Central West Regional Seminar

Wimblees@AOL.COM Wimblees@AOL.COM
Sun, 18 Feb 2001 15:57:56 EST


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The St. Louis Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild presents  
Show Me The Gateway To Knowledge
Central West Regional Seminar 
March 30 - April 1, 2001. 
Renaissance Hotel, St. Louis, MO. 

Explanation of classes offered:

Special feature of the Central West Seminar:
Randy Potter RPT and Dave Swartz, RPT;  Hands-on Vertical Piano Regulating 
and Hands-on Grand Piano Regulating. Learn regulating on real pianos. Randy 
and
David will teach Vertical Regulating on Friday and Grand Regulating on 
Saturday. 
Classes are limited to 18 students, working on 2 pianos. You must sign up 
prior to the seminar and an extra fee is charged for these two classes. You 
may take either class or both. 

Wally Brooks RPT; Voicing the Plate: A thorough discussion and demonstration 
of
the cause and effect on tone by strings, bridges, action parts, etc., and the 
adjustments that the technician may do to a piano after manufacture or 
rebuilding. Voicing the Hammer: A thorough discussion and demonstration of 
the process of putting a new set of hammers onto their optimum working state 
and the art of listening to tone. 
Hands-on Voicing: A completion of the 2 tone building classes. It is 
recommended that voicing the plate and voicing the hammer are taken before 
taking this class. The Mechanics of Regulating:  A thought provoking study 
and demonstration in simplicity of the grand piano action  and regulation. 
Learn the whys and wherefore of each step of regulation and the ability to 
regulate by feel and touch. A good class for expert and novice alike.

Ed Foote, RPT: Temperaments for the 21st Century.  A survey of temperament's
history, a presentation of the piano's intonational evolution, and a 
suggested course of action for the modern piano technician's development of a 
multi-temperament approach to their clientele.  Through playing selected 
works, an ongoing analysis of an alternative temperament accompanies the 90 
minute class. 

Skip Becker, RPT: The History of Tuning. How did we get to where we are today?
This will be a history lesson, and how science plays a part in our craft. 

Mitch Kiel, RPT; Tuning with the Cybertuner: Three different sessions: For 
those
who don't know anything about tuning with a computer, Beginning Cybertuning 
will
give you a crash course. For those who have a Cybertuner, you'll want to 
attend
Advanced Cybertuning. And finally, there is a whole new way to Raise pitch 
with the
Cybertuner. 

Willem Blees, RPT; Physiological troubleshooting: Problems with a piano 
requires
more than the knowledge of turning screws and adjusting levers. Sometimes the
problem is with the customer. Learn what to say, what not to say, how to 
handle
complaints, and how to deal with angry customers. 

Greg Hulme; Pin Block installation: This class will include the important 
factors to be considered in installing a pinblock, along with tips on 
removing a Steinway pinblock. 
Hammer hanging: This class will include a demonstration of installing new 
shanks and flanges, and hammers and what factors to consider when doing the 
job accurately and quickly.

Fred Tremper, RPT; How Partials are Used in Tuning: How does a tuning work?
Fred will demonstrate the math behind the tuning.

Charles Faulk, RPT; Tuning Levers: Origins, Design, Making Your Own. Charles 
is
a woodworker and technician. He will briefly describe tuning hammers from a 
historical perspective, current commercial models and their distinctive 
designs features. Also on display will be 15 levers he has made over the last 
five years and show how they evolved in design. Finally he will give a 
step-by-step procedure with slides for making your own custom tuning lever. 

Ken Jones, RPT; Bringing Your Piano Back to Life In One Day:  Ken will show
efficient methods for cleaning, lubricating, regulating, tuning, and voicing 
a grand piano that can be completed in one day.

Liz Baker, RPT; The Care and Feeding of the Concert World: The St. Louis
Symphony Orchestra Piano Technician dives deep into the subject of concert
preparation, sharing both unique incites and experience with artists and 
situations from around the world. Divided into 3 phases: Caring for the 
Piano; Caring for the Artist; and Caring for Yourself.

Julius Konopka, RPT;  Appraising Pianos For All it's Worth. Actual vs. 
Factual.
Practical analysis meeting the needs of the client who pays for the appraisal.
Customizing the appraisal with semantics.

Bill Trefts; Servicing Pianos with Electronic Players:  Bill will take the 
guess work
out of working on pianos with electronic players in them. 

