YUS1 Unstable Pitch

[Openwood]

A few years ago we bought a new YUS1 for the music room at school. I say music room; it's basically an upmarket portacabin with thin metal walls. The piano is tuned twice a year; in September and in March (before the GCSE and A-Level coursework recordings). The pitch has got progressively less stable since it arrived, to the point where it's now completely unusable and I'm considering selling it and replacing it with a digital instrument. I'd rather keep an acoustic piano in the room but it's no use to me in its current condition.

I'm interested to know what could be causing this extreme instability of pitch. The obvious culprit seems to be the oil-fired central heating system. During the winter the room gets very cold overnight and then by lunchtime we're having to open windows because it's too hot and stuffy. There are temperature controls on each of the rads but the system itself is controlled from elsewhere and also heats several other rooms - I have no control over the 'master' settings. I've tried moderating the temperature by adjusting the individual rads but it seems impossible to reach a happy medium and I suspect it's these constant swings in temperature which may be at the root of the problem.

Would you recommend that I admit defeat and sell the piano (assuming it isn't permanently damaged)? Or is there anything I can do to save it in its current environment?

Cheers now,
James

[Johnkie]

With the huge changes in both temperature and humidity that this piano is subjected too it will never be stable. Moreover, from what you say the enormous swings would cause a vast amount of tuning instability. I really do wish that these types of institutions would give just a little thought as to what conditions are needed for instruments to be able to be serviceable! I fear the best advice would be to find something "with a plug on it"

[mdw]

Also remember start of the year was no rain for 3 months and heating on then it seems to have been raining non stop since. Sticky notes and everything sharp here and I am not too supprised.
Having saids that if thats the way they keep it then digi is probably the way to go.

[Openwood]

Thank you for these prompt replies.

To be fair to the school they are about to launch a major fundraising project with the aim of building a permanent base for the Music Department. We've been in the huts since 2003, so it's not a day too soon! The YUS1 was purchased before the oil-fired central heating was installed. Until then we'd used the wall-mounted electric heaters which came with the huts. I'd fitted them with timer plugs and the piano's pitch was stable.

I can live with the pitch problem if the YUS1 is likely to recover its stability once we've moved into better accommodation. I don't want a digital piano if I can avoid it. My approach has been to purchase the best possible instruments as and when money has been available so that we're ready for the new building. However, if another year or two in the current conditions is likely to damage the acoustic piano then I would reluctantly part with it in order to avoid spoiling a good instrument.

[Gill the Piano]

I remember tuning for a private school whose music dept was relegated to sheds such as you describe. "But we're top of the building list," the music teacher saif. I expressed delight at the news along the lines of 'not a moment too soon'.
" Ah, well, we've been at the top of the building list for 20 years now...things keep overtaking..." he said, sadly. They DID get their music dept eventually. After the stupid games stuff, of course...

[Barrie Heaton]

Would you recommend that I admit defeat and sell the piano (assuming it isn't permanently damaged)? Or is there anything I can do to save it in its current environment?

Cheers now,
James

Sound like a perfect candidate for a Life saver to me that will keep it on pitch - if you are moving into a new building I thing you will regret selling it later on


Barrie

[Johnkie]

I agree with you Barry regarding being a candidate perhaps for the life saver system .... however in practice I find that in these kinds of situations i.e. schools .... rarely maintain these systems. Cleaners un-plug them, the water is just left to dry out etc etc.

There seems to be much greater success when these systems are fitted in homes where the owners actually care a great deal about their instruments.

[Openwood]

Thank you for the advice. I'll look into the life saver option and hopefully we can keep the piano serviceable until the new building is ready. It would be a great shame to replace it with a digital instrument if that can be avoided.

[Openwood]

Can I buy and install a life saver myself (if so, where from?) or do I need to get my technician to do it?

[Barrie Heaton]

Can I buy and install a life saver myself (if so, where from?) or do I need to get my technician to do it?

Wile its not hard to put one in if you do get it wrong it can kill a piano

Damp-chaser will only Garr if installed by a registered TEC

http://www.pianolifesaver.com/english/installer.php

[NewAge]

I certainly agree with Barry & Johnkie to consider having a Dampp-Chaser fitted. Especially as the Yamaha YUS1 is a fine instrument, and tuning apart, I can't think of a digital which anywhere near equals it.

I had tuning instablity problems for 2 years with a new piano (not a Yamaha) here in SW France - with fluctuating air temperatures and humidity beyond the manufactures recommended 45-60% RH. Then invested in a Dampp-Chaser which immediately cured the instability problems (now occasionally observe a max 1cent swing during the twice yearly tunings).

