October 2019

The Royal Welsh College of Music & DramaRWCMD and BBC National Orchestra of Wales seek Head Technician

Grand Accordion made byGianCarlo Francanella

Polyester Training DayAt the Caradine’s Workshop

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Editorial — 4President Writes — 5Membership News — 6

Scottish Autumn Lunch — 7May 2019 Visit to Rome — 8Polyester Training Day — 10

Job Opportunity in Wales: Head Technician Sought — 12

Tuning Those Bottom Bass Notes — 14Accordion Visit to Castelfidardo — 16

Training Days Update — 19

Broadwood’s Folly — 20

Letters to the Editor — 22

Why Extend the Range of the Piano? — 24

Letters to the Editor — 29

Council Report — 30PTA Diary of Events — 31

The next deadline for PTA News is: Friday 29th November 2019.PTA News is the Newsletter of the Pianoforte Tuners’ Association. All views expressed are

those of the contributors, not necessarily reflecting those of the PTA or the editorial team.Please send items for publication to ‘The Editor’, preferably via email with photographs sent

separately from the text. Posted items can only be returned if accompanied by an SAE.Please obtain the necessary permission before submitting copyright items.

PTA News, 49 South Hamilton Street, KILMARNOCK KA1 2DTEmail: ptanews@pianotuner.org.uk

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Flat 8, Deepdene, 15 Streatham Common Northside, London SW16 3HQEmail: advertising@pianotuner.org.uk

CONTENTS

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There is the marvellous opportunity for a PTA Member tobecome the Head Technician for the Royal Welsh College ofMusic & Drama and for BBC National Orchestra of Wales.See p12 although more details of the role should be had from the MusicManager music@rwcmd.ac.uk

Thank you to Mario Campanale for his photographs and articles about histwo Italian trips earlier this year. I hadn’t known that he was a keenaccordionist but did know about his singing prowess, see pp8 and 16.

Thanks to Roberta for her pics of the Polyester Training Day that she andBarry gave at their workshop and thanks also to Paul Shearman for his article(p.10) and photos about the day.

Please note the new Training Day date on 17 November that Andrew Gillerupdates us about on p19. Booking is possible either by going to the PTAwebsite or by using the inserted form.

On p14 the difficulties of tuning bass strings are addressed by AdrianCarpenter. This useful article is a bit longer than the ‘Quick Tips’ we have hadbefore but very welcome and important. Please send in any tips you can share;email and postal address for PTA News at the foot of p3.

I’m looking forward to my trip up to Glasgow for the Scottish AutumnLunch and the visit to Glasgow Piano City. If you would like to attend or ifyou have any questions about how to get there, please phone me; details areon p7.

We have the concluding instalment of Paul Corbin’s article about extendingthe range of the piano on p24. The PTA is very grateful to Paul and to Stuart& Sons for permission to print the article in full in the Newsletter.

I’m delighted to have the photo from Bruce Hayes of his Oscar Petersonautograph. I hope that Bruce was able to stay on for the concert.

I was most disappointed not to have shared Broadwood’s Folly withRoy O’Neil, see p20.

Finally, John Thompson has kindly given me advanced notice of a PTDAE2-day Seminar to be held on Monday and Tuesday, the 24th and 25th February2020. Precision Touch Design is a fascinating subject and very worth lookinginto, particularly if you are a new Tuner/Technician starting out. I hope toinclude an article from John about PTD in the next issue of the Newsletter.

EDITORIALANNE BURTON

Photographs throughout this Newsletter from the Convention in Bedford this yearwere taken by Andrew Jamieson.

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THE PRESIDENT WRITESBARRY CARADINE

We must all be prepared for change. Change, or what wemight also call progress, is a fact of life and a necessary evil.We might not always like it, but more often than not it is for the best. To this endwe recently held our first Executive Council meeting via Skype. So, why thechange? We are doing this for the benefit of those serving on Council, who giveup a considerable amount of their time to help our Association. ExecutiveCouncil meetings have, since their inception, always been held face to face atvarious venues in London, latterly and for many years at Morley’s in Lewisham.Travel to and from these meetings has become increasingly difficult and timeconsuming, as well as expensive. It is also restrictive for those who live at adistance and would be happy to get involved in the Executive Council. Skypemeetings put an end to this, save the Association and Members of the Council anot an inconsiderable amount of money as well as time and (being very trendy)reduces the carbon footprint of the Association significantly.

I am not saying that this was easy as it was outside the comfort zone of mostof us who took part, but it did work and with a little perseverance I am sure itwill work really well. Only by pushing a little outside of our comfort zone canthings change, or should I say progress. Our next meeting in November will alsobe held this way and we will see how that goes. Of course, you are all entitled to

“attend” Executive Council Meetings as an Observer. If you wish to, pleasecontact Annette and we can arrange for you to do so via Skype. If you think withthis change you would like to help us by joining Council, please also contactAnnette as your assistance would be welcomed.

Sometimes change is not of our making. Next year our Convention,traditionally Thursday to Saturday, changes. Due to the May bank holidaymoving back 4 days to coincide with the 75th Anniversary of VE Day (and so tothe Friday of our Convention), we have had to change our plans. Therefore, theConvention will be a more condensed affair on Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6thMay 2020. Reducing the traditional two and half days to two days had beenplanned (in an attempt to make it a little cheaper for all to attend), but thechange to the day of the week not. It will be interesting to see if all of us canchange to accommodate this. An exciting programme is in the process of beingplanned with many travelling from abroad to join us. We are planning to holdthe AGM on the Tuesday evening as this first evening of the Convention istraditionally the busiest, so the greatest number of people will get theopportunity to attend.

