The Piano Roll

Water mark repair

2012-01-12T19:50:00.000-05:00

I found this page that I thought might be useful for some of you. It describes how to repair a water mark on a finish. There are several things to try. I use to do quite a bit of finish repair and touchup. Refinishing also. In recent years I've gotten away from it, but still get requests occasionally.
Watermark repair

Piano Shop Woes...

2011-12-18T10:17:00.000-05:00

My latest dilemma has been two-fold. One is that I have pianos to rebuild, and don't currently have time. I like rebuilding, but I've been out tuning and servicing pianos for long hours every day. So, now I'm behind on delivering these pianos to customers. It's something that's constantly hanging over my head. I've decided to block off some time after the first of the years to get some of this rebuild work done.

The second problem is that of space. I have taken in more pianos than I have room for. My shop is small to start with. About 10 years ago, we moved to this house in College Hill, and it has a big walkout basement. That's what I've been using for shop space. So now, with production kinda backed up, and pianos sitting there in storage, I really need more space. I'm starting to look into either renting some storage space, or some space to move the whole shop.

CSYO Ad

2011-11-27T10:59:00.001-05:00

I really don't do much in the way of advertising. Piano service is primarily a "word of mouth" type of business. However, I've had children at the School for the Creative and Performing Arts, and in the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra. So, I've wanted to support these organizations. I also have an ad on the Pianoworld website. Again, it's advertisement, but I partly do it as a way to support the site.

My dilemma lately has been to create an ad for the CSYO program book. I'm not an artist, or graphic designer. Most of the time, for smaller ads, I've just been using my business card. The CSYO ad will be a full page, and the business card won't work. So, I've created a display ad. Ended up using Google Documents.

Starr Piano Ad

2011-11-24T10:18:00.003-05:00

I found this page which shows a Starr Piano Ad from 1907. I like reading these old ads. This one lists a retail showroom for Starr at 139 East Fourth Street in Cincinnati.

DIY Acoustic Panels

2011-08-20T15:12:00.001-04:00

Sam Smith has a nice photo gallery showing the construction of acoustic panels for his piano.

Innovative Petrof Piano

2011-08-07T21:05:00.003-04:00

Petrof has produced an new piano with an all steel plate. See the story here.

Carson Atlas performing Chopin Nocturne 20 in C# Minor

2011-07-06T17:41:00.000-04:00

Thoughts about Quality of Work

2011-06-21T11:57:00.002-04:00

Recently I have been having some problems with my car. It is a 2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser. This has been a great service vehicle for me. The gas mileage is good. It gets around 30mpg on the highway. There is plenty of space in the back to put piano actions and tools. It's comfortable for me, since I'm a fairly big guy, which I can't say about many small cars. So, I basically like the car and have been very happy with it. I would like to keep it running if possible. It has 175k miles on it, so it has some components wearing out. I've looked at new cars, and just can't see spending the money it would take to buy and equivalent new vehicle.

A big frustration has been the quality of work done by the mechanics who have been repairing my car. I've taken it several different places, including the dealer. They fix it, and it's not really fixed. I take it back, and take it back. They recommend one thing, which is a common problem. But it doesn't fix the problem I'm having, and the real problem is something else. It seems like they just don't want to spend the time to dig into it. They seem to rely on you as a consumer not knowing anything, and recommend whatever is a fix that makes them money.

So, I've decided to start doing work on it myself. Have bought parts, and have started doing repairs. Most recently it was wheel bearings. When I took it apart, it was obvious that the hub was also bad. The last mechanic who had the wheel off drove on the nut and stripped off the threads on the axle. So I'm replacing the drive axle too. The more I look into it, the deeper I get.

I just wonder how an auto shop would have handled this. Put it back together using old parts, to keep the cost down, and then I would have had more even more repairs in the near future. Or recommend complete replace of components, like we will be doing, at what I'm sure would have been an eye-popping price?

This make me think about my own customers, and the situation they are in. It makes me want to fix things right the first time, even if it costs a little more. That's what I would want.

Summer is here. So am I.

