Hi Don,
This was an example which is related to horrid outdoor venues where I had previous knowledge of the temperature changes and a good idea of what downbeat conditions would be because of working the venue(s) numerous times.
In this example, there would be only one performance in the evening, unlike a jazz fest or other venue where the piano is played throughout the day (which requires a different approach). Most of the contracts would require a pre-sound check tuning around noon or 1, a possible touch up around 4 or 5, and a final touch up just prior to the doors being opened.
Typically, I would arrive on time and the piano would be onstage in an ATA case. The piano would be set up and I would get started. Each scenario is slightly different based on the condition of the piano when I finally got to it and what's happening outside (rain, snow, sun, etc). The example in my last post was just an overview of one of such scenarios and I threw it out to Terry as one possible approach to that situation; they're all a little different, as you well know.
It truly is a puzzle most of the time which involves some educated guessing, years of experience with how the specific piano (the C7 in that case) responds to temperature changes, and a whole lotta luck.
We may be opening the door here to an avalanche of stories about "did I tell you about the time I tuned for ________ in ______ from the Honored, Highly Esteemed Prince and Princess Tech McEgos" and "well, I tuned a C7 in identical circumstances and it didn't respond anything like that!", but this potential is always present and usually volumes of usable information can be sorted out as a result from it.
To finally answer your question (can you say loooooooong preface/disclaimer!) I'll offer a realistic example:
We arrive to an outdoor venue at 1:00 for the initial tuning with the knowledge that the piano will be tuned again at 5 and one last time just prior to the house being opened at 7 for an 8:00 downbeat.
It's raining and is 50 degrees. I guesstemate it's going to be 65 to 68 degrees on stage at downbeat (because, let's say, it's a symphony gig and the string player's contracts require that the stage be no colder than 65 degrees, so there are tall heaters everwhere which will be fired up around 6:00).
At 1:00 we walk up to the piano and it is 20 cents sharp in the tenor, bass is 5 cents sharp, and the high tenor to high treble is around 5 cents sharp (again, a common scenario because the piano was probalby in a nice comfy hall the night before and was at 440 at 70 some degrees).
I know the stage is going to be at least 15 degrees warmer at downbeat. So, I think to myself, if the piano was in perfect tune at 440 right now, where will it be when it warms up 15 degrees? Well self, I know it's going to go flat, and it's a C7, so 15 degrees is going to enact a change close to 20 cents at the tenor break, 5 to 8 cents in the base, and probably 10 to 15 cents in the treble. (Just guessing based on experience with the C7, mind you.)
So I tune A4 about 15 cents sharp and do a tuning with a curve that starts with F2 at 20 cents sharp, tapering down to 15 cents sharp at A4, 10 cents by the 1st treble break, 8 cents through the low treble, 5 cents through the high treble, and bass 8 cents sharp at the top, tapering down to 5 cents at the bottom.
Return for 5:00 tuning and it's about 68 degrees and the piano "should be" at 440, however, the sun was out around 3:00 and cooked the piano to 80 degrees and it is now a little flat from the heat, but coming up because it's acclimating to the temperature.
I now fine tune it with A4 a little flat (3 to 5 cents) because I know it's going to come back up as the plate reaches the ambient temperature in about an hour.
I now have one last shot just before the doors open. I've made a point to know and be on good terms with the house manager, and he knows I'm a wierdo perfectionist, so he's accommodating to my OCD. I locate him and let him know I'm going to do the final run through and start the last tuning about 6:40 which gives me enough time to dial things in just prior to the 7:00 house opening, and, by being friends with the house manager, I know he'll hold the house until at lest 7:15 if I need him to.
Again, this is worse case scenario. By ALL means, a concert instrument should be at 100% capability by downbeat whenever possilbe.
This is one of only a zillion possible scenarios, and probably creates more questions than answers, sorry. Things like, "well why even tune the piano at 1:00? Why not wait until 5 or so?". Because it's "all in the contract" with the artist, and some things we can change, some things we can't. Besides, one of the nice things about concert work is that one can get paid full price for all three tunings, plus intermission touch up, travel to and from the venues, and an nice little hourly "standy-by" fee for any minute I'm not actually tuning. Used to make for a nice day in the mountains and helps offset some of those $300.00 concert tickets I used to buy to see my favorite bands .
I also agree with some of the discussion about getting to know the key people at venues where one tunes frequently. They will be your greatest allies when you take the time educate them about when the best time to tune the piano is, what makes it go out of tune or stay in tune, and they can often reschdule load-in and load-out times, artist rehearsal times, union stage hand break times for large concerts, etc. to assist you with doing your best work. Unfortunately, like being an Indy 500 mechanic, concert work is rarely perfomed under ideal conditions and like them, you'll usually have 2 hours (if lucky) to do 4 hours of work.
I used to get really angry when I would arrive for a huge concert and would have to wait for the piano(s) to become availble, and this anger would carry through the day. Then I started charging for stand-by time. My attitude instantly changed and I could stand around, or read a book, with a a nice litte smile on my face knowing that I'm getting paid while the roadies fart around on stage, thinking, wow, "take your time!". Another advantage to this approach is that it tends to build a fire under the stage manager to get things moving because it's costing them money for you to stand around and wait.
Michael Spreeman http://www.spreemanpianoinnovations.com
> Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 22:26:21 +0000> To: pianotech at ptg.org> From: pianotuna at accesscomm.ca> Subject: temperature compensated tuning> > Hi Michael,> > I'd love to hear more about this. How did you puzzle this through?> > >With this information in hand, to your 1st question, I prefer an ETD because > >it's much easier to detune the piano at 60 degrees with the knowledge that> it is > >going to go through the 80 back to 55 swing before the concert and settle> back > >to where you want it, or to incorporate a weird tuning with the first> tenor note > >15 cents sharp and an even curve to normal around C6 because you know it's> cold > >and the tenor of that specific model of piano is going to drop 15 cents by > >downbeat and by C6 the drop is going to be close to zero. > > Regards,> Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T.> Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat> > mailto:pianotuna at yahoo.com http://us.geocities.com/drpt1948/> > 3004 Grant Rd. REGINA, SK, S4S 5G7> 306-539-0716 or 1-888-29t-uner
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