Change is not always welcomed and we all know that there are those that donot like change of any kind and even fight against it. But if these changes

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MEMBERSHIP NEWSANNETTE SUMMERS

Please send all changes of address, telephone and email toThe Secretary using the contact details on Page 31.

(whether of our own making or out of our control) work for the majority thenthey are for the best and should be considered as progress and this progressshould be welcomed by all.

As I finish writing this President Writes it is with great sadness that I haveheard of the passing of Gill Sherlock who many of you will know from thenumerous Conventions she attended with Les. Our thoughts go out to Les andthe whole family at this difficult time.

Barry CaradinePTA President

Please note this change in the 19/20 Directory:1378 Mr Roger C Parham (new address) 56 Marshall Avenue BOGNOR REGIS PO21 2TN

Les and Gill Sherlock at the PTA Convention in Hereford in 2015

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We supply B2B to self-employed piano and musical instrument technicians,repair workshops and manufacturers of upright and grand pianos, as well asspecialized piano and music shops.We also supply historical keyboard manufacturers, workshops andmanufacturers of instrument strings.

For a change this year, we will be combining the Autumn Lunch with avisit to Glasgow Piano City. GPC is situated in Unit X in the central part ofShawlands Arcade, Glasgow G41 3RX next to PureGym. At 11 am Tom Binnswho runs the venture will show us round the facility and explain the aim of theproject. The Autumn Lunch will be held after the visit at the Italian restaurant

‘Oro’ at 1pm. Oro is on the main road almost directly opposite GPC. Advancedpayment is not necessary but we require an idea of numbers interested andplease be prepared to pay as part of a group on the day.

The arcade is easy to reach by FirstBus buses, numbers 57, 38E or 3 fromRenfield St or Union St across from Central station in the city centre or trainfrom Central station to Pollokshaws East station. (Bus gets you nearer!)

The restaurant’s menu is on the PTA website but please contact AnneBurton (telephone 01563 551530) to book your place. Glasgow Piano City andOro have their own websites which are worth looking at.

Glasgow Piano Cityvisit at 11 am.

Autumn Lunchmeal at 1 pm.

SCOTTISH AUTUMN LUNCH, 9 NOVEMBER

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MAY 2019 VISIT TO ROME - ITALYBY MARIO CAMPANALE

On 18th May I met with the AIARP (Associazione Italiana Accorditoree Riparatori Pianoforte) for the celebration of their 50th anniversary of their

foundation. It was held at the conservatoriodi Santa Cecilia in Rome. It’s anastonishing centre and famous as alaunchpad for new conductors and singers.

I was impressed that every time I go toAIARP meetings and conventions, theyusually have their conventions at Cavalesein the Dolomites. They present all members

taking part with a certificate of attendance as shown below.On this occasion, the event was

dedicated to Angelo Fabbrini who hasbeen in business for over 50 years as apiano tuner. He gave us a speech onhis experience of looking after thepianos of famous concert pianistsincluding Maurizio Pollini, ArturoMichelangeli. He has a workshop andshowroom in the town of Pescara.

The photo below shows an imprint on the soundboard by Steinway inrecognition of Fabbrini’s 200th sale ofSteinway grand pianos.

Fabbrini also said that he reconstructedAndrea Boccelli’s piano and on completion,put the piano amongst other similar modelsof grand piano in the showroom. Boccelliwent back to Pescara to try the piano andFabbrini said to him, ‘amongst those pianosis your piano, would you know which oneis yours?’. By trying various pianos,Boccelli recognised his own piano saying

‘this is my piano!’There were comments from Michele

Campanella, concert pianist, who said thathe relies a lot on the piano tuner to presentthe piano such that it gives the best

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performance. There was also a written comment from Paolo Fazioli of thefamous Fazioli Pianos, who said the dream of a piano builder is to see hispianos performing in prestigious concert halls.

The AIARP president Luciano del Rio expressed his comments in a verypoetic way thanking Bartolomeo Cristofori, the inventor of the piano, if heever thought that after 300 years, the piano would still be in great demand andhas given the famous composers like Beethoven, Chopin, Lizst, Gershwin and

many others the inspiration tocreate amazing music.

May this continue for manyyears to come!

AIARP celebrationcake in the shape of a piano

Discussion: pianos and piano maintenance

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POLYESTER TRAINING DAYBY PAUL SHEARMAN

Barry and Roberta generously hosted a very enjoyable PTA TrainingDay at their Suffolk based workshops on Saturday 14 September.The informative day started with a tour of their polyester spraying facilities…we all got a greater understanding a new appreciation for what a difficult andtime consuming process this is. It is such a complex process with manypotential problems and the way that Barry and Roberta have reached sucha high level of polyester finishing is testament to their considerableperseverance and research into polyester products and related industries, suchas Jaguar Land Rover, so that they are equipped to spray polyester to the bestpossible level.

Having seen all that is involved, I very much doubt that anyone in the classenvied their task or had any aspiration to take on polyester spraying forthemselves! However, the next part of the day focused on smaller polyesterrepairs, which can be carried out very successfully, without a great deal ofequipment or expense. For those of us who have done a fair amount ofpolyester repairs before, it offered the chance to compare methods andproducts and for newcomers, a chance to tackle repairs for themselves withexpert guidance on hand. Polyester piano parts were deliberately damagedto provide a variety of typical situations you may come across and therewas plenty of opportunity to carry out these repairs, with some excellentresults achieved.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day and we extend our thanks to Barryand Roberta for giving their time and expertise, who also kindly produceda tool kit of buffing soaps and mops that we used during the class.