2011-05-14T10:36:00.004-04:00

Well, I've been crazy busy since getting back from working at Interlochen last summer. I took on the job at NKU this year, which has meant I've had to add that on top of my regular workload. My private customers would be enough! But, it looks like things will finally be lightening up a little. I've worked at Interlochen the past 9 summers, but won't be going this year. So, I don't know how the summer will be. I do have some rebuilding to do. I'll at least have the NKU work to do. Maybe I can get some work done around the house too!

Jazz in 1/7 Comma Meantone

2011-03-08T11:43:00.002-05:00

This is an example of a piano tuned in the 1/7th comma meantone temperament. It is some jazz played by Mrlyn Crispell. See what you think.

Whatever Happened To The Audiophile? : NPR

2011-03-08T11:41:00.000-05:00

Whatever Happened To The Audiophile? : NPR

It Will Play Anything....Mostly.

2011-03-02T09:17:00.003-05:00

One of the features of the Live Performance LX system is that it will play any of the software on the market which is not encrypted. I'm finding out that that this rules out much of the music currently available for Pianodisc and QRS sytems. It seems that there was a time period, from around 1995-2005, when these companies were had more of an "open source" attitude. Now they are using more restricted formats.

Pianodisc went to encrypting their music a few years ago, maybe in response to the LX coming out. Pianodisc has a large library of music, and so they are trying to leverage that to get people to buy their system. I don't blame them, it's a business strategy. But, they're going to sell less music. The newer format is "Silent Drive Plus". The LX will play pre-SDP Pianodisc music. Current owners of older Pianodisc systems must send for an OS update in order to be able to play music in the new format.

QRS systems require the Petine or Ancho control head in order to play their music with accompaniment. In response to federal copyright laws regarding digital music, in 2005 or so they changed the way their players play the piano tracks. Previously they altered the original recording, adding a piano part. Now there is a separate file that plays alongside the vocal track. The customer must enter a code into the Petine control head to unlock this. Since the LX system just uses a conventional Sony cd player for playback, there is nowhere to enter the code. The LX will play QRS music which just has piano. Again, as with Pianodisc, the LX will play older QRS discs.

So, where to look for music? The Yamaha Musicsoft library seems to still be compatible with the LX and unencrypted. That's probably the best place to look if you want popular style music. There is the possibility of finding older Pianodisc and QRS cd's on Ebay. There also are some independent producers of cd's there. Another possibility is the Stars and Tracks website. This is the music produced for the Pianoforce player system, which is a newer system on the market.

PTG Meetings

2011-03-02T08:13:00.002-05:00

I've taught at a couple of PTG meetings in the last month. Did a presentation on the Wapin Bridge for the Columbus chapter. What a great setting. I didn't know what to expect going up. It was held on the stage of the Wexner Center. It's a beautiful newer theater. They had a Steinway D which Don Gibbs in Milford, Ohio had rebuilt. It had the Wapin Bridge on it. So, I had a really nice piano there to demo what I was talking about. I had asked for a screen so that I could show my Powerpoint presentation. They had a one of the backdrops lowered, and a nice digital projector. I couldn't have asked for a better setup. Thanks Columbus!

This week I did a class on the Live Performance LX system for our Cincinnati chapter. The first part was a talk on the development of player systems, starting with the Pianocorder. Then we looked at an older QRS system which I put together out of spare parts I had lying around. It was a "knob box" setup. We went over ways to upgrade the existing systems. Most of the techs had never seen the solenoids of a system working out of the piano. Then we played the LX. I had ordered Art Tatum's "The Piano Starts Here" and Glenn Gould's "The Goldberg Variations" re-performance CD's from Zenph. Also played the Rachmaninoff recordings available from Wayne Stahnke. Wayne has really produced a great system. It's like having a live concert pianist playing.

It was fun doing these classes. But it takes alot of time preparing and getting them ready. Still, it's helpful to me to think through the subject to be able to make a presentation. I had never used Powerpoint before. It's not so bad. I was able to put something together fairly quickly. There's always a learning curve. But, I made it work. If I have to do one again, it should be a little easier.

C. Bechstein - A Love Story Part 1

2011-02-13T09:05:00.000-05:00

Columbus PTG

2011-02-12T09:32:00.002-05:00

I'll be giving a presentation for the Columbus chapter of the Piano Technician's Guild on Tuesday, Feb. 15. It will be on the Wapin Bridge conversion. The Wexner Center at Ohio State University has a nice example of a piano with Wapin installed, and I am fortunate to had it to show as an example. It is a Steinway D which has been rebuilt by Gibb's Piano Co., and I believe that it has a new soundboard. Should be fun.

