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Guidelines for Effective Institutional Piano Maintenance
Guidelines for Effective Institutional Piano Maintenance What is the Piano Technicians Guild? The Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) is a nonprofit, international organi- zation of piano technicians. The mission of PTG is to promote the highest possible standards of piano service by providing members with opportuni- ties for professional development, by recognizing technical competence through examinations and by advancing the interests of its members. Membership is open to all individuals with a professional or avocation- al interest in piano technology. A Registered Piano Technician (RPT) member has passed three rigor- ous examinations that assess the knowledge and skills required to tune, maintain, and repair pianos. Copies of this publication and other PTG materials may be purchased from: The Piano Technicians Guild, Inc. 4444 Forest Avenue Kansas City, KS 66106-3750 PH: (913) 432-9975 FAX: (913) 432-9986 [email protected] www.ptg.org 2004 Piano Technicians Guild, Inc. ii Table of Contents Foreword............................................................................................iv Introduction........................................................................................ v General Recommendations................................................................ 1 Staffing and Workload....................................................................... 3 The Contract Technician......................................................... 4 Minimum Qualifications and Training.................................... 5 Budgets.............................................................................................. -
Piano Manufacturing an Art and a Craft
Nikolaus W. Schimmel Piano Manufacturing An Art and a Craft Gesa Lücker (Concert pianist and professor of piano, University for Music and Drama, Hannover) Nikolaus W. Schimmel Piano Manufacturing An Art and a Craft Since time immemorial, music has accompanied mankind. The earliest instrumentological finds date back 50,000 years. The first known musical instrument with fibers under ten sion serving as strings and a resonator is the stick zither. From this small beginning, a vast array of plucked and struck stringed instruments evolved, eventually resulting in the first stringed keyboard instruments. With the invention of the hammer harpsichord (gravi cembalo col piano e forte, “harpsichord with piano and forte”, i.e. with the capability of dynamic modulation) in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori toward the beginning of the eighteenth century, the pianoforte was born, which over the following centuries evolved into the most versitile and widely disseminated musical instrument of all time. This was possible only in the context of the high level of devel- opment of artistry and craftsmanship worldwide, particu- larly in the German-speaking part of Europe. Since 1885, the Schimmel family has belonged to a circle of German manufacturers preserving the traditional art and craft of piano building, advancing it to ever greater perfection. Today Schimmel ranks first among the resident German piano manufacturers still owned and operated by Contents the original founding family, now in its fourth generation. Schimmel pianos enjoy an excellent reputation worldwide. 09 The Fascination of the Piano This booklet, now in its completely revised and 15 The Evolution of the Piano up dated eighth edition, was first published in 1985 on The Origin of Music and Stringed Instruments the occa sion of the centennial of Wilhelm Schimmel, 18 Early Stringed Instruments – Plucked Wood Pianofortefa brik GmbH. -
About the RPT Exams
About the RPT exams... Tuning Exam Registered Piano Technicians are This exam compares your tuning to a “master professionals who have committed themselves tuning” done by a team of examiners on the to the continual pursuit of excellence, both same piano you will tune. Electronic Tuning in technical service and ethical conduct. Aids are used to measure the master tuning Want to take The Piano Technicians Guild grants the and to measure your tuning for comparison. Registered Piano Technician (RPT) credential In Part 1 you aurally tune the middle two after a series of rigorous examinations that octaves, using a non-visual source for A440. the RPT test skill in piano tuning, regulation and In Part 2 you tune the remaining octaves by repair. Those capable of performing these any method you choose, including the use of tasks up to a recognized worldwide standard Electronic Tuning Aids. This exam takes about exams? receive the RPT credential. 4 hours. No organization has done more to upgrade the profession of the piano technician than Find an Examiner PTG. The work done by PTG members in Check with your local chapter president or developing the RPT Exams has been a major examination committee chair first to see if contribution to the advancement of higher there are local opportunities. Exam sites Prepare. include local chapters, Area Examination standards in the field. The written, tuning Boards, regional conferences and the Annual and technical exams are available exclusively PTG Convention & Technical Institute. You to PTG members in good standing. can also find contact information for chapter Practice. -
