Monthly Archives: September 2021

Five Go Mad in Dorset

comedy, Rotherham Piano Tuning, Sheffield, Sheffield Piano Tuning

Does anyone remember the amusing Enid Blyton parody from The Comic Strip Presents starring Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders? I do. That’ll be me in 12 days time as I prepare for a delightful holiday in Dorset, a locality I’ve longed to visit for many a year. As such I shan’t be taking quite so many bookings until the 10th of October or later, at which time I’ll have returned to piano tuning all guns blazing.

I leave town at Friday the 1st of October (after an afternoon of piano tuning in Sheffield) and arrive in Dorset late in the evening. I will then spend a week eating what I like, drinking, playing the guitar, watching films, walking in the countryside and not even thinking about piano tuning or Sheffield! Actually, I will still be accepting calls and bookings but I might be a bit more difficult to get hold of between the 2nd and 10th of October. I’ll have my diary with me at the hotel, and will check emails every day. Sadly my usual offers of ‘last minute piano tuning bookings’ won’t be available until I get back to Sheffield.

Upcoming availability:

  • Friday the 24th of September @ 7 PM
  • Monday the 27th of September @ 10 AM
  • Tuesday the 28th of September @ 9 AM
  • Thursday the 30th of September @ 8 PM
  • Unavailable between the 2nd and 10th of October (holiday in Dorset, still able to take calls and emails)
  • Monday the 11th of October @ 11 AM
  • Tuesday the 12th of October @ 9 AM
  • Tuesday the 12th of October @ 11:30 AM
  • Tuesday the 12th of October @ 2 PM
  • Wednesday the 13th of October @ 2 PM
  • Wednesday the 13th of October @ 5 PM
  • Thursday the 14th of October @ 11 AM
  • Thursday the 14th of October @ 2 PM
  • Thursday the 14th of October @ 5 PM
  • Thursday the 14th of October @ 7:30 PM
  • Friday the 15th of October @ 11 AM
  • Friday the 15th of October @ 2 PM
  • Friday the 15th of October @ 5 PM
  • Friday the 15th of October @ 7:30 PM
  • Saturday the 16th of October @ 11 AM
  • Saturday the 16th of October @ 2 PM
  • Saturday the 16th of October @ 5 PM
  • Sunday the 17th of October @ 11 AM
  • Sunday the 17th of October @ 2 PM
  • Sunday the 17th of October @ 5 PM
  • Sunday the 17th of October @ 7:30 PM
  • Monday the 18th of October @ 10:30 AM
  • Tuesday the 19th of October @ 11 AM
  • Tuesday the 19th of October @ 2 PM
  • Tuesday the 19th of October @ 5 PM
  • Wednesday the 20th of October @ 9 AM
  • Wednesday the 20th of October @ 11:30 AM
  • Wednesday the 20th of October @ 2 PM
  • Wednesday the 20th of October @ 5 PM
  • Wednesday the 20th of October @ 7:30 PM
  • Thursday the 21st of October @ 9 AM
  • Thursday the 21st of October @ 11:30 AM
  • Thursday the 21st of October @ 2 PM
  • Thursday the 21st of October @ 5 PM
  • Thursday the 21st of October @ 7:30 PM
  • Friday the 22nd of October @ 9 AM
  • Friday the 22nd of October @ 11:30 AM
  • Friday the 22nd of October @ 2 PM
  • Friday the 22nd of October @ 5 PM
  • Friday the 22nd of October @ 7:30 PM
  • Saturday the 23rd of October @ 11 AM
  • Saturday the 23rd of October @ 2 PM
  • Saturday the 23rd of October @ 5 PM
  • Saturday the 23rd of October @ 7:30 PM
  • Sunday the 24th of October @ 11 AM
  • Sunday the 24th of October @ 2 PM
  • Sunday the 24th of October @ 5 PM
  • Sunday the 24th of October @ 7:30 PM

Weekly Piano Tuning News Report

Barnsley Piano Tuner, Microphones, Recording Music in Sheffield, Rotherham Piano Tuning, Scarborough Piano Tuning, Sheffield Piano Tuning

As a matter of course, your illustrious Sheffield piano tuner has had another long week of paying careful attention to such frequencies as 440, 156.82, 104.66, and 131.87 for twelve to fourteen hours each day (I must be good at this by now surely?) and tweaking/tuning musical notes to such frequencies to set a piano to equal temperament in a musically pleasing manner. As such I haven’t been able to update my availability page since last Friday, but hasn’t been by choice. I’m not quite as busy next week, and have lots of availability after the 20th of September. Most customers don’t book that far in advance, but I’m happy to work around your schedule. If you’d like a last minute booking it might be easier to arrange that via phone call (07542667040) as slots that were advertised via text can soon be snapped up.

Outside the world of piano tuning, I have still been recording local musicians and singer-songwriters in my spare time as mentioned before. I love sound and capturing combinations of sounds but that can be a distracting and time-consuming hobby. After all my long hours of piano tuning in Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Chesterfield I have been able to afford a few microphones that were once outside of my budget. I may use this piano tuning blog to link some of my recordings, recently using a Neumann u87 and a vintage ribbon microphone in the future. Moving them around the room and closer or further away from the source is what I love doing at the moment, trying to master the art of recording is something I will be pursue for many years.

The busy bee that is me (business matters)

Barnsley Piano Tuner, Business matters, Piano Tuning, Piano Tuning Availability, Rotherham Piano Tuning, Sheffield, Sheffield Piano Tuning, Update

The last few weeks have been… different. When it comes to finding new clients, I’ll be the first to admit that haven’t always been the most merchantable nor the most sedulous; thus I have had to get used to other piano tuners taking the lion’s share of new work in Sheffield, South Yorkshire and Derbyshire. At first I didn’t complain about this: after a few years of due diligence, my perseverance had since paid off when satisfied customers began recommending me (this was particularly helpful when piano teachers recommended me to students looking for a Sheffield-based piano tuner). Word of mouth was enough to make piano tuning a viable enterprise.

Around 2017 – 2018, some saddening personal circumstances focused my attention back towards my piano tuning pursuits and my lack of visibility online. This led the to question “could I be doing more?” Unlike my early lacklustre efforts, I began utilising the internet with new rigour, ensuring my presence is conspicuously ever-present rather than a footnote on the bottom of a google search. I have steadily made myself known and this has resulted in an abundance of calls & emails which are very much welcome. Honesty is the key: all the relevant information one could want can (hopefully) be found on the website and if it can’t be found, I’m always quick to answer emails, texts and phone calls. I can safely say I’ll never be one for “hidden charges” and the like – that much is obvious at a quick glance of the website.

The light has began to shine on me again and I am most grateful for the continued interest in my work – this is still a growing piano tuning business after all, and new patronage is needed for its continued operation.

– Richard Lidster,  Piano Tuner Sheffield