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JOB OPPORTUNITY IN WALESHEAD PIANO TECHNICIAN WANTED FORROYAL WELSH COLLEGE OF MUSIC & DRAMAAND BBC NATIONAL ORCHESTRA OF WALES

As the National Conservatoire of Wales, the Royal Welsh College of Music &Drama is one of the foremost conservatoires in the world with some 800 studentsdrawn from over 30 countries.

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) is one of the BBC’s fiveprofessional orchestras and occupies a dual role as both a broadcasting orchestraand a national orchestra. The BBC NOW has its base in Cardiff, at the BBCHoddinott Hall on the site of the Wales Millennium Centre.

Both organisations sit proudly alongside the other national cultural institutions ofWales, which include Welsh National Opera, National Dance Company Wales,National Theatre Wales, Theatr Genedlaethol, the National Library and NationalMuseum. Both are major providers of artistic output and between them promoteover 750 public performances a year.

The RWCMD building is a world-class venue in the grounds of Cardiff Castlewhich is used for training, performance, community engagement and conferences.BBC Hoddinott Hall is a state of the art recording, rehearsal and performance hall,situated in the world famous Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay.

The Head Piano Technician will manage and oversee the tuning, minor repairand maintenance of the College’s fleet of 62 Steinway lease pianos, 7 Collegepianos and 2 fortepianos. Liaising with the Head of Keyboard Studies, the postholder will organise all tunings for internal and external College and public eventsand performances, as well as monitoring any piano moves for external or internalevents and overseeing appropriate care and retuning. The Steinway InternationalRecital Series features many of the world’s leading pianists and runs throughout theyear, offering the Head Technician the opportunity to work with exceptional artistsas well as students and staff.

For the BBC, the role will gradually take over from our current piano technicianwho is retiring in the near future. They will be expected to tune and maintainsimilarly all of the instruments used by BBC NOW for its Cardiff performances,and as required elsewhere, including Hoddinott Hall and St David’s Hall.Expressions of Interest to be submitted by Monday 31 October 2019 via emailto the Music Manager at RWCMD (music@rwcmd.ac.uk)Full details are available from the Music Manager or a copy of the full pdf canbe had from the PTAN Editor or PTA Secretary.

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TUNING THOSE BOTTOM BASS NOTESBY ADRIAN CARPENTER

Tuning the top treble isn’t easy. Customers tend to think it’s themost difficult part of our job. They often say, when you arrive, “The top noteshave gone off a bit”, and they plonk a few to prove their point. In fact they’reoften just fine, and when you’ve finished they say, “Ah. Much better!”

Bottom bass notes are, in my opinion, difficult too, especially in smallpianos where the strings are short, fat and highly inharmonic. Often there isn’ta ‘right’ way to tune them, but the aim is to get them sounding consistent whenplayed with the octaves above.

Here are some possible methods.1. Just get the octaves to ‘sound right’ according to your own judgement.

This is very subjective and not easy in a small piano where the secondharmonic is wildly sharp. It’s a good idea to test them alongside major triadsplayed in the middle range of the instrument.

2. Get the double octaves to sound ‘right’ (e.g. C4 against C28). Again thisis somewhat subjective, but in my opinion often produces a better result thanNo.1 above.

3. Place your finger on the node halfway along the bass string so that thesecond harmonic is prominent. This works well on a large instrument.However, it will be very sharp in a small piano so it may be tempting to tunethe string flat to agree with the octave above. Results can be odd! It’s a bit of abother removing the bottom door of an upright, often exposing dust, cobwebsand the occasional dead mouse. Also the iron frame sometimes prevents accessto the halfway position.

NB Putting a finger on a bass string is frowned upon, as sweat candiscolour the copper. In an old SSOD this is hardly going to matter, but usethe end of a tuning wedge on a posh new grand.

4. Use beats of two octaves-plus-a-third above (e.g. G4 against E32).The exact beat-rate will vary from piano to piano, and in a small instrument itwill be quite slow. But the whole point is to get the beat-rate consistent, i.e.slowing very slightly as you descend.

5. A similar system of beat-rates, which works very well on large concertinstruments, is to use two-octaves-plus-a-minor-seventh (e.g. C4 againstA#38). That’s the famous ‘flat seventh harmonic’, but here it has its uses.Again the exact beat-rate isn’t so important as consistency. I remember beingshown this method by a Bösendorfer tuner (was it Barry himself?) forchecking the extra bottom notes of the Imperial Grand.

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6. Use an Electronic Tuning Device! ETDs tend to produce a consistentresult, but I’m often less than happy with what mine does to small pianos.And it often doesn’t register the bottom two notes very well.

Finally, when you’re tuning a piano for the first time, especially a fairlyindifferent old SSOD, it’s worth checking the bottom notes carefully.(Yes, I know it’s tempting to think no-one’s going to notice those tubby oldplonkers!) It is not unusual to find that a previous tuner has totally misjudgeda string here and there, and tuned it anything between a semitone and a majorthird wrong.

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ACCORDION VISIT TO CASTELFIDARDOBY PETER LE GEYT

Our 2019 visit to Castelfidardo took place between 14th and 18th Mayand consisted of 36 people from the UK, USA & Canada, mostly accordionistswith some partners also attending. We travelled from Heathrow to Bolognaairport and met up with those who were staying overnight in Bologna andboarded our luxury coach which would be our transport during the week. Ourdriver Franco did a great job getting us from A to B and ferrying us about thehilltop towns around Castelfidardo. On the way down to the Le Marche regionnear Ancona we stopped at a vineyard for lunch where the group were able toget to know each other.The group gelled together very quickly, thanks to the love of the accordion!

