Diversity in Piano Tech

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels

This blog post was adapted from an email correspondence between NolaPiano owner Ryan Peterson and a young piano tuner in South Carolina.

I am always glad to meet other young piano techs, especially ones who are cognizant of the growing issues we collectively face in 2021.

I wrote a blog post a few years ago that touched on the lack of diversity in the piano tech industry in the US. That short blurb was a result of the frustration I felt over my years tuning in the US, watching the spread of the #MeToo movement as well as rampant racial injustice perpetrated by police. As I looked around at the industry around me, I started to worry.

Basically, during my time actively tuning in New Orleans, I noticed that piano technicians (in the US) as a whole are a fairly homogeneous bunch. Of all the tuners I met at various PTG meetings and through personal interaction, the vast majority were white men over the age of 45. This is in a city that is 60% Black, 52% women, and half of all businesses are owned by BIPOC. In my time there, I met a single woman tuner, who was also one of 3 tuners in town below the age of 45 (including me). I did meet several other young people who were learning the trade, (some of them women, all of them white) but as far as I know all of them have since moved on to other professions.

I consider this to be a huge problem for a few different reasons:

1. On the topic of people of color working in classical music, I consider it to be an absolute travesty that in a place as brimming with musical talent as New Orleans, where the black kid who plays the sousaphone in the marching band is more fervently worshipped than the quarterback of the high school football team, that an entire genre of music is still not seen as an option for kids in this community. In the place that spawned world-class Black pianists like Jelly Roll Morton, James Booker, and Jon Batiste, the fact that area schools are not using these musical revolutionaries to show kids their potential in the field is disheartening. I believe that the path toward diversity in the piano technician field starts with improving access to the piano itself in these communities. I can only assume that the situation is far worse outside of the musical Eden that is New Orleans.

2. On the topic of women working in technical trades, despite the attempted refutation of many male technicians, women still face huge barriers to entry into a mechanical field such as ours. Whether it be on claims of physical strength, sexual harassment and power dynamics in master-apprentice relationships, or facing old stereotypes about the ability of women to do technical work. On top of that there is also an extreme lack of women role models in the field. There exists a chicken-or-the-egg problem of "Well, if there is no-one who looks like me already in this field, it must just not be for me."

According to Zippia, the level of diversity in the piano repair field has either stayed the same or slightly decreased in several metrics since 2010. BIPOC classical musicians report regularly facing hurdles that their white counterparts do not. And while representation of Asian and Pacific Islanders in orchestras has been trending upward, other ethnic groups are still vastly underrepresented.

I have previously attempted to approach this issue in the piano technicians listserv (pianotech@googlegroups.com), and was each time met with an outright denial that the issue exists. I have since given up on that approach and resigned myself to the fact that said listserv is just an old-boys club and is not interested in confronting the flaws in their industry in a way that would bring it into a new age.

One thing that does give me hope is that over the past few years while I haven't been actively working as a piano technician, many people around the US, Europe, and Canada have contacted me through my blog, and I have found this subset of tuners to be astoundingly diverse. As such, I have been doing what I can to encourage them and help them stay the course and prevent this profession from fading into old white obscurity.

I believe apprentice programs are a huge piece to this puzzle. This is not an easy industry to break into for anyone, especially with the old-timers vehemently holding on to the status quo that has and still benefits them, for fear of losing control over their hand-full of zip codes. This is a losing battle as we all drown in the death of the analog piano. In my opinion, the best way for this industry to survive the digitization of society is to make both the artistic and the mechanical sides of the piano more accessible to all people, regardless of age, race, gender, or social status.

Anyways, that's my rant for now. I'm curious to hear my readers’ takes on this topic.

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A Long Overdue Update

Taichung Zhongshe Flower Garden - photo from elinchow.blogspot.com

Hello dear readers,

My apologies for going almost two years without a new blog post. I’ve got a good reason I swear! Last July my now-wife and I got married and promptly escaped the current pitiful state of affairs in America to the relative paradise of Taiwan.

Although I did bring a few piano tools here, I have only used them a few times, as most of my time has been dedicated to studying Mandarin.

All this is just to say, I’m taking a break from the piano industry and so have also taken a break from my writing. However, I have been thinking a lot lately about the general state of the industry in America and how it is (or isn’t) adapting to to modern society. Specifically in the realms of gender, age, and racial disparity. There might possibly be new blog posts in this vein in the near future, so stay tuned.

Otherwise, my wife and I plan to return to the states in Fall 2020, so expect to see technical posts resume sometime shortly after.

-Ryan

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KineOptics Stewart PTH-5-1 Piano Tuning Hammer

A couple of months ago, I received a brand new tuning lever to test out, the KineOptics Stewart PTH-5-1. I had previously been using The Shark from pianotunertools.com. The Shark was the first high-quality lever I had ever owned, and I generally enjoyed using it. It sunk onto the pin well, was notably stiffer than my previous lever, and could fit into almost anywhere when used with a 20-degree head as recommended. However, I eventually realized that I had some issues with the lever:

• The Shark is too heavy for me. Even though it felt solid in my hand, I think the significant weight of the lever contributed to fatigue in my shoulder and upper back.

• It wasn’t as responsive as I liked. While not specifically an issue with the lever itself, using the recommended combination of a 20-degree head and Watanabe tip resulted in a significant feeling of “slop”. When I applied pressure to the lever, the tip would move around quite a bit before turning the pin.

