Even a "non-fixed pitch" instrument is difficult to play alongside an out-of-tune piano. About 10 years ago, a couple of friends of mine in the Boston area played a gig at a suburban public library. They had been assured that the piano would sound fine, and would pose no problems ... afterall, the instrumentation would be only piano and upright bass (and we "know" how easy it is to tune the bass to match the piano). Instant blood curdle -- strike any key! The bass had to be de-tuned to try to match the piano, which in turn meant that the intonation was distorted to where the bassist had a horrible time playing. The piano was not in tune with itself to where the pianist wondered whether or not both of his hands were playing in the same key. (No, I wasn't there, but I sure heard about it as they half-jokingly got on my case about moving to Michigan when they knew of so much to be done back in Massachusetts.) Z! Reinhardt RPT Ann Arbor MI diskladame@provide.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joseph Garrett" <joegarrett@earthlink.net> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 11:48 AM Subject: Pitch Again All, This thread has taken several turns. And has not even considered one aspect: Pitch in relation to "fixed pitch" instruments. As, my first instrument, of choice, was the trumpet, I'm here to testify that playing a gig with a piano that is "off pitch" is a living hell. Something else to consider. Respectfully, Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)
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