We arrived at our hotel which had recently been transformed into probablythe first accordion hotel in the world! There are photographs and variousdisplays throughout the hotel and a half dozen or so good accordions ondisplay for the guests to use. We also had a similar number of accordionsalready at the hotel for us kindly loaned to our group by Alessandrini,Giustozzi, Beltuna, Zero Sette /Bugari and a Hohner from the local music shop.

We had time for a visit to the AccordionMuseum which is housed in a temporarylocation until July as the main museum isbeing renovated. Dinner followed at thehotel and then the accordions were put togood use by various group members whoplayed in the lounge and bar. The next fewdays consisted of organised factory visitsto Beltuna, RCR (reed blocks), AntonelliVoci Armoniche reed factory, Galassi

Bellows and Zero Sette/Bugari Accordions.There were individual and small group visits to Giustozzi, Castagnari and

Dino Baffetti Accordions. One of our guests from Canada asked if he couldhire a 2 row small button accordion to save bringing his withhim. Genuino Baffetti kindly loaned a brand new instrumentat no charge so our Canadian guest was over the moon!

On the second day we walked into the town to see the‘Grand Accordion’ as featured in the Guinness Book ofRecords. Group members certainly foundit different to play and managed a tune or two. We alsovisited the nearby showroom of Victoria Accordions where

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they still have on display part of the largest private collections of Concertinasand Bandoneons, including one played by the tango maestro Astor Piazzola.Dinner on the second evening was at a very good seaside restaurant we haveused before and always good fun with accordion playing afterwards.

The following day there were various smaller visits to the bellows and reedfactories and a lunchtime visit to Recanati the birthplace of Giacomo Leopardione of Italy’s most famous poets. It the evening thehotel had arranged for a buffet dinner in therestaurant for hotel guests along with a trio to play.They consisted of a singer/guitarist, drummer andlocal accordionist Luigino Pallotta who also teachesaccordion. He had invited one of his students to playa piece with him. She was very good and just 10 years old! One of our groupmembers was octogenarian Mario an Italian living in the UK and a piano tuner.

He was attending an Italian Piano Tuners conventionin Rome at the end of our trip but here hedemonstrated his singing voice by joining the trio fora couple of Italian tunes. He got a rousing reception!

Our final day included a visit to the Zero Sette /Bugari factory where also Petosa and Giulietti

accordions are made plus the Bugari Evo digitalmodels. The factory has a decent sized showroomand display so lots of instruments were being testedout and as in the past it can turn into a mass jamsession! Those who wanted a quiet corner to playwere offered the use of the factories offices.Afterwards for lunch we travelled to nearby Loreto, famous for religiouspilgrimages and to visit the Basilica and the Holy House within it. Regardlessof peoples religious beliefs the Basilica is architecturally impressive. On theway back to the hotel we stopped at the Carini accessory shop which hasaccordion spare parts plus back pads and straps etc. Fismen Accordions wasjust along the way so we called in for a brief look round.

Our final evening was at a 4-star seaside hotel where we had exclusive useof the restaurant with sea views. After dinner I arranged for Castelfidardo’s

accordion representative Antonino De Luca to playfor us. Antonino has played for us on past trips andis a student of the late and great Frank Marocco.

He played a selection of pieces including somefrom his latest CD and was warmly received – agreat player. We departed for Bologna airport the

next day travelling via San Marino where we stopped for lunch and some

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shopping time. The 360 degree views of surrounding Emilia Romagna regionare stunning. There was a little on and off light rain however the weatherduring the trip had been kind to us and it was only on our way to the airportthat we experienced some heavy downpours.

On the flight home one couple were travelling light as their suitcases gotlost at Heathrow on the outward journey. My colleague and wife Sandra backin the UK spent some time on the phone checking and trying to trace themwith staff at the Heathrow lost and found baggage hall and eventually theywere located. There was not time to send them to Castelfidardo so they had tomake do for the rest of their stay. Everyone sympathised with their misfortunehowever they said it did not detract from the visit which they thoroughlyenjoyed.

We had a nice mix of people and one thing I have found with the accordionis that it has the ability to push the ‘happy button’. It seems we have somepeople already asking for details of our next visit!

This report was submitted by Mario Campanale, MPTA (Retired) but written byPeter Le Geyt who organised the trip. For any information or advice about theCastelfidardo region email Peter: plg@plgmarketing.com

Giustozzi Briar Root Cassotto accordion Group photo

Playing at hotel restaurant Victoria accordions wall

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TRAINING DAY UPDATEANDREW GILLER

Please note a change of date for the next Training Day atBesbrode Pianos, Leeds which will now be held on Sunday 17th November2019, 10am – 5pm. Booking is available online through the website Eventspage at https://pianotuner.org.uk/events or please use the enclosed form forpostal applications.

Specialist dealer Besbrode Pianos, who I am sure will be familiar to many,is one of the largest in the UK and a wholesaler to the trade. Their extensivestock ranges from some of the most unique ‘art case’ pianos ever made, oftenwith an important ownership history attached to them, to the sale of brand newinstruments. The company has strong international links and several hundredsof pianos are available at any one time. Their services also include concertpiano hire and digital Pianodisc systems.