• I found the handle of The Shark to be quite abrasive. It was not unusual for me to have a blister or two after a long day of tuning with it.

Now, for the subject at hand. The folks at KineOptics sent me the Stewart PTH-5-1 back in January and I’ve been using it regularly since.

photo credit: www.kineoptics.com

Let’s go over the basics.

The body of the PTH-5-1 is machined from a solid block of aluminum. It utilizes a single bolt to attach the press-fit 5-degree titanium head and a single bolt to attach the acetal handle. The simple construction and dark red anodizing results in a very sleek and aesthetically pleasing product. At just 8 oz (228 grams), the Stewart is the lightest non-compact tuning lever that I have found. With an I-beam cross section, the lever provides “positive rotational control” meaning that you will know the orientation of the lever just by feeling its shape in your hand. The head uses a standard Watanabe-style thread. The lever is supplied with KineOptics’ own tip which is Wire EDM cut. This is the first I have heard of this process, but from what I‘ve gathered it can produce extremely accurate results. All manufacturing is done in the USA and the lever retails for $355.

During my testing of the Stewart PTH, I’ve noticed a few features that really make it unique. First off, the minimal weight of the lever eliminates any shoulder fatigue that I usually feel. Even after a long day of tuning, I don’t get the knots and soreness in my shoulder that I get with other levers weighing up to 13 ounces or more. The standoff provided by the low-profile body, titanium head/tip combo, and 5-degree head angle is adequate to clear most plate struts and stretchers without sacrificing torsional rigidity. The acetal handle has yet to give me any of the abrasions or blisters that were commonplace with other levers and, together with the aluminum body, makes this lever feel practically indestructible.

On a more personal note, from my multiple phone and email conversations with him, I can say that the owner of KineOptics, Joe LaCour, is exceedingly amicable and helpful. He quickly answered any questions that I had and was able to offer many insights into the design of the lever.

The purchase price of the Stewart PTH is comparable to other high-end levers on the market. Upon notifying Joe that I intended to purchase his tuning lever, he informed me that he was looking to better ways to accept payments from international customers and, being the cryptocurrency enthusiast that I am, I was thrilled to be able to purchase the lever using Ethereum.

I have had to make a few compromises to use the Stewart PTH. The lever is very “What You See Is What You Get.” And by that I mean there is only one length of lever available, one head angle, one tip size, one color, one handle option. If you like to accessorize and customize, this may not be the lever for you (although Watanabe tips do thread on nicely, and I have word from Joe that other size tips are in the works). My only other points against are that I’ve found that the anodizing is prone to scratches and chips and that the lever does not fit quite as nicely into my Chicago tool case as my previous lever.

After testing it for a few weeks, the Stewart PTH quickly became my go-to tuning lever. I have yet to detect any hint of flex while tuning. It feels as stiff if not stiffer than the carbon fiber lever I previously used. I am looking forward to having different size tips because, in my opinion, there is way too much variation in tuning pins for a single tip to ever fit them all.

Big thanks to Joe at KineOptics for letting me test the Stewart PTH!

Learn more about the KineOptics Stewart PTH-5-1 here.

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Brave Payments Update

Hello Readers!

Just wanted to give a little public service announcement; www.nolapiano.com is now a Verified Brave Payments Publisher!

This means that by browsing my website using the Brave web browser, you can automatically make small monetary contributions in exchange for the quality content and ad-free experience that you get on nolapiano.com.

This type of support will allow me to continue creating a unique and valuable piano tech blog for anyone to enjoy.

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How to Splice Piano Wire

Replacing a piano string is not as simple as it first seems.  New piano strings are very unstable and need time to stretch before they will hold a pitch for an extended period of time.  Often times, a new string will require upwards of five or six tunings before it is acceptably stable.

Because of this, it is often a better idea to splice a broken string rather than replace it completely.  This is especially true for wound bass strings which are both more expensive and have greater tonal variation than plain gauge strings.

Strings will almost always break near the tuning pin or the hitch pin.  I have never seen a string break in the middle.  This is helpful because it means that we can remove the short piece of the broken string and tie in a piece of new piano wire.  This new length of wire will stretch just like a full new string would, but since the stretch will be limited to a short section it might only take one or two tunings to stabilize.

To splice a wire, we will use the piano tuner's knot.  This knot is very simple, however it can be a bit difficult to actually tie due to the stiffness of piano wire.

To begin, make a clockwise loop in the lower wire.  Be sure that the working end of the wire passes underneath the standing part of the wire.

Next, make a counter-clockwise loop in the upper wire.  Again, be sure that the working end passes underneath the standing end.

In the lower wire, fold the loop 90 degrees downward, so that the tip of the wire is inside of the bend.

Hold the upper wire across the lower wire with the end pointing upwards.

Pull the upper wire across to interlock the upper wire loop with the standing part of the lower wire.

Rotate the upper wire so that tips of the two wires are pointing in opposite directions.

Bend the upper wire in order to feed the standing end through the loop of the lower wire.

That is the piano tuner's knot!  When this knot it pulled tight during tuning, the two loops will lock against each other and hold tension.

When tying this knot in a piano, you want the knot to end up in a location where it wont be touching anything (i.e. the plate, tuning pins, other strings).  Sometimes it might take a few tries to get the knot to be in an acceptable location.

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