Just back in from the festival up in Voss. Lots of really fine homegrown artists this year, and a few international names.. David Ware probably the most well know.... free bag jazz... never did like that so much myself but what the heck.. I'd forgotten the stress factor of festival life after just 4 years away from it. First thing that hit me was a Yamaha C3 that was to be used. This particular example had been misused to the nth degree. To my dismay the damper lift rail had lost its hinging (center pins come out of an otherwise underdimensioned hinge configuration). So it was out with all the dampers, and rebush the worn out flange bushings and then put the beast back together again.... not fun at 10:00 PM the nite before the festival was to begin. The thing had rock hard hammers that were cupped and groved really badly so I had to clean them up as well. And there were a bunch of key bushings that had er..... "fallen" out. Lots of beer stains tho suprisingly no rust or visual corrosion on the key pins. Anyways... it came out reasonably ok all things considered tho the bass strings were a bit tubby. I suppose I shoulda just let them sink with this one,,, they really should know better... but it seemed like a nice challenge and so I bit, tho I hope they dont bother bringing it back for next years festival. The main concert instrument was a Grotrian 220... a bit old yet newly rehammered and strung. Whoever did the work knew what they were doing and it was an ok instrument... still with a brand new Yamaha C7 just around the corner ya gotta wonder why that was chossen for the "practice" instrument. Go figure. I got to try out a nice tuning trick I got from Andre on his visit to Bergen earlier this month. Its a treble tuning test. You simply compare the major 6th to the double octave 3rd. You are not really listening directly to beat rates most of the way here... you are just after a similiar or just a bit less tense double octave 3rd compared to the 6th. This is very easy to hear and can be used all the way up. Gives a really nice natural stretch. Try it... you like it !! Thanks Andre ! No complaints from the artists or arrangers... so I was happy enough. Good music, nice food, good to see lots of old friends from the festival lane. But now its back to the usual programming.... after Easter holiday that is ! RicB -- Richard Brekne RPT, N.P.T.F. Bergen, Norway mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html
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