For many years Steinways have been at the forefront of Besbrode’s salesrange with renovation work undertaken by an approved Steinway restorer inGermany, such as Piano Maiwald, ensuring customers are provided with onlythe highest standards of instruments and service. A more local partnership iswith the Leeds International Piano Competition which is run every three years.The shop provides assistance for the many performers with rehearsal pianosand outreach recital events which include public performances in the pianoshowroom. The premises are based in a former Woollen Mill and spreadacross four floors not too far from the city centre.

The German firm of Piano Maiwald was founded in 1983 by theindependent Master Piano Maker Friedhorst Maiwald, who opened a shop inKamen (North Rhine-Westphalia) in 1986 with a Master Piano Workshop forpianos of all brands. The business rapidly expanded leading to the constructionof a spacious shop, and further successes lead to the Mailwalds becomingofficial agents for Steinway & Sons in 2008. The family business wastransferred to sons Frank and André in 2013 and since then they have opened asecond branch in the foyer of the prestigious Dortmund Concert Hall.

For the purpose of our training day André is providing a brand newSteinway action from his workshops to demonstrate the procedure used toinstall the mechanism in a model B grand piano.

Websites: www.besbrodepianos.co.uk www.piano-maiwald.deThe PTA is very grateful to the firms for making the Training Day possible

and for providing an insight into a very specialist area of work. Early bookingadvised and up to 30 places are available.

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BROADWOOD’S FOLLYBY ROY O’NEIL

While the title ‘Broadwood’s Folly’ might conjure upthoughts of the Reg Collen designed pianos with the agraffestacked on to the bridges, or those little double overstrung grandsfrom the 1930s, it is actually the name of an English sparkling wine I spotted

while shopping in a well-known discountsupermarket. A quick scan of the labelconfirmed that there is indeed a connection tothe famous piano manufacturer, so I feltcompelled to buy a couple of bottles in theinterests of further research.

The Broadwood family member in questionis Thomas Broadwood (1786-1861), who ranthe company in partnership with his elderbrother James Shudi (1772-1851), after thedeath of the founder John Broadwood in 1812.He is perhaps best known nowadays formaking a gift, in 1817, of one of hiscompany’s finest grand pianos to Beethoven.They met when Thomas visited Vienna thatsummer, and he seems to have made a goodimpression on the notoriously touchy

composer, since Beethoven’s letter of thanks for the girt was heartfelt andsincere. The ‘Beethoven Broadwood’ was later owned by Franz Liszt, and canstill be seen today in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest.

Thomas Broadwood was a wealthy man, and in 1815 he purchased thecountry estate at Juniper Hall, near Mickleham in Surrey. He soon began tomake improvements to the estate, notably a broad avenue planted on both sideswith beech trees, leading from the house to the top of nearby Lodge Hill. Onthis spot was built a circular flint tower roughly 25 feet high, possibly as amonument to the Battle of Waterloo, but certainly to provide a grand vistaback down to Juniper Hall. Broadwood’s Folly thus became a local landmark.

Fast forward 200 years, and the tower has become a picturesque ruin with alarge holm oak tree growing right through it. Juniper Hall is in the care of theNational Trust, and sadly, the beech trees have been blown down in thehurricane of 1987 (the one Michael Fish said was not going to happen). Justacross the road from the Folly, at Dorking, Denbies Wine Estate has beenestablished in 1986 and has become by far the largest vineyard in England,

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PTA Member Bruce Hayes writes saying “Further to Paul Corbin's excellentarticle ‘Why extend the range of the Piano?’, I was privileged to have tunedfor Maestro Oscar Peterson on the Bösendorfer with the extra bass noteswhen he played at the Hexagon Theatre, Reading and was rewarded withhis autograph.”

with some 265 acres of vine planting and an annual production approachingnearly half a million bottles. Denbies have adopted the pleasant custom ofgiving their wines the names of local landscape features, so it is only naturalthat Broadwood’s Folly should be honoured in this way.

According to the label, “the wine offers fresh citrus and toasty brioche noteson the nose. The palate is crisp,dry and refreshing with anappealing creamy texture andelegant bubbles”. I’m afraidI can’t help with any of that, butI certainly enjoyed its light fruitytaste and sparkling character.I emailed Denbies to confirmthat Broadwood’s Folly is stillavailable as it is no longer listedin their online shop, but I didn’tget a reply so cannot confirm thatit will be in your local off licence. It might be worth keeping an eye open for itthough, as anyone who is partial to a good wine should enjoy a glass or two,along with a nod to the memory of the great man who inspired it.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITORDear Editor,

As Past President I am worried that integrity is being lost in the way thatdecisions are being made by the President and Executive Council.

From the August Newsletter ‘President Writes’, I quote: “Rule 19 has beenchanged and a Quorum shall consist of 3 Council Members (not 5 as stated inthe rules).” Also stated in the PW “…I put to Executive Council  that we

“interpret our rules” (we are allowed to do this)”. I was most astonished by thisannouncement that Rule 19 had been changed without going through theproper procedure of the AGM. I want to complain in the strongest termspossible that the President should not be making changes to the Rules andimposing his change immediately without taking it as a resolution to theMembers at an AGM and having the proposal ratified in the proper way. In theRules of the Association in the new 2019/20 Directory this process is coveredon p.12 under Annual General Meeting and very specifically by Rule 40.

Interpretation is covered by Rule 45 on p.13 of the Directory. This statesthat interpretation is allowable where it is ‘not provided for in the Rules’. I failto see how ‘A Quorum shall consist of five Council Members’ is not providedfor in the Rules and therefore qualifies for interpretation. I think it unwise tolower the Quorum to 3. It means that decisions affecting Members could, intheory, be taken by e.g. a Student and an Apprentice, or one of them and anAssociate (these categories all have voting rights on EC now) as only 2 voteswould be the majority required to pass decisions.