Baldwin Concertmaster support

2011-02-12T09:28:00.002-05:00

If any of you have a Baldwin Concertmaster player system, and need technical support, this is the source.

Concertmaster Support

The H.O. Studley Tool Chest

2011-01-17T12:34:00.000-05:00

Rowan Atkinson - 'The Piano Player'

2011-01-05T09:54:00.000-05:00

The Art Of Piano Great Pianists Of The 20Th Century

2011-01-05T09:51:00.000-05:00

Glen Gould's Goldberg Variations

2011-01-04T09:46:00.005-05:00

There has been a movie showing on PBS stations called Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould

Zenph video on their recreation of the Goldberg Variations. Gotta love a movie that features a piano technician!.

My wife just bought a pair of CD's with both of Gould's recordings. So, I'm going to be hearing lots of the Goldberg Variations soon. She also bought the sheet music, so I'll be hearing it played live. That's the best.

The Great Circle of Piano Life

2011-01-04T09:22:00.006-05:00

I haven't been posting much, mostly because I've been busy. But today I am waiting on a Fed Ex delivery of a Live Performance LX player system, so I have some time. They need a signature, and so I have to be here. FedEx attempted delivery the other day, and I was out. They don't give you a time, so all I can do it wait. There is plenty I can do here. The good news is that I sold another system, and get to install it. This customer was concerned that it was able to play be played from an iPod. I haven't tried it, but understand that they do. The LX will operate from any line level input.

Last week we tuned all of the pianos at Wright State University. It's too much to do by myself in a week, so I hire someone to help...Dan Smith. Dan is an old friend from when we worked at Baldwin Piano and Organ Co. together. We go to WSU and crank out the tunings. Those pianos were last tuned in August, prior to the fall quarter. In August, the humidity is high, and the pianos are all sharp, sometimes as much as 50 cents. So, we lower them. I usually leave them around A442 at that time. We lower them, but not all the way. When we went in last week, they were all flat. Some were so flat that they needed two tunings to be brought up to A440. I measured the humidity, and it was down around 20%. Not good for pianos.

Yesterday, I tuned some of the pianos at Walnut Hills HS. It was the same situation. I had tuned them in August. They were sharp, and so I lowered them. Now, they were flat, and needed pulled up. So goes the great circle of piano life.

The thing is that I feel bad for the faculty and students who have to play these pianos in the fall. It must be frustrating. Due to the timing of the tunings, it is bound to happen.

Music and Links for the LX

2010-12-25T18:02:00.005-05:00

Spencer Chase has recordings of players rolls for the LX for purchase. These are old classic player rolls that have been scanned and put in format for playing on the Live Performance LX. There is a tools and information page for the LX off of that link.

He also has a link to show how to set up a system to be able to play the piano from any computer in your home on his blog. It uses a program called "media monkey".

Hyper Performance Steinway | Pianomart.com

2010-11-30T17:03:00.000-05:00

Michael Wathen has a nice Steinway grand for sale. It has been rebuilt with a new soundboard. The bridge has been converted with the Wapin Bridge. I did an action job on it, replacing all of the action parts. The Stanwood Precision Touch Design balancing method was used. It is an outstanding piano at less than half the price of a new Steinway O this size.

Hyper Performance Steinway | Pianomart.com

Zenph in HiFiNews

2010-11-29T23:11:00.000-05:00

This month's edition of Hi Fi News features the Zenph company. Their upcoming release will be a piano re-performance of "Treasures from the Estate" by Oscar Peterson. Previous piano re-performances were of works by Art Tatum, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Glenn Gould. The article goes into some detail explaining their process. Also, the piano player system used to do the recordings.

Stuart and Sons pianos on the news

2010-11-25T10:02:00.000-05:00

Work, work, and more work!

2010-11-21T12:20:00.000-05:00

I am sitting here typing. Have to go down to the Aronoff Center for the Arts in a little while, to tune for a piano recital. The past few months have been very busy. I have basically been working 70-80 hours a week, with few days off. People often ask if I do this full time. There seems to be a general impression that this can't be a full time job. It must be more like a hobby. I often joke that I wish I could cut back to full time. Most piano technicians I know work alot. It just is part of the gig. Don't get me wrong, I love it. It's great to be self-employed. I love what I do. But there is little down time.