Blueprint for the Arts N Music Letter from the Chancellor
Grades PreK - 12 - PreK Grades For Teaching and Learning in Learning and Teaching For Office of Arts and Special Projects New York City Department of Education 52 Chambers Street, Room 205 New York, New York 10007 Phone: 212.374.0300 Fax: 212.374.5598 Email: [email protected] website: schools.nyc.gov/artseducation New York City Department of Education © 2005 Carmen Fariña, Chancellor Second Edition (2008) Contributors Third Edition (2015) Contributors Dorita Gibson, Senior Deputy Chancellor Phil Weinberg, Deputy Chancellor of Teaching Music Curriculum Development Co-Chairs Music Educators, Music Curriculum Development Co-Chairs New York City Department of Education and Learning Barbara Murray, Director of Music Programs Barbara Murray, Director of Music Anna Commitante, Senior Executive Director, Office of Arts and Special Projects, Donald Christiansen Robert Lamont, Music Consultant Curriculum, Instruction & Professional Learning New York City Department of Education Roberta Feldhusen Paul King, Executive Director, Office of Arts and Shellie Bransford, Music Consultant Janet Grice Special Projects Elizabeth Norman, Director of Education, Elizabeth Guglielmo Music Educators, St. Luke’s Orchestra New York City Department of Education First Edition (2004) Contributors Jaime Jacobs Gregory Pierson, Director of Education, Maria Schwab Eric Dalio Music Curriculum Development Co-Chairs Brooklyn Philharmonic Thomas Toriello Elaine Fauria Nancy Shankman, Director of Music/ George Wanat Ian Kanakaris Deputy Senior Instructional Manager for Arts Education Moishe Weidenfeld Music from the Inside Out Contributors Portia Lagares Thomas Cabaniss, Director of Education, Jerome Korman, Project Director, Music Consultant, New York Philharmonic Office of Arts and Special Projects Cultural and University Community Music Educators, Nancy Shankman, Director of Music, Deputy Senior Dr. -
Manual Pitch to Drop
PITCH RAISING Your piano, just like every piano, is designed to sound its best when tuned to A-440 (the A above middle C vibrates at 440 cycles per second), the international pitch standard. It has been designed to perform at a specific tension, and when strings stretch beyond, or drop below this tension, pitch adjustments are required to bring it back to A-440. It’s important to remember that maintaining your piano at standard pitch allows you to play along with other instruments which are all designed to this same standard. Through neglect, pianos may deviate from this standard, making them unsuitable to play with other instruments and causing them to lose market value. In addition, lower pitched instruments can compromise the pianist’s ear training. It’s important to note that pianos do not go flat or sharp uniformly. Some strings will invariably change more than others. If I Haven’t Had My Piano Tuned Regularly, MANUAL How Can I Get it Back in Good Playing Condition? After years of regular use, your piano may have fallen silent when the family member who studied moved away from home. Though your home is no longer filled with music, it’s important to remember your piano is still a living, breathing thing. Its wood continues to expand and contract with seasonal changes in temperature and humidity, and the string tension also fluctuates accordingly. If your piano has gone without tuning for an extended period, its pitch may have dropped far below the pitch at which it was designed to perform. -
Cathedral Chimestm
32 Cathedral ChimesTM A fresh approach to organ chimes Patented striker design is quiet, efficient, and virtually maintenance free. Dampers lift off tubes for as long as a key is held. Solid state relay with fixed strike pulse timing is included. Very easy to install in most organs. Custom keying cables are available to further simplify installation. Beautiful brushed brass tubes or aluminum chime bars. Also available as an “action only” for use with older chime tubes. Some years ago, Peterson set out to see what could Beautiful satin-finished brass chime tubes or silver be done to modernize and improve the traditional colored anodized aluminum bars are precision tuned tubular chimes that have been part of fine organs for with Peterson stroboscopic tuning instruments and decades. It was quickly realized that chimes and chime engineered for optimal harmonic development. A actions were still being made the same way they had Peterson chime rail and relay may also be provided been made 40 years earlier. They still had the same as an “action only” to replace an old, defective action problems with imprecise tuning; uneven and difficult to while utilizing original tubes having diameters up to adjust actions; heavy and hard-to-install cables; sparking 1-1/2 inches. contacts; and a host of other pitfalls all too well known The Cathedral Chimes system’s easy connection to organbuilders and service technicians. A subsequent to almost any pipe organ requires only a small cable, two-year development program was begun to address making it practical to display chimes and to better and overcome these concerns, and ultimately the TM capitalize on their beautiful appearance. -