In my view, should fewer than 5 Members turn up for an EC Meeting,proper procedure would be to hold the Meeting anyway. This would be asuitable interpretation, as Rule 19 does not state that the Meeting can’t takeplace without a Quorum. After the Meeting, any decisions taken at it would beput to those Members not in attendance and would subsequently need to beagreed by them before those decisions can be deemed to be passed by Council.

The decision to change rule 19 should therefore be dismissed at the next ECMeeting as it was taken ‘unlawfully’ in the first place.

Further, I noticed in the July Minutes and EC Report that a test run of aSkype Meeting was to be held, although no date for this test was given. I wastherefore very surprised that the actual September EC Meeting was held bySkype with no notification to the Membership of the date, no provision madefor EC Members who don’t have Skype access or observers. Surely a test runshould just be a trial of Skype technology to see if the technology would workfor future Meetings? Every member of the EC should have been involved in

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the trial. A clear statement should have been made beforehand of what thetrail’s objectives were, together with the pass/fail criteria to enable the successor otherwise of the trial to be evaluated. This would have includedarrangements to cater for observers and those who don’t have access to Skype.Then the full EC Meeting should have been held as planned in Lewisham, atwhich a decision to hold future Meetings as Skype ones could have been taken.

While I don’t object to progress by using available technology to reduce thecosts to the Association, adopting Skype Meetings in a well-organised andstructured manner could be very positive and encourage more people to takepart in running the PTA, making the short-term solution of reducing theQuorum for EC Meetings unnecessary. However, I strongly object to the wayin which this decision to move to Skype Meetings has been handled. It iswrong that the Membership had not been notified in advance as effectively theSeptember EC Meeting was held in secret.

I hope that in future the President and the EC consider carefully how theyconduct their business, respect the Rules of the Association and be more openin their decision making process.

Yours sincerely,Anne Burton (1220)

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WHY EXTEND THE RANGE OF THE PIANO?BY PAUL CORBIN

What purpose? What interest? What criticism? Here is the question that interests us most: is it necessary toadd twenty notes to the current piano? What is the use of sucha thing? Here is a little experiment: Take two small brightly-coloured objects and put them onthe first and last note of a standard keyboard. Now look at the centre of thekeyboard (between the E and the F under the brand name). Normally, you cansee the two objects in your field of vision without having to look sideways.Now take these two objects and place them against the side arms, outside butstill visible. That distance corresponds approximately to a 108-key keyboard.Look at the centre of the piano again. Now the objects get out of your field ofvision. With a 108-key keyboard, you cannot see the last notes. You have ahorizon of keys in front of you. That is the main criticism from pianists toextended keyboards. It is true that additional keys are disturbing; it would be a lie to tell thecontrary. Nonetheless, I do not think this is a problem at all, quite the opposite.Playing the piano is a hard job, I admit it. Adding twenty notes means addingdifficulty. These notes need a time of adaptation, but it is worth the effort.In order to compensate for that difficulty, Pape, Bösendorfer and Petrof hadadded removable systems that hide the extra notes. That is an idea which I findpreposterous, especially from Pape who used to build his pianos at a timewhen the keyboard’s range was constantly evolving. Even worse, Bösendorferhas been putting a black cover on the extra keys. It is as if the manufacturerwas apologising, as if every key was saying: ‘forgive me for being here, pleasedon’t play me’. When Beethoven was offered a six-octave Broadwood in 1817,on the one hand this wasn’t enough for him, on the other hand the additionalkeys were not painted in black. Imagine what Liszt must have put up withduring his tours. The variety of pianos was ten times larger than today, perhaps.Liszt would switch from a Viennese piano to a concert Érard, a Boisselotparlour grand, Pleyel pianinos in Parisian boudoirs… It was certainly moredifficult to perform a recital in the 19th century than today. All pianists fromthat time had to adapt, as today’s organists, harpsichordists, forte-piano playersor percussionists still have to adapt. I also think that it is vital to increase the ambitus on both sides. This allowsto always keep the same symmetry (between the 44th and the 45th note on astandard piano). If you put all the extra notes in the bass, you end up with anunbalanced piano, as it is the case with the Bösendorfer. Above all, a keyboard

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of 108 keys allows to expand the musical possibilities for improvisers andcomposers by pushing out of the field of vision the black blinkers of the keyblocks and side arms. Among the fears that can be heard, some people claimthat the arms are too short for such a large range. I shall answer this by sayingthat a 1m 60-tall person can perfectly play at the same time the first and thelast note of a 115-key keyboard. Anyway, nobody forces the pianist to play thefirst and the last note of the keyboard at the same time. Generally, nobodyeven forces pianists to play these notes. Do you really think that a composercould be vicious enough to write at both ends of a 108-note piano? There are many musical instruments whose price is notably proportional totheir ambitus. This is the case, for instance, of percussion instruments(glockenspiel, marimba, celesta...), harps, or accordions, whose price isdetermined, among other things, by their tonal range, their registers, thenumber of ranks or the number of bass notes. Some wind instruments have anextra key, piston valve or barrel in accordance with their price, in order toextend their range in the bass register. It was also the case for some pianomanufactures in the 19th and 20th centuries. On the Érard catalogue of 1932,we can see a model 4 upright piano (1m 27) with seven octaves, a model 0baby grand (1m 80) with 7¼ octaves, and a concert model No. 3 (2m 60) withseven ½ octaves; same for Ibach. A few years earlier, Pleyel used to follow thesame principle with pianinos. Until recently, some brands still offered 85 noteson small pianos. Bösendorfer offers three types of keyboards: 88, 92 and 97according to the model and the price. Maybe the piano should follow this path today? For the same brand, thebigger the instrument would be, the more notes it would have. Is it normal tohave to same tonal range on a baby grand as on a concert model? Should notthe price take into account the extension of the ambitus, as it is the case inmany musical instruments? To me, pianos’ keyboards should extend towards108 keys as their size and price increase.A composer’s opinion In order to complete this article, I found it interesting to seek the point ofview of a most concerned person. Artur Cimirro is a Brazilian composer, artcritic and pianist. He was the first composer in the world who ever composedworks for 108-note pianos.For which purpose do you use additional notes?

