Tuning experience

[Phil Ryan]

I was tuning a C7 in a  theatre pit (aboard a ship) today.  I was told 
it was OK to tune as long as I didn't mind riding up and down on the pit 
elevator. They were testing it.   "Sure, why not!"  What an eye-opener 
for sound and temperature!  As I started tuning in the pit, the sound 
was bouncing all over, real easy to hear, hitting me in the face, 
bouncing around, but as the piano (and I) rose up into the cavernous 
theatre, the sound magically disintegrated and strained to fill the 
room.  Shortly I felt the wrap-around feeling of the cool air 
conditioning surrounding me and the piano and subsequently saw the 
red-lights on the SAT starting to run clockwise.  Then the elevator 
started downward and this phenomina was repeated again in reverse. A 
couple of times doing this was a real eye-opening experience in 
accoustics and piano stability.  FWIW.

Phil Ryan
Miami Beach