This fall I picked up the position at Northern Kentucky University. It is a regular part-time position. So, I'm not completely self-employed now, thought it still feels like it. At least I have insurance through a workplace, and some benefits now. It's nice because I just go down there and tune whenever I have gaps in my schedule, or in the evenings.

Piano Wars: Yamaha challenges Steinway - thestar.com

2010-11-21T12:15:00.000-05:00

This article is about the Yamaha/Steinway competition. But it features Olga Kern. Olga will be visiting Cincinnati this spring, performing for the Matinee Musicale' series. I do the tuning for Matinee Musicale', and suppose I will be doing it for this recital. I hope that they send one of the new Yamaha concert grands. I would like to see one up close and personal.

I have tuned for Olga a couple times at Interlochen, and worked on the pianos she used other times. She is an outstanding pianist, well worth seeing. A couple of times it was solo, and a couple of times with orchestra. The first time she was there it was to perform with the World Youth Symphony. They performed Rachmaninoff's "Variations on a Theme by Paganini". Interlochen had rented a Steinway D from the Detroit area dealer. It was a nice piano, but Olga was having trouble with it. The piano didn't cut through the orchestra. We were in a postition where we couldn't do anything significant to the piano. So, we couldn't juice the hammers, or do anything permanent. We had her try the Baldwin SD-10 which was also on stage. The Baldwin had been modified with the Wapin Bridge. She loved the Baldwin, and used it for the performance. Later she described it as "a tremendous instrument". By the next year, when she came back, she had signed with Yamaha. So, Yamaha sent a concert grand for her to use. So, she didn't play the Baldwin again.

Piano Wars: Yamaha challenges Steinway - thestar.com

Alice Dancing Under the Gallows - Official Promo

2010-11-07T20:45:00.000-05:00

Live Performance LX Videos

2010-10-25T10:45:00.000-04:00

I found a nice page showing from another LX installer showing videos of the LX in action.

Live Performance videos

Seta Music Store Closing

2010-09-24T08:45:00.000-04:00

It's a tough time to be in the piano business. Now Seta Music is closing it's main retail location on Kenwood Rd., and will be having a "store closing sale" starting this weekend. We are sorry to hear this. It looks like Seta will still be in business, operating out of the warehouse location on Montgomery Rd., in Kennedy Heights.

Converting Files for Pianodisc

2010-09-21T09:14:00.003-04:00

Mark Fontana posted this expanation on the Pianoworld Forum. I thought it would be good to post again for those who need it.....

Your Disklavier-compatible floppies contain files in a file format called ESEQ. These can be converted to PianoDisc-encoded MP3 files using MID2PianoCD, which reads MIDI and ESEQ files and produces specially-encoded WAV or MP3 files in the formats required by various player systems.

The hard part is getting the original files off the floppy disks. You'll need an external USB floppy drive (newegg.com carries several) or an older PC.

There are two utilities available on the Internet which can extract the files from these disks under Windows: ESEQEXTRACT.EXE and RootARipper.exe.

Once you've copied the ESEQ files from the disks, you need to run the files through MID2PianoCD, selecting the Disklavier source velocity profile, MP3 output, and PianoDisc Silent Drive Plus format, then tag the resulting MP3 files using MP3Tag so that the titles show up properly on your MP3 player.

Total cost - a couple evenings of work to convert and tag 29 disks worth of material, plus the cost of the USB floppy drive. (Donations to support the development of MID2PianoCD are always appreciated, too. I've been considering adding the feature of directly importing files from floppy disks, saving the ESEQEXTRACT/RootARipper step. This would also facilitate automatically transferring the song titles, eliminating some of the MP3 tagging work as well.)

Unconventional Techniques

2010-09-05T11:24:00.000-04:00

My friend Eric Glick Rieman has an article in the NewMusicBox on unconventional techniques. He plays a modified Fender Rhodes electric piano. I usually stick to comments on acoustic instruments, but this might be interesting to some of you.