First of all, I use them because I precisely don’t consider them asadditional. When they sit before the 102 keys of a Stuart & Sons, the first thingthat pianists do is to press the first and the last key of the keyboard. It seems asif they tried to solve a problem that they don’t understand. Why? Because theyare not composers. The debate on these “additional” notes only concernscomposers (and technicians of course), not pianists.

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Were you inspired by the 102 keys of Stuart & Sons or did you use tocompose your pieces before knowing those pianos?

My first compositions were written in 1998, and they only require 88 notes.In 2002, I made a transcription of the famous Flight of the Bumblebee byKorsakov. Because of different techniques I used for that piece (octavatednotes, for instance), it was logical to reach the last E*. Later, I changed all theoctaves into thirds to make that transcription playable on a standard 88-keypiano. Finally, I put the top E again in the latest edition.

*

Then, in 2006, I started my Sonata Opus 3 that requires the contra C andthe top E-flat of the keyboard**, and it is only in 2011 that I heard aboutthe Stuart & Sons pianos for the first time. Three months after the director’sinvitation, I went to the manufacturer to visit it. Just before my leaving, I hadcomposed two pieces requiring 102 keys. In 2012, I visited the factorya second time and it was at this moment that I heard about the new type ofstring (XM) which allowed to build pianos that wouldn’t have 102 keys, but108. I immediately made changes in my scores and after a few days’ work,the first piece for 108-key piano: Eccentric Prelude No. 1, Opus 20. Since thatday, some of my other compositions use the whole ambitus and I plan onwriting more.

**

Are you convinced of their interest and necessity?Absolutely, I hate the sensation of composing for a “half-instrument”, and

this is what I feel when I think of 88 notes only. With 108 notes, you have thepiano in its practical standards, so this is the standard of the future. Of course,I can compose a piece requiring only 88 keys, I have already done so in someof my compositions, but I prefer to compose a new piece without a minimumnor a maximum of notes in mind.

At the same time, I do not believe that we need more than 108 notes forcomposing since this is the practical limit of the piano. Thus, I think thateverything is in its right place. Cristofori’s first forte-piano only had 49 keys(four octaves), and the ambitus gradually increased because it was still veryfar from its limits. In 1844, when Boisselot & Fils made the first sostenutopedal, the idea was not welcome, and it was only thirty years later that it wasused in Steinway pianos. Today, some people still find it difficult to understand

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how to use it correctly.When Beethoven was unhappy with the limits of the pianos of his time,

he still wrote his scores with the notes that were missing, and new pianos werebuilt in accordance with this. Today, it is the same but with different pianosand composers.

Other composers such as Liszt, Herz, Pixis, Brahms, Busoni, Ravel,Scriabin... struggled to explore the limits of the piano, and today we have theopportunity to discover the true limits of this instrument in its most completeambitus. This is a wonderful thing! All those who disagree do not know it yet,but they are doomed to fail, and soon they will be six feet under.Conclusion

When I happen, despite myself, to come across some “music” in asupermarket, in a public place, in a taxi, at the hairdresser’s, etc., I often thinkthat a three-note piano would be more than enough. What’s the use? Here is certainly what many readers will wonder whenthey read this article. I have also wondered the same thing and this islegitimate. However, today I can answer that, on the contrary, it is necessary,more than ever, to give this instrument a new boost. Since it was created, thepiano has always evolved together with its ambitus and I am still convincedthat its evolution can continue only if the ambitus extends, too. Maybe one day,pianists will admit that 88-note pianos are restrained and limited instruments... This article does not claim to establish a new standard, it would be utopianto think so. How could the piano have 108 notes tomorrow when the vastmajority of piano makers have not even gone through the stages of 102, 97, 92or even 90? Its aim is to inform pianists, technicians, composers and allpersons in relation with the piano that it is possible to extend its tonal rangeand that it is necessary to do so. By writing these lines, I can simply claim tohave said so. Still, I hope and I firmly believe that a new 97-note standard (contra F totop F), as understood by Pape, is wholly conceivable in the future.Unfortunately, today, the piano follows a logic of standardisation. For an ideato spread, it has to be standardised. The advantages of those 97 notes are thatthey can be placed on any model of piano, from the upright ones (starting from1m 20) to the concert grands, that they do not complicate the building verymuch and that they allow to extend the keyboard in an intelligent andreasonable manner. I sincerely hope that I will be able to see that standarddeveloped during my professional career. All conditions are now gathered to build pianos with a larger tonal range.Here is some interesting musical progress that will leave no pianist orcomposer indifferent. All this is relatively new, I admit it. The technical means

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to get there are very recent and this article comes just after. It is important thatall this information get clearer in people’s minds. Don’t we have theopportunity to blow the dust off the situation in which this instrument has beenstuck for far too long? Just like you, I am a technician, I do the same job asyours and my main professional motivation is for the profession and for thepiano world in general to be going well. I am not interested in megalomania,overgrowth or exploit for the sake of exploit. I have struggled to write thisarticle in the most sincere way, with the sole purpose to serve my professionand music.