Craig Waldrop, RPT; Aural Tuning skills: Some of us still tune the old 
fashioned way. Learn to do it right in the first place, or renew the skills 
you might have lost. 

Paul Revenko-Jones, RPT; Termination Points: What terminates? And where? The
string as a vibrating system; capos, agraffs, bridges, etc..  
Understanding Torque: The nature of torque and its mechanical application to 
various component systems in the piano.

Chris Blees CPA; Selling Your Business  One of Chris's responsibilities as a 
CPA is
advising clients on how to sell their business by analyzing the business's 
assets to set a potential selling price. Included in this class are all the 
Federal tax aspects involved in selling or buying a business. He will use his 
knowledge as a tuner and rebuilder to tailor this class to the industry. Is 
an S-Corp Right for You?   A small businesses can take advantage of a lot of 
tax breaks if it becomes a corporation. Find out if forming a S-Corp can save 
you money. 

Tim Coats, RPT; Introducing the Wapin Bridge.  Wapin Bridged pianos have more
dynamic range, power, clarity, and control. Sound too good to be true?  Tim 
will explain why Wapin Bridges work as they do.  He will also let you see and 
hear the difference between the before and after of a Wapin Bridge 
installation.   You will experience for yourself what a rapidly growing 
number of piano technicians consider a "must" when rebuilding a piano.

Roger Wheelock; The Technical Basis for Climate Control. This class will 
describe
the technical issues related to piano Climate Control including the science 
of humidity. A discussion of local climate will be presented. The impact of 
air conditioning and winter heating will be discussed. A detailed 
presentation of the functioning of Dampp-Chaser Climate Control Systems will 
be given. Installation techniques will be described, including a 
demonstration of a grand installation. 

SEMINAR HIGHLIGHT

Special Piano Recital featuring Annette Burkhart. Friday evening we will have 
the
opportunity to hear Annette Burkhart, instructor of piano at Washington 
University,
play on a piano tuned by Ed Foote, RPT, using a temperament from another
century. The concert will be preceded by a lecture on the history of tuning, 
given by
Skip Beck, RPT. The public is invited to this unique concert. 

The Tuning and Technical exams will be offered, but you have to pre-register 
to take
the exams. On Thursday evening, Alan Crane, RPT, the Central West Region CTE
Chairman will give a short program on taking the tuning exam, and Wayne 
Yockey,
RPT Central West Region Technical Exam  Chair will give a short program on 
taking
the technical exam. 

On Thursday evening there will be two Round Table discussions, Dealer 
Relations,
and Aural vs. ETD tunings, led by a panel of experts. 

Bring the family. On Friday, the Auxiliary and guests will visit the Scott 
Joplin House
in the morning, have lunch at either the historic Demill Mansion or Lemp 
Mansion,
and then tour the Anhueser Bush Brewery in the afternoon. On Saturday, 
Auxiliary
members and guests are free to take the Metro Link to Downtown St. Louis, 
where
you can visit to the Arch, Union Station, and Lacledes' Landing. Children 
under 12
are free for the tour, but must purchase concert and banquet tickets. 

Renaissance Hotel room rate: $69.00 single/double.  Call the hotel directly at
(314) 429-1100, toll free (800) 468-3571. This special rate for the seminar is
guaranteed only until March 1st. Mention you are with the Piano Technicians
Guild. The Renaissance Hotel is at 9801 Natural Bridge Rd. off I-70 near the
Airport. Free Shuttle to the Airport. Complimentary parking for hotel guests. 

PTG Member  (registration before March 1, 2001) $155.00 
            (registration after March 1, 2001)             $190.00
Non Member (registration before March 1, 2001)         $205.00
            (registration after March 1, 2001)             $240.00  
All day Hands-on Vertical Piano Regulation on Friday     $ 35.00
All day Hands-on Grand Piano Regulation on Saturday $ 35.00
Auxiliary Registration, includes tour, banquet and concert  $ 45.00
Tuning or Technical Exam                        @$  90.00   
Extra Banquet Tickets                           @$  35.00   
Extra Concert Tickets                           @$    5.00  

For more information, or to get a seminar brochure, e-mail Wimblees@aol.com. 

Willem Blees
Chairman, 
Central West Seminar
home (314) 961-5203
shop (314) 962-5774

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