Tune Up

I've recently connected with the RI chapter of the Piano Technician's Guild, and had a chance to hear from a couple registered piano technicians about the outdoor piano. Just a couple weeks ago, I visited the piano with Ruth Van Dine, an RPT (Registered Piano Technician) based in Warwick, RI, who has been tuning pianos for 26 years. She helped me figure out how old the piano might be, and shared some thoughts on how to determine its age (more on this in a later post!).

This Saturday, Rory MacNeil (another RPT), came to visit the piano and offer some thoughts on its weathered state. Rory is a graduate of the North Bennet Street School in Boston, where he learned to tune and maintain pianos through their Piano Technology program. Since graduating in May, he has been working for a piano tuning and rebuilding business in CT and starting up his own independent business.

Rory commented on the piano's decomposed state, pointing out places where wood had cracked, lamination layers had separated, or damper felts had fallen off. We pulled out a key that had broken off, and he pointed out how it was constructed, where the bushing hole was drilled straight through the key and then later capped with a smaller piece of wood. The piano has not been tuned since it was marked for disposal, and Rory wanted to see if it would even be possible to turn some of the pins. Even with the rain and high humidity, some of the pins were still turnable. He pulled out his tuning hammer, chose a pin... and tuned one string!

As it decays, the piano looks less out of place as a piano in the woods and more as an integrated part of its surroundings, Rory reflected. "It's interesting how much the piano is blending into its environment."

Days in place: 514

Weather: humid, partly sunny, 88°F

A small section of wood on top of the key seals a hole drilled for the key bushings on the underside of the key.