Paul Corbin

paul.corbin@etudiant-itemm.com

(1) Le piano de style en Europe: des origines à 1850, Pascale Vandervellen,Mardaga.(2) Henri Herz, magnat du piano, Laure Schnapper, Ehess.(3) Érard Archives, manufacturing registers, Cité de la musique, Paris.(4) Gustave Chouquet, Exposition universelle internationale de 1878 à Paris.Groupe II. – Classe 13.Rapport sur les instruments de musique et les éditions musicales parM. Gustave Chouquet, Conservateur du Musée du Conservatoire National deMusique, Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1880, Bibliothèque nationale de France,Tolbiac, 8-V- 4336.(5) Liszt et le son Érard, « À la recherche des sonorités perdues »,Nicolas Dufetel, Villa Medici Giulini.(6) http://www.company7.com/bosendorfer.(7) Ministère du Commerce, de l’industrie, des postes et des télégraphes.Exposition universelle internationale de 1900, à Paris. Rapports du juryinternational. Classe 17 : Instruments de musique. Rapport de M. Eugènede Bricqueville.(8) Extra bass notes, Stuart & Sons piano model 220.(9) Extrêmes-aigus, Stuart & Sons piano model 220.

Thanks to Wayne Stuart, Katie Stuart, Allan Moyes, Stephen Paulello,Jean-Claude Battault, Jérôme Wiss, Hervé Lançon, Lucile Delpon,Artur Cimirro and Ernestine Klesch for their help, their precious adviceand their unfailing support.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITORDear Ed,

I am in total agreement with you regarding the importance of the PTACouncil Report being included in PTA News. In my opinion, the CouncilReport is the single most important PTA related item in PTA News; relayingto the membership what decisions are being made on its behalf.

Twenty five members (over 13% of the membership) do not supply anemail address. I would conclude that those members may well not haveInternet access and therefore seeking Internet access in order to read the PTACouncil Report is likely to be rather a palaver.

Even more crucially, I record PTA News for our blind members, who donot have the choice of looking at the PTA Website. Therefore, if the PTACouncil Report is omitted from PTA News, those members will no longerhave any idea what their elected Council is deciding on their behalf.

I am even more concerned (having been a Council Member and Trustee foralmost twenty years) by the number of decisions that are being made withoutbeing discussed or voted on by Council. I gather all Convention and TrainingDay forms are now only available via the PTA website. I have no recollectionof this major departure being discussed or voted on, but rather being presentedto Council as a fait accompli.

I am perplexed by the disenfranchisement of over 13% of our membershipand I can only conclude that efficiency is being confused with effectiveness.

Yours sincerely,

Tania Staite (1119)

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The Meeting of the Executive Council was held via Skype on Tuesday 24thSeptember at 19.30 pm.Present were Barry Caradine (President), Annette Summers(Secretary/Treasurer), Shaun McLoughlin (Trustee), Steve Droy andRoberta Caradine (Members). Apologies for absence from Andrew Giller(Vice President), Tania Staite (Trustee), and Lewis Flisher.Minutes of the July Meeting were approved and carried.The Treasurer’s report was circulated, approved and carried.Email from Anne Burton requesting that the Executive Council MeetingReport remain in the PTA News.Dates are being organized for PTA Membership Tests.One Apprentice application followed the Training Day at the Caradine’sworkshop. There are 3 new Student applications.More Training Days are being planned.Roy O’Neil has organised a visit to Glasgow Piano City to coincide with theScottish Autumn Lunch on 9 November.Factory visits abroad are being planned in conjunction with piano shops andmanufacturers. Details when finalised to be circulated to Members whoexpressed their interest.Brian Frost will attend the EuroPiano Meeting in Segovia on the PTA’s behalfin November.9 PTA Members have offered to be Mentors for Apprentices and anyonewishing to take the PTA Membership Test.There are still a few glitches with the database and application process to besorted out on the new website.The conclusion of those at this Meeting was that holding EC Meetings viaSkype had worked. Due to the time and expense saved, the next Meeting willalso be held via Skype.The next Meeting is arranged via Skype for Saturday 30th Novemberat 10.30am. Meeting closed at 20.15pm.

Observers are welcome at all Council Meetings. To join Skype CouncilMeetings as an Observer, please contact the Secretary.A copy of the Minutes is available from the Secretary. Minutes are alsoavailable in the Members area of the PTA website.

PTA COUNCIL REPORTANNETTE SUMMERS

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PTA DIARY OF EVENTS Visit to Glasgow Piano City

11am Saturday 9th November, Shawlands Arcade, Glasgow G41 3RX

PTA Scottish Autumn Lunch1pm Saturday 9th November at Oro, Shawlands, Glasgow G41 3YR

PTA Training Day, Re-building Masterclass10am-5pm on Sunday 17th November 2019 at Besbrode Pianos, Leeds

Skype Executive Council Meeting10.30am on Saturday 30th November

Convention with A.G.M. 5th and 6th May 2020The Sharnbrook Hotel, Park Lane, Sharnbrook, Bedford MK44 1LX

For enquiries, PTA goods, changes of address or contact details:Mrs Annette Summers, PTA Secretary

PO Box 230HAILSHAMBN27 9EA

Tel: 0845 602 8796Email: secretary@pianotuner.org.uk