Tuning Ancient Keyboard Instruments - a Rough Guide for Amateur Owners
Tuning Ancient Keyboard Instruments - A Rough Guide for Amateur Owners. Piano tuning is of course a specialized and noble art, requiring considerable skill and training. So it is presumptuous for me to offer any sort of Pocket Guide. However, it needs to be recognized that old instruments (and replicas) are not as stable as modern iron-framed pianos, and few of us can afford to retain the services of a professional tuner on a frequent basis. Also, some of us may be restoring old instruments, or making new ones, and we need to do something. So, with apologies to the professionals, here is a short guide for amateurs. If you know how to set a temperament by ear, and know what that means, please read no further. But if not, a short introductory background might be useful. Some Theory We have got used to music played in (or at least based around) the major and minor scales, which are in turn descended from the ancient modes. In these, there are simple mathematical ratios between the notes of the scale, which are the basis of our perception of harmony. For example, the frequency of the note we call G is 3/2 that of the C below. This interval is a pure, or perfect fifth. When ratios are not exact, we hear ‘beats’, as the two notes come in and out of phase. For example, if we have one string tuned to A415 (cycles per second, or ‘Hertz’ and its neighbour a bit flat at A413, we will hear ‘wow-wow-wow’ beats at two per second. -
A New History of the Carillon
A New History of the Carillon TIFFANY K. NG Rombouts, Luc. Singing Bronze: A History of Carillon Music. Translated by Com- municationwise. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2014, 368 pp. HE CARILLON IS HIDDEN IN plain sight: the instrument and its players cannot be found performing in concert halls, yet while carillonneurs and Tkeyboards are invisible, their towers provide a musical soundscape and focal point for over six hundred cities, neighborhoods, campuses, and parks in Europe, North America, and beyond. The carillon, a keyboard instrument of at least two octaves of precisely tuned bronze bells, played from a mechanical- action keyboard and pedalboard, and usually concealed in a tower, has not received a comprehensive historical treatment since André Lehr’s The Art of the Carillon in the Low Countries (1991). A Dutch bellfounder and campanologist, Lehr contributed a positivist history that was far-ranging and thorough. In 1998, Alain Corbin’s important study Village Bells: Sound and Meaning in the Nineteenth-Century French Countryside (translated from the 1994 French original) approached the broader field of campanology as a history of the senses.1 Belgian carillonneur and musicologist Luc Rombouts has now compiled his extensive knowledge of carillon history in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United States, as well as of less visible carillon cultures from Curaçao to Japan, into Singing Bronze: A History of Carillon Music, the most valuable scholarly account of the instrument to date. Rombouts’s original Dutch book, Zingend Brons (Leuven: Davidsfonds, 2010), is the more comprehensive version of the two, directed at a general readership in the Low Countries familiar with carillon music, and at carillonneurs and music scholars. -
The Grand Piano Action Functioning Demystified Thanks to the Multibody Approach
The Grand Piano Action Functioning Demystified thanks to the Multibody Approach 1 1 1 Fisette Paul , Baudouin Bokiau and Sébastien Timmermans 1 Institute of Mechanics, Material and Civil Engineering, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium Abstract. Piano actions are striking mechanisms whose functioning is based on dynamic principles. Producing a sound on a struck keyboard instrument by press- ing a key slowly is impossible because the hammer needs momentum to hit the strings. For this reason, many modern studies on the piano take advantage of en- gineering tools in order to measure the exact behaviour of their actions in terms of time response, involved forces and displacement values. A complementary approach to study piano actions consists in modeling them, giving us a virtual mechanism to work with. In this case, the above-mentioned motion and behav- iour are computed instead of being measured. The modeling approach used in this work, called multibody dynamics, consists in computing the motion and the forces acting upon each component of the action. Subsequently, the response of the mechanism to any key stroke can be computed and visualized. In this paper, the functioning of the most modern double escapement action found in grand pianos is demystified thanks to the multibody modeling features. The goal, which is mostly pedagogical, is achieved with three progressive mod- els; the first one is a simplified version of the action to which components of the complete action have been (virtually) removed. The stepwise progression leads to a single escapement action for the second model, and finally to the full double escapement action for the third. -