Piano Movies

2010-09-04T09:02:00.001-04:00

There are a number of new movies coming out concerning pianos. One is "Miracle in a Box", which covers the rebuilding of a Steinway grand piano. There is a movie in the making called "Apassionata". A third is "Pianomania". If you click on the link, there is a short clip from the movie.

Piano Movies

2010-09-04T09:02:00.000-04:00

There are a number of new movies coming out concerning pianos. One is "Miracle in a Box", which cover the rebuilding of a Steinway grand piano. There is a movie in the making called "Apassionata". A third is "Pianomania". If you click on the link, there is a short clip from the movie.

Butterflies in the Rain

2010-08-20T22:51:00.000-04:00

Richard Feynman Article on Piano Tuning

2010-08-13T18:12:00.000-04:00

http://www.physics.princeton.edu/~mcdonald/examples/mechanics/feynman_pt_dec_46_09.pdf

Loveland Music Academy

2010-08-12T08:33:00.000-04:00

For those of you out near Loveland, OH, the Loveland Music Academy offers of a full range of music lessons....including pianos. It is owned and operated by Linda Henn Bergholz, who has been teaching piano in the area for years. Check it out!

Play Me I'm Yours

2010-08-12T08:24:00.001-04:00

The "Play Me I'm Yours" event has hit the streets of Cincinnati. I'll be tuning several of the pianos on a weekly basis, as are other local members of the Piano Technicians' Guild. The event organizers came to us early on to request help. In return we are getting radio spots mentioning the PTG. It's a chance for the PTG members to do something to get a little bit of exposure, and to give back.

Interlochen 2010

2010-08-12T08:09:00.000-04:00

I'm back from spending another summer at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, near Traverse City, Michigan. It was another great summer. I spent alot of time on my bicycle, riding through the surrounding woods and farmland. I work at the camp, which is six weeks long. There are over 200 pianos there. Interlochen owns around 130. There were close to 100 new Kawai Pianos. The Kawai's were provided by Evola Music, the Kawai dealer up there. Jim Evola buys the pianos, and loans them to the camp. They are then sold as being "used at Interlochen". We try to take really good care of them. It's sometimes hard to get the kids to respect the fact that these pianos need to be returned as new to somebody, but we do our best. We just have to go around and remind them. Some of the pianos have been tuned 5 or 6 times by the time they leave the camp, so they should be "stabilized". We had 5 technicians on staff, tuning the pianos on a continual basis. Interlochen has a new resident piano technician, Jessica Masse. The other seasonal techs were Ginny Bear, Beth Harris, and Chris Purdy. Since I normally work alone, it was great to have co-workers....other techs to talk to about piano work. Chris Purdy was new there this year. He is the resident piano technician at Ohio University. We had worked together years ago at Krefting Pianos, so it was great to reconnect with him. Beth is from Boston, Mass., and Ginny is from Seattle, Wash. They were all good people.

What Does the Middle Pedal Do? (MIRACLE IN A BOX Sostenuto Demo)

2010-08-01T09:44:00.000-04:00

Another Piano Recording page

2010-08-01T09:15:00.001-04:00

Here is another page on piano recording from the SoundOnSound website. This is an article from May of 1999.

Pianodisc HD

2010-07-11T19:41:00.000-04:00

The Pianodisc company has a new high definition system out...Pianodisc HD. I have only seen the website at this point. One nice thing they are doing is that if you an existing system, and buy one of the new systems, they will send you new versions of the music you already own. So, if you have a large collection of music for an older system, you won't have to buy all new music. That should be motivation to go ahead with an upgrade.

It will be interesting to compare these systems to the LX. Even if the playback is as nuanced, there are other features of the LX that I think are hard to beat. Proportional pedaling is one.

Piano Recording

2010-05-05T20:35:00.000-04:00

Piano Recording

Sites to download classical music in MIDI

2010-04-25T14:15:00.000-04:00

Classical Music Page
Minnesota e-competition

New Website

2010-04-14T16:57:00.000-04:00

Some of you may have found this blog through my website at Cincypiano.com. That is my old domain, which I have pointing at the site. The site was created using Wix, and the location is www.wix.com/petersrpt/peters-piano. Same site.

