Anthony’s Thoughts

On Working with My Clients:

One of the more rewarding aspects of my work is to listen to my clientele and anticipate their needs so that the piano never limits their personal artistic expression. Accordingly, I do not tune pianos: I service pianos. A service call includes maintenance beyond routine tuning that in the end will improve the over-all performance of the piano. Such things as pedal adjustment, minor repair, partial action regulation and hammer and string voicing are usually included in a typical service call. When greater effort is indicated to solve a specific problem, I will advise my client well in advance so that they may adjust their budget accordingly and schedule the added work when feasible.

I have found it beneficial to develop a rapport with my clients over time, allowing me to understand the client’s relationship to their instrument. I also enjoy encouraging young students in their piano studies. One of my greatest joys is to witness the young pianist eventually master a piece over the course of their piano studies.

While I am willing to suggest individualized maintenance schedules, I understand that life can get in the way of a person’s music making passion and accordingly the varying usage of their piano. For most people piano service is discretionary spending and each person’s relationship with their piano and their music making determines how much of their resources they are willing to allocate to their piano. Hence, I do not lay out a set schedule but will offer my recommendations regarding tuning frequency. The general recommendation of most manufacturers is two service calls per year, timed in conjunction with significant humidity shifts.

I have found that my success with a customer depends on the gradual metamorphosis of our client/professional relationship from my being just a periodic service provider to that of becoming a caring enabler in my client’s musical life. My customers come to know and expect that I will give my very best effort to the service of their piano given my passion for the piano tempered with my decades of experience doing the work.

I truly cherish my customers, not only for the money they pay me for my services, but for the privilege given me to touch their lives a little bit. I have benefited from their wisdom, cultural diversity and just plain humanity they have shared with me. For these gifts I am grateful and look forward to each day to see who I will serve.

On the Concert Stage:

The core of concert work is rock solid, artistic tuning. There is little time for relationship building. The artist, promoter or producer simply want to know that they have a competent professional on hand to optimize the success of their event or performance. Sometimes the work requires translating the spoken needs of the artist into specific techniques to enhance their performance. Here I rely on my years of piano playing to understand what the artist wants and be able to do something to put a smile on his or her face. Then there are the emergencies and last-minute snafus along with dealing with surly stage hands who choose to make as much noise as possible when the tuner is prepping the piano for performance. It’s all a matter of getting the job done without raising the stress level for any of the parties concerned. I have been given great guidance in this area from some of the country’s best concert technicians such as Norman Neblett, RPT and Steinway’s Franz Mohr.

On Humidity Control:

One piece of advice I can give to piano owners is to control the humidity in the room the piano resides. This is easier said than done because of the vast humidity changes that occur between seasons in North Carolina. The piano, made largely of wood, picks up and loses ambient humidity through the absorption and expulsion of moisture in the wooden parts (most notably the soundboard) in order to maintain moisture equilibrium with the surrounding air. At the least, the tuning stability of the instrument is compromised whenever these humidity shifts occur. At worst, repeated humidity shifts over extended periods of time can cause damage to the soundboard, pin block, and working parts of the action that compromise the serviceability and value of your piano. Generally it is best to try to maintain a relative humidity of 40 to 60 per cent. In the winter, when heat is being run, the humidity tends to drop well below 40 per cent and in the summer higher humidity brings readings above 60 per cent, even though home air conditioning may be running.

I recommend the purchase of an inexpensive hygrometer that measures the relative humidity. Radio Shack sells a unit for $19.99 plus tax (SKU # 63-1032). With this feedback mechanism in place, you can get a feel for the relative humidity at the piano and how it fluctuates.

Depending on your budget and your willingness to involve yourself in humidity control, there are a number of options available:

1) Room humidifiers and de-humidifiers. Relatively cheap, need daily attendance, somewhat noisy.

2) Humidifiers added to home heating system. Helps not only the piano room, but the entire house, including hardwood floors. Newer systems have the capacity to have humidifiers retrofitted if not initially installed. Cost runs between $600 and 1,500.

3) Piano Humidity control system. Recommended almost universally by piano manufacturers and piano technicians. The best known system is called Piano Life Saver manufactured by Dampp-Chaser, Inc. in Hendersonville, NC. I install several of these systems each year. Cost runs between $400 and $600, depending on the size and type of piano. Requires easy monitoring of warning lights and adding water to the humidifier portion of the system.

4) Music Sorb Humidity Control system, manufactured by Fuji Silysia LTD. This is a dry, chemical system where bags of silica beads are placed in the piano that automatically absorb and release moisture when ambient humidity changes significantly. This kind of system has been used for decades in preserving art in museums. Cost is $60 per year. Not as effective as Piano Life Saver system, but provides a modicum of humidity control for those who don’t want to bother with the monitoring and filling requirements of the Piano Life Saver system.