hammers, regulation, tuning and voicing =
all within 8 work hours.
On trip two I started every day with raising pitch (2 Hz) by ear on =
my own concert grand in my own room and make the most beautiful =
tuning possible (within two hours, that's what they ask).
Immediately after the 2 hours are finished the instructor comes in =
and with a tuning scope checks your tuning, together you make a graph =
on which one can see "the truth".
After tuning follows a lesson about the tuning truth followed by =
regulation lessons and voicing.
During this last course the "concert students" (then 5 in all, 4 =
Japanese and me) each had to glue and install hammers and learn how =
to make a perfect tone from scratch.(not easy)
About the language:
Of course only in english! a few instructors have some command of the =
english language but sometimes things may get very tricky because of =
misunderstandings. This is actually more dangerous than one thinks! =
Customs differ extremely as we all know.
I learned some words and phrases just to be able to be more polite =
and also learned how to eat with chop sticks ha ha .
About the factory:
Twice I had a tour. on my first trip to both factories (the upright =
and the grand) and on the second to the concert grand department (the =
walhalla! for all tecnicians)
I have seen no robot tuners, instead I saw tiny girls tuning and =
raising pitch like little devils..fast man!
I did see however many wonders like stringing robots and much more.
The soundboards I did not get to see (secrets?) so I do not know =
about bridges and drilling holes
At the time I was so flabbergasted that unfortunately I can not =
answer you correctly about some specific details such as matching =
pinblocks to frames..I am sorry, but I know about many other highly =
interesting spectacles.

If anyone has more questions, please do not hesitate to ask.. it was =
a fantastic learning experience and I think that it would be best to =
not keep it just to myself.







friendly greetings from:

Andr=E9 Oorebeek
CONCERT PIANO SERVICE
Hartenstraat 6-2 1016 CB, Amsterdam
the Netherlands
Tel/Fax: 020-6237357
email: oorebeek@euronet.nl