World Piano competition

[Shawn Brock]

David,
 thanks for your post!  I love it.  Yes a lot of fun for me is telling the stories.  Its fun to share this stuff with people who understand and laugh with you or at you.  I have had some good laughs at the expense of other technicians and I want them to have a few on me.  One of the best parts of this business is the stories others have...  After I finished my 30 minute tuning this morning, I thought, man this is just to damn dumb to be reality.  After the fact even I thought this deal is funny.  After all is said and done what can you do, laugh or stay mad forever.  And on it goes!  Regards

Shawn Brock, RPT 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: David Skolnik 
  To: Pianotech List 
  Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 2:23 PM
  Subject: Re: World Piano competition


  Shawn & Bruce -

  Don't misconstrue anything I say here, as nothing is meant personally. It's all existential.  Exchanging war stories is fun, especially if it's not really war, and you survive.  Fortunately, I check for any recent posts before writing further and found Don Rose's, which, for the most part, concisely says what would have taken me much longer.  

    Hi Bruce and Shaun,

    As long as technicians continue to accept vaguely impossible working
    conditions nothing will change. Just Say "NO". 


  But I think it's a little more complicated.  Clearly, there is some element of satisfaction gained by surviving.  As I said, war stories can be fun, in which case, the more challenging, the more suffering, the better the story.  The question is, what do you learn from the experience?  If the punch line of the story is about how much abuse you can endure without getting adequately remunerated, well OK, that's that story.  If you would do it again, that's another story.  What if, based upon your experience, you receive additional opportunities to experience similar abuse in ever new settings?  Well, at least you get to travel.

  Just say NO has never been very satisfying to me.  Reality is usually much grayer than that.  If you hadn't accepted the job, someone else likely would have, and then they would have all the stories.  The frustrating irony is that, as we turn out better trained new technicians, and continue to maintain and upgrade our own skills, the value of that quality diminishes.  By embracing the challenge to do your best in, ultimately, arbitrarily negative circumstances, you are reinforcing the market dynamic in which the Competition is functioning.  If there are no complaints about the pianos, and if spending more (and making your conditions easier) would not garner them any tangible gains, then they are doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing, and they paid exactly what they should have.  So, next year, tell the story about what happened when you asked them to shape up.

  On the other hand, as long as you are doing it, don't hold back if you have some good story material.  As I said, it's not at all personal.

  Regards and good luck -

  David Skolnik
  Hastings on Hudson, NY




  At 11:54 AM 7/10/2008, you wrote:

     
    Oh Bruce, Guess we just have to hang in with them.  I think a lot of technicians are correct when they tell us to "just say no"!  Guess I'm to young and stupid for that!  I love concert work to.  That don't help, and with concert work a person is a glutton for punishment.  Any how, thanks for being in the club with me!
     
    Shawn Brock, RPT

      ----- Original Message ----- 

      From: bppiano at aol.com 

      To: pianotech at ptg.org 

      Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 9:22 PM

      Subject: Re: World Piano competition 


      Boy, do I hear you.  I've tuned for the recently established Amatuer Pianist International here in Colorado Springs for 5 years now.  We have a nice Hamburg Steinway D for the stage.  However, the practice rooms

      are not scheduled for any attention this summer.  I get about an hour prior to the first event, and 15 minutes for lunch and other breaks to touch up the piano.  Usually, a russian pianist comes in for the final masterclass and recital.  Usually, a few requests for regulation adjustments.  Of course, everything must come within their budgetary limits.  I guess misery loves company.  Nice to know I'm not the only one doing this dance. 


      Bruce Pennington


      -----Original Message-----

      From: Shawn Brock <shawnbrock at fuse.net>

      To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>

      Sent: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 6:04 pm

      Subject: World Piano competition 


      Yes, I said the World Piano Competition.  So for anyone who might have been the technician at this event in years past, you can laugh at me this year!  I'm the sucker, OOPS, I mean technician for this years competition.  I can't say that no one warned me about how it has played out in years past.  This year is much the same, except I got paid for my first week of work.  That's a step in the direction of improvement I would say.  For those who are lucky enough to have never come across this event I will give you a short run down of what its like.  Its a 2 week affair with the first week being devoted to juniors under the age of 16.  They are all vary good and are thrilling to listen to.  The next week is the more competitive portion of this event, with everyone battling it out on 1 S&S d.  Man can they pound the hell out of a piano!  I have been lucky enough to come in each morning and find the piano in decent shape as far as the tuning goes.  My time allotment is getting shorter how ever.  When we started I could be in the hall at 7a.m, and they wanted me off the stage by 830.  Keep in mind that was for 2 pianos which were in use for up to 10 hours.  This week I only have 1 piano to worry about.  So with less worries they decided to cut my time back.  I was informed that I shouldn't inter the hall and start before 9a.m.  "Oh, and could you be off the stage by 930?"  What the hell are these people thinking?  Don't get me wrong, often I can clean up/tune a piano in 30 or 40 minutes.  I would not want said piano used for a performance though.  If a piano is on pitch, I like to have about 1 hour or 75 minutes to do what I need to do, and that is not for a 10 hour concert where the performers are possibly some of the best new talent on the planet.  So...  Guess I'l l just go and do what I can do.  If the piano maintains its stability as it has I should not have a problem.  Guess I'm just complaining on principle here...  Not to mention the fact that they cheated me out of a tuning...  They don't want any of the practice room pianos tuned.  Man, these things are so badly out I don't see how anyone could stand to play them.  I had to fix a sticking key for one of the players, did that one for free as well.  Well, he needed the note!  It should be against the law for someone to bring these people in and charge them all this money to inter a contest where everything is so messed up!  I hate the lack of accommodations for the contestants.  That bothers me more than anything.  Once I told someone that the reason I chose to pick up the guitar as a kid was because every piano I was around was out of tune and was unplayable.  Oh, well, what do ya do?



      Shawn Brock, RPT

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