Monthly Archives: November 2015

Recent Piano Tunings

I have just arrived home from tuning a fabulous Bluthner grand piano for the Ken Dodd show this evening at the Lyceum theatre in Sheffield. I didn’t go looking for him since I was there from 2PM – 4PM and the show started at 7!

The piano itself sounded relatively well in tune, and my tuning fork and electronic device allowed me to start off with middle C as precise as it could possibly be. Upon assessment I discovered that certain notes ranged from one to two cents flat. I could hear a few not quite perfect three string unisons and the occasional fast beating fourth or fifth. Needless to say, fixing these imperfections and getting the piano precisely in tune was no easy job, as this particular piano required a careful, gentle turning of the pins due to its long strings. Being a concert grand, the strings were much longer than the upright pianos I’m typically used to, which meant a longer amount of time was speant to achieve the same accuracy (the whole piano tuning took just over 2 hours!).

After I left the theatre I observed the Christmas lights being switched on; the city centre was absolutely heaving with people. All seemed to be enjoying the fun fair, bands and various forms of entertainment. I hung around for an hour or so, had some tea and then walked home.

 

In other news I’ve been very busy piano tuning around South Yorkshire. Many people seem to require a piano tuner at this time of year. In the last few days I had two tunings in Rotherham on Thursday, a tuning in Woodseat, Sheffield on Friday morning, a tuning in Doncaster on Saturday and have had bookings for two schools on both the Norton side of Sheffield and the Darnall/Tinsley side. I always appreciate tuning pianos at schools as it tends to be a full days work and a good way to meet potential customers. I’m still nowhere close to having ‘too many’ customers!

 

– Richard, Piano Tuner Sheffield.

Bassist required for metal band in Sheffield

In the evening, when I’m not piano tuning, I play guitar in two bands: a progressive/art rock band and a traditional heavy metal band. The second band is in need of a bass player, so I’ll use this blog to post an advertisement I’ve posted on other websites (you never know who’s looking):

Bassist required for Sheffield metal band. At its core it’s a traditional, melodic heavy metal band although other styles (progressive rock, thrash, neo-classical & folk to name a few) are sometimes incorporated. Our influences include Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, early Metallica, Megadeth, Sabaton, Death/Control Denied, Wintesun, Nevermore, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Queensrÿche and many more. The main requirements are a high level technical skill & a love of the genre. We definitely don’t want typical, inaudible root-note bass playing, we need someone who understands good tone & can create interesting basslines that add something to the music.

We currently practice in Sheffield although we have members from Doncaster, Barnsley and Wakefield. We are currently learning a few covers to play live, but our main priority is to work on original material as a group.
If you might be interested, please contact me:

Email: richard@pianotunersheffield.co.uk

Mobile: 0754 266 7040

 

– Richard, Piano Tuner Sheffield.

Available times this upcoming week (9th – 15th of November)

Monday 10 A.M.

Monday 2 P.M.

Tuesday 2 P.M.

Wedensday 10 A.M.

Wednesday 2 P.M.

Wednesday 5 P.M.

Thursday 10 A.M.

 

(Contact me for future bookings)

 

I am about to write another post about piano repair & regulation as well as a seperate post about piano tuning that I will finish and post on Saturday. I’ve had a full day of piano tuning in Sheffield today, and will have a full day of tuning 3 pianos at a school in Darnall (the other side of Sheffield near Rotherham) tomorrow, so I haven’t had the chance.

–  Richard, Piano Tuner Sheffield