I haven't figured out how to get the site to read "cincypiano" in the address bar once you are there. I looking into it. My old site was hosted by Earthlink. I went to Wix only because I thought I could create a nicer site. The old site was created in Earthlink's Trellix sitebuilder software. The templates seemed fairly dated to me. It was a click and build type of system, and fairly easy to accomplish. Then I got Dreamweaver, and maintained the site using that. I made a few changes. Dreamweaver is great software, but is really more of something that would be good if you were designing websites all of the time. I just never got proficient enough to do what I wanted. The nice thing about the Wix setup is that I can log in from any computer, and it's all there.

Previously I tried to have a general information site for the Greater Cincinnati area. There was a "pianos for sale" section, which seemed to get the most traffic. It ended up just being more work than I wanted to do. Especially for free, as I didn't get much business from the site. People would send me pictures of pianos, etc, and I always felt like I should be responding much quicker than I did. So, I switched. It's easier to just make comments here when I feel like it now.

Henderson Music fined by AG

2010-04-06T08:21:00.000-04:00

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100401/NEWS01/4020355/AG-Grandpa-lied-in-piano-ads

This isn't the first time they've been fined.

5'6" Baldwin Grand | Pianomart.com

2010-04-01T13:35:00.000-04:00

5'6" Baldwin Grand | Pianomart.com

Fat Cats Dueling Piano Bar

2010-04-01T12:41:00.000-04:00

There is a new piano bar in downtown Cincinnati. It just opened at 537 E. Pete Rose Way, and is located in the space that was formerly the Game Day Cafe.

ERIC GLICK RIEMAN: Trilogy From The Outside (Water Goes Into Air Recordings)

2010-04-01T12:14:00.001-04:00

ERIC GLICK RIEMAN: Trilogy From The Outside (Water Goes Into Air Recordings)

This is my friend from college. I did the action rebuild on his piano a few years ago. It has a full Stanwood action, with the magnetically adjustable touchweight feature.

Engineering Capacity article on player system

2010-03-16T20:50:00.000-04:00

Here is an article on the player system used by Zenph. It describes some of the engineering.

Wired article on Zenph

2010-03-04T18:42:00.000-05:00

Article in Wired magazine about Zenph.

Pianoforte Maker

2010-02-28T21:59:00.001-05:00

I found an interesting entry while searching through books. It is of a George Charters, who made pianofortes in Cincinnati. He operated on Fifth St. between Main and Sycamore from 1819-1825. It is in "Musical instrument makers of New York" By Nancy Groce. It says that he was "the only piano maker that Cincinnati could boast."

On 200th Birthday, Chopin's Music 'Not as Pretty as It Sounds' | The Atlantic Wire

2010-02-23T11:15:00.000-05:00

On 200th Birthday, Chopin's Music 'Not as Pretty as It Sounds' | The Atlantic Wire

PBS Live from the Lincoln Center

2010-02-13T17:05:00.000-05:00

On a recent PBS broadcast of Live from the Lincoln Center, a player piano was featured. The violinist Joshua Bell was the host. He played with a number of guest artists. When he came to Rachmaninoff, he said "our next guest is no longer with us". He sat a picture of Rachmaninoff on the piano, and the piano played itself. The accompaniment was derived from a recording which Rachmaninoff himself produced on an Ampico reproducing piano. Rachmaninoff recorded many pieces for player pianos back in the 1920's. The piano used for this performance was a Steinway concert grand which had been rebuilt. It was retrofit with an SE player system. The SE was developed by Wayne Stahnke for Bosendorfer in the 1980's, and is very similar to the new LX system which is now on the market.

Live Performance LX

2010-02-13T16:29:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago I attended an installation class for the new Live Performance LX player system. These are high resolution systems, and definitely a cut above the other retrofit player systems on the market. Just looking at the components, I got a sense that they were high quality. The LX cost a little more, but in my opinion are well worth the added expense. The LX will play any of the commercially available player piano software out on the market. In addition, Zenph Studios has produced a selection of music which is just fantastic. I am an authourized LX dealer, and am excited about starting to install these systems.

Player Piano info

2010-02-13T16:27:00.001-05:00

MIDI

Many people enjoy downloading music from the internet to play on their player system. Here is a page from the Piano Technicians Guild website which has links to other sites.

