Tuning & moving (frequently)

[Jean Debefve]

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Hi,

Some of you might remember my former question about carrying a Yamaha
upright disklavier on tour ("Disklavier on tour?" thread). I was wondering
if it was possible at all, and most of the answers emphasized the trouble
with tuning, as the main obstacle.

So my theatre company decided to buy the piano -disklavier UD 1A EP (I
should have asked for a Steinway Grand or a Bösendorfer, but now it's too
late...;-)), and it will be here in early december, ready to join the play's
team - and the puppets.
Isaac Oleg suggested to have a frame of some sort fixed to the piano's
frame, in order to help it stand the frequent moves and the inequalities of
stage floors -and the truck as well.
I already discussed with the belgian piano tech who will take care of the
piano on the long term. He has had no experience of an errant piano, but we
already decided to change the Yamaha's casters with bigger ones : I wish we
could move the piano onstage, like having the backside (and soundboard!) in
front of the audience sometimes.
Now I guess the technical possibilities are numerous, ranging from a
complete floor, the size of the piano's projection on the ground, with
provision for a seat, and even a three wheel cart,  to a simple metallic
frame. They will involve more or less drastic interventions on the piano
itself, some of them invalidating the warranty.
I understand the answer to my question is a matter of experimentation. I
already have some answers, sometimes quite in-depth  (Thanks Isaac Oleg),
and am ready to try some of them. The piano will be in the rehearsal
(nursery?)  room, next to the theatre wood and metalworkshop, for 9 months
before the play has its Premiere. So any suggestions from the PT list
members could be communicated to the Belgian PT who will take care of the
piano while we'll be experimenting (I guess transforming the piano into a
glove puppet stage will involve some modifications, like having a polished
ebony finished "box" adde to the the piano upward, so that it will be 175 cm
high instead of the 121cm it is now...)

I've been a lurker in the list for over a month now, and I thorougly enjoyed
it -it's a world of discoveries. It gave me the feeling that there is much
more to listen in the sound of a piano than I thought possible - and I am a
musician. I won't be able to cooperate, not having the necessary competence.
I guess in my next incarnation I'll ask for a PT life and olifant's ears -I
might  even help solve the Duplex controversy and design the brand new
SteinYamBramberg hydroponic model with the puppet cyclorama add-on -what
about a puppet-Windows-Office-Companion-integrated-teacher?... You can be
sure I'll be contributing to the (venerable) list then, and, please, don't
stop the list because of  the little flames that sometimes enlighten or mar
the list : as far as I know, as a playwriter and dramaturge, some little
conflicts help the gymnastics of our soul-lifes, and the fun is worth the
drag !

One last question to Clyde Hollinger who wrote "Since in most cases the one
caster still wasn't carrying much weight, I shimmed it." I can guess the
answer, but what is "shimming" ? I could not find it in my dictionnaries -
as well as a few words I encountered, which obviously are part of some
secret language in use among the men-of-the-art...!

Thanks
Jean Debefve
Artistic director
Theatre de Galafronie, Belgium
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Le sens de la vie, c'est la vie.
Costia de Renesse   (+ 2002)

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