Disklavier

Dear Carol,

Having had endless chats on email with you, I used to often wonder how
you had achieved such heights in knowledge on the technical aspects of a
piano. Thank you for sharing your past experiences. You have also
secretly fulfilled my inquisitiveness.

Sitting here in Sri Lanka, on the opposite side of the world form where
you are, I send my warmest wishes again for Christmas and may all your
wishes come true for you and your family in happy 2003.

Having started my project to restore my piano I am starting to get more
and more interested in the technical side of things. I am in the field
of  mechanical engineering and plays the piano and other instruments
only by ear and cannot read music. I started in school playing the
"Melodica" for the band and then the Trombone for the senior school
band. Ever since then I have been having Orgens and keyboards and
recently bought the piano. As there is not much technical support over
here I have to do things pretty much my self including the damaged
electronics side of my Disklavier. With your experience, how would you
advice to for one to start fresh in this field? May be with a piano
tuning course?  

Thanks again and
with best regards
Budds.
 
(Buddhika)     
Colombo
Sri Lanka









-----Original Message-----
From: Carol Beigel [mailto:carolrpt@...] 
Sent: Monday, December 23, 2002 4:07 AM
To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [disklavier] Re: piano accompaniments (and Happy Holidays)

I am the grown-up version of the 6-year-old who fell in love with my
piano 
teacher's player piano.  It would take me another 30 years before I
bought a 
broken one to take apart and restore.  To this day, I am awed by the 
simplicity of the design of the 5-valve air motor that sent a constant
air 
pressure through the tracker bar that played the paper rolls.  How five 
little bends in an axle could be so brilliant!

I spent 10 years rebuilding pianos, using a Pianocorder vorsetzer to
test 
and break in the new strings.  Those Pianocorder cassette tapes were the

first translations of the paper piano rolls into electronic form.  The 
vorsetzer was a collection of 80 pinball solenoids hanging upside down
that 
would play the piano keys.  The thing was adjustable to any keyboard
height, 
and also played the pedals.

Eventually, the global economy made rebuilding American pianos not very 
competitive with new Asian piano prices so I became a field
tuner/technician 
for a Steinway dealer for the next 9 years of my career.  I have been 
happily self employed for the past 6 years here in the Washington, D.C.
area 
with a specialty in electronic midi player piano service - especially
the 
Disklavier.  I own a fine Yamaha U1 upright piano with a MarkIIXG 
Disklavier.

My baby grandson seems to have more than a casual interest in my
keyboard 
and piano.  When he stays over we always have to play the Disklavier
before 
he goes to bed.  So I am motivated to learn more about music and how it
is 
made in hopes of encouraging perhaps the next little Mozart!

Carol Beigel
crbrpt@...

>From: "Douglas J. Miller" <douglas@...>
>Reply-To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
>To: <disklavier@yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: RE: [disklavier] Re: piano accompaniments (and Happy Holidays)
>Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 13:06:52 -0800
>
>Dear Ms. Beigel,
>
>Thank you for the wonderful email about learning piano / music theory!
You 
> >are so right! . . .
>
>Who are you, and from where do you hail?


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