Howe Collection of Musical Instrument Literature ARS.0167
http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8cc1668 No online items Guide to the Howe Collection of Musical Instrument Literature ARS.0167 Jonathan Manton; Gurudarshan Khalsa Archive of Recorded Sound 2018 [email protected] URL: http://library.stanford.edu/ars Guide to the Howe Collection of ARS.0167 1 Musical Instrument Literature ARS.0167 Language of Material: Multiple languages Contributing Institution: Archive of Recorded Sound Title: Howe Collection of Musical Instrument Literature Identifier/Call Number: ARS.0167 Physical Description: 438 box(es)352 linear feet Date (inclusive): 1838-2002 Abstract: The Howe Collection of Musical Instrument Literature documents the development of the music industry, mainly in the United States. The largest known collection of its kind, it contains material about the manufacture of pianos, organs, and mechanical musical instruments. The materials include catalogs, books, magazines, correspondence, photographs, broadsides, advertisements, and price lists. The collection was created, and originally donated to the University of Maryland, by Richard J. Howe. It was transferred to the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound in 2015 to support the Player Piano Project. Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94305-3076”. Language of Material: The collection is primarily in English. There are additionally some materials in German, French, Italian, and Dutch. Arrangement The collection is divided into the following six separate series: Series 1: Piano literature. Series 2: Organ literature. Series 3: Mechanical musical instruments literature. Series 4: Jukebox literature. Series 5: Phonographic literature. Series 6: General music literature. Scope and Contents The Howe Musical Instrument Literature Collection consists of over 352 linear feet of publications and documents comprising more than 14,000 items. -
Guide to the Dowd Harpsichord Collection
Guide to the Dowd Harpsichord Collection NMAH.AC.0593 Alison Oswald January 2012 Archives Center, National Museum of American History P.O. Box 37012 Suite 1100, MRC 601 Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 [email protected] http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Biographical / Historical.................................................................................................... 2 Arrangement..................................................................................................................... 2 Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 2 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 3 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 4 Series 1: William Dowd (Boston Office), 1958-1993................................................ 4 Series 2 : General Files, 1949-1993........................................................................ 8 Series 3 : Drawings and Design Notes, 1952 - 1990............................................. 17 Series 4 : Suppliers/Services, 1958 - 1988........................................................... -
The Basics of Harpsichord Tuning Fred Sturm, NM Chapter Norfolk, 2016
The Basics of Harpsichord Tuning Fred Sturm, NM Chapter Norfolk, 2016 Basic categories of harpsichord • “Historical”: those made before 1800 or so, and those modern ones that more or less faithfully copy or emulate original instruments. Characteristics include use of simple levers to shift registers, relatively simple jack designs, use of either quill or delrin for plectra, all-wood construction (no metal frame or bars). • 20th century re-engineered instruments, applying 20th century tastes and engineering to the basic principle of a plucked instrument. Pleyel, Sperrhake, Sabathil, Wittmeyer, and Neupert are examples. Characteristics include pedals to shift registers, complicated jack designs, leather plectra, and metal frames. • Kit instruments, many of which fall under the historical category. • A wide range of in between instruments, including many made by inventive amateurs. Harpsichords come in many shapes and designs. • They may have one keyboard or two. • They may have only one string per key, or as many as four. • The pitch level of each register of strings may be standard, or an octave higher or lower. These are called, respectively, 8-foot, 4-foot, and 16-foot. • The harpsichord may be designed for A440, for A415, or possibly for some other pitch. • Tuning pins may be laid out as in a grand piano, or they may be on the side of the case. • When there are multiple strings per note, the different registers may be turned on and off using levers or pedals. We’ll start by looking at some of these variables, and how that impacts tuning. Single string instruments These are the simplest instruments, and the easiest to tune.