As Johnkie rightly states, institutions such as schools etc would not generally pamper an instrument with a Dampp-Chaser fitted as much as a keen individual. I personally enjoy refilling the DC water tank when automatically advised by the red blinking light - here at this time of year this is approx every 14-18 days; this being easily performed through a remote plastic tube without removing any panels. I also change the pads/clean the components myself twice a year. This is no real hardship and takes 30mins or so. I suggest that these simple tasks could be shown to a keen, young pupil and task them to perform same at regular intervals. I would also prepare and display a related 'task-sheet' inside or at the back of the piano to be completed and dated/signed whenever the D.C. is topped-up and/or pads serviced. This, one assumes, would be checked by a responsible administrator at frequent intervals [sic] "belt & braces!"
I do hope you can find a satisfactory solution to your piano dilemma in order to retain the YUS1. Please keep us advised.

[joseph]

I remember tuning for a private school whose music dept was relegated to sheds such as you describe. "But we're top of the building list," the music teacher saif. I expressed delight at the news along the lines of 'not a moment too soon'.
" Ah, well, we've been at the top of the building list for 20 years now...things keep overtaking..." he said, sadly. They DID get their music dept eventually. After the stupid games stuff, of course...

It's ALWAYS the same. Unless the school is a specialist music school, nobody gives a crap about music or the value it is to education.

The thing is, whenever they want to really show the school off, it's not the rugby match that people remember, it's the concert where their daughter who achieved grade 5 distinction, played her pieces so well because of her dedication and the guidance of her teacher. Yet the powers that be in these schools are often the rugby pitch bully type who simply can't hear anything other than 'rugby tour', 'beer' or 'how much does that cost?'

In my experience, the schools are often run by over-grown school boys who are in the job to play with toys, or make up for the fact that they weren't actually that good at school themselves.....

don't get me started ..... (too late, best just to shut me up... or let me rant, i'll get bored and sleep soon)

[gizzy]

don't get me started ..... (too late, best just to shut me up... or let me rant, i'll get bored and sleep soon)

Nonono rant away, please! It's got to be said, over and over again.

Every year we hear on the news about more money being poured into schools for music, or else it's "there's such a lack of music teachers"

And there's not a lack of music teachers, there's a lack of proper music teaching jobs being created - by those who run the schools

And money into schools for music? Well, short of actually stuffing up the heads' and governors' ar... sorry, down the heads' and governors' throats, you can't positively force them to do anything about it. At my last school (primary) at least we had a specialist music teacher, but the amount of time given to music was squeezed and squeezed by the demands of the national curriculum

[joseph]

There was a school I taught in that spent £20k on sports equipment, and the musit dept couldn't even have £1500 to buy a chinese upright piano. In the end we got a Yamaha Clavinova for £1000, which was OK I suppose, but really not in the league of what was required. The kids actually hated it. It was like, music is an apology.

Another school I taught in had the instrument practice rooms in pre-fab huts. Decent enough pianos - Boston uprights, Yamaha uprights, but of course, with no proper heating or ventilation, the instruments are wrecked. Not to mention that they aren't ever serviced, and only tuned once a year.

The kids are also crammed with so much work they don't have the time to practise. They come week by week sight reading through the same repertoire, it's very hard to be inspired. Infact, if you suggest to them that they should practise more, you can face a disciplinary for being discouraging. This has happened to many of my colleagues, and me. It's repulsive. I despise teaching in schools actually, and only do it for the money, which isn't even that great (£30 per hour, for only 30 weeks of the year, minus tax at source, travel, etc, so you're not earning for 22 weeks of the year, no proper contract, and holidays treated as if we are on an annual contract - infact, the government have even allowed this to happen, breaking their OWN laws!).

Music is seen as a limping lame in the machine of education. They simply don't want to invest in it. Do you know, well, you won't be surprised, that I was talking to a very intelligent and highly educated academic, who couldn't tell if he was listening to Bach or Mahler, and whether it was a major or minor key? I mean, I have 8 year olds that know the difference! What the F--- is wrong with this place?

Another academic, in a non-arts subject, asked me why I practise, and how long for. When I said '7 hours a day in the run up to a concert, 3 hours a day normally', she said 'Wow, it's like a real job then'. When she asked how much I charge for lessons she said 'Oh my God that is so expensive' and I said 'Well, it's less than you get per hour, when you break down your wage into an hourly rate, then add pension, benefits, job security, infact, your wage is probably worth double what I'm asking, no?'

The attitude that we have to face, that because music is a passion we have no right to earn from it, is p--sing me off no end, and I'm thinking that we live in a nation where people don't DESERVE music - considering the facts that nobody wants to pay for it. It seems that in this country you can only have concerts if it's in aid of some charity or other. All well and good, but we have to pay the bills, we want a quality of life, I don't want to go into old age scrimping and saving and unable to function financially, while somebody with half of the qualifications and experience that I have ends up doing rather well.

And all of that vomit came out of a plea to have a Yamaha YUS1 treated well.... you see, the problem is bigger than that.

If you are a director of music, please PLEASE fight for a better deal for your instrumental instructors!