PTG MIDI Page

Here are a few other sites to use for MIDI files:
http://www.midiworld.com/classic.htm
http://www.classicalarchives.com/
http://www.classicalmusicmidipage.com/music/index.php
http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/devianjazz/midifiles.html
http://home.wanadoo.nl/dougmckenzie/
http://www.midnitesun.co.uk/otherhtm/framset1.htm
http://members.shaw.ca/smythe/archive.htm

If you wish to play them from a remote CD player for instance, you will need the conversion software found here at http://dp70.dyndns.org/mid2pianocd/

New Year starts briskly!

2010-01-14T07:35:00.001-05:00

January is proving to be quite a busy month. I'm rebuilding the actions of three pianos. A couple of these customers wanted to wait until after Christmas, so that's why there are several at once. In addition, there are many tunings. I'm wondering how I'm going to get it all done.

Big Piano Gig

2009-12-24T22:14:00.000-05:00

After hosting the Big Pig Gig a few years ago, it looks like Cincinnati will be hosting a piano event!
Big Piano Gig.

12 CPS Students Invited To Perform At White House - KYPost.com

2009-10-29T10:05:00.001-04:00

12 CPS Students Invited To Perform At White House - KYPost.com

Posted using ShareThis

Ex-patriot tech

2009-09-28T23:02:00.000-04:00

I found this article about Brian Krefting. Some of you may know him. I worked with him in his dad's shop.

Brian Krefting article

New Web Site

2009-09-04T17:57:00.000-04:00

Instead of posting here, I've been spending what extra time I have working on a new website. This will be the blog portion attached to that website.

Back to the grind

2009-09-04T17:49:00.000-04:00

OK folks. This is first post for a while. I was at the Interlochen Arts Camp again this summer, and had a great time. We had a good crew of tuners. It was myself, Ginny Bear, Michael Lynam, and Dave Tarnowski. Dave was the resident tech there the last 3 years. He just moved to NY, so there will be a new tech there soon. We will miss him!

Since being back home, I've been tuning for schools. Ross HS, Walnut Hills HS, Wright State Univ., and yesterday Wilmington College. It's alot of tuning, and feels like a real grind. The start of the school year. Next week I'll be starting on the School for the Creative and Performing Arts.

Steinway Week

2009-06-29T23:42:00.000-04:00

Have been working on alot of Steinways the past week. Most are older, and in various states of repair. It's fun. My focus has been on trying to do more than just tune. I've been leveling strings on every piano I do. It's been interesting on how much that alone can improve tone.

Feinstein concert in Hamilton

2009-06-08T08:14:00.000-04:00

On Saturday night, I had the pleasure of tuning the piano for the Michael Feinstein concert at the Fitton Center in Hamilton. Part of this gig was that I had to sit through the show to make sure that there were no problems with the piano. There weren't. This was the 10th year he has done the show at this venue, and I think I've tuned for all but one of them. That year I was scheduled to do it, but there was some sort of snafu. This year he was doing a Frank Sinatra tribute. I'm not a huge Sinatra fan, but it was enjoyable. There was a 16-piece band backing him up. It was piano, guitar, bass, drums, and a horn section. It was a good show, and Michael is quite the showman really. Definitely "crooner" music.

Well, I had to miss the PTG group outing to the Reds game on Saturday night. It sounds like they got to see a winner.

Van Cliburn Competition

2009-06-06T22:26:00.000-04:00

The Van Cliburn competition has been fun to watch . The finals are going on now. I am trying to post a link.

I was able to tune for Van Cliburn at Interlochen a couple of years ago. He was extremely friendly....walked up, shook my hand, and said "Thank You". Then he was off. They had him busy the whole time he was there, I think.

Blogging?

2009-06-05T18:56:00.000-04:00

I have thought about creating a blog for some time, so here it is. This is just a place to write down thoughts. Also to talk about the piano situations I run into. My purpose will be to communicate what I think about during the day. As a piano tuner, I have alot of time to think. This is one of the things about the job. You are mechanically manipulating the tuning lever, and hitting the keys. You are listening. But your mind wanders off. Much of the time you don't have to really be focused on what you are doing. Part of you does. But part of it is just automatic. It's kind of like when you drive, and before long you are miles down the road and you don't remember being conscious during that time. We tuners do alot of driving too.

I have a tuner friend who has trouble listening to a conversation. He blames it on being a tuner. It is somewhat the affect I talk about above. Your mind wonders. His girlfriend doesn't believe him.