CAUT

  • 1.  piano covers..with a twist

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 10-17-2016 12:01

    Hi all,

     

    We're about to purchase a new grand for a practice room.  I'm wondering if there is such a thing as a piano cover that would stay on with the front part pulled open and even with lid up?  We are going to have a very serious talk with the piano majors about putting ANYTHING on the lid with the Dean and head of the piano faculty and me before it arrives.

     

    I know a normal cover won't work as it will shortly just get tossed to the floor.  No cover on will guarantee backpacks, notebooks, etc will be carelessly dragged across the new finish, even with a stern talking to from the Dean.

     

    Am I on a fruitless quest here?

     

    Thanks in advance!

     

    Paul



  • 2.  RE: piano covers..with a twist

    Posted 10-17-2016 12:25

    Maybe the new piano goes to the Head and his used piano goes to the practice rooms. Or something like that.






  • 3.  RE: piano covers..with a twist

    Posted 10-17-2016 13:26

    We have three grand pianos here with floor length ripstop nylon covers.  The covers have an overlapping slit at each end of the long lid hinge, so they can be easily pulled back when the piano is used.  If the piano lid is not raised, the tail end of the cover is undisturbed.  Because the cover has very little bulk,  there is little risk of damage to the long hinge, even if the front of the lid is opened without initially pulling back the front of the cover.

    The ripstop nylon covers offer little or no padding protection for the pianos -- they are for dust control and humidity containment only.  We have a single padded moving cover for our pair of 9 foot concert grands.  Sometimes the padded cover lives on one of the pianos, either over or under the nylon cover, and sometimes it's folded up in the corner.  But I rarely find a piano that does not have the nylon cover in place.

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    Floyd Gadd
    Regina SK
    306-721-9699



  • 4.  RE: piano covers..with a twist

    Posted 10-17-2016 13:29

    I suppose the cover I am describing could be modified to include padding on the tail portion of the lid, beginning at the point where the back of the lid is not covered by the opened front lid.

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    Floyd Gadd
    Regina SK
    306-721-9699



  • 5.  RE: piano covers..with a twist

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 10-17-2016 13:21

    Paul, have you considered removing the lids? 

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    Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
    Mililani, HI 96789



  • 6.  RE: piano covers..with a twist

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 10-17-2016 14:56

    Time for CCTV with a week recording capability!

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    Larry Messerly, RPT
    Bringing Harmony to Homes
    www.lacrossepianotuning.com
    ljmesserly@gmail.com
    608-518-2441
    928-899-7292



  • 7.  RE: piano covers..with a twist

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 10-19-2016 08:15

    Paul -

    This question (category), like many others, makes regular appearances here.  It's probably been thoroughly deconstructed by a number of smart people in the past, but just go back to the past August, Martin Snows question about practice room protocol, to which you responded. The real issues are multiple: control of access to practice rooms; establishing a culture of protocols that is fully supported and reinforced - signage being only one component; clear methods of enforcement - this could put you in potentially confrontational situations with students OR faculty.  

    You ask if you're on a 'fruitless quest'.  What is your objective?  To preserve the pristine finish of a practice room lid? Why?  If you put a cover on it, you're conveying the message that you expect people to put things on the piano and, in fact, it's OK, because it's covered.  If you don't want bags, books, coats, drinks etc. place on piano, then there should be provision made for them.  Coat hooks/hangers (I think it's outrageous that Wenger doesn't provide these in its modules); a reasonable table or shelf to put things on.  A garbage can right outside the room (or nearby).  It's reasonable to restrict food in practice rooms (energy bars OK), for piano's sake, rodents, and lingering odors. But there should be an area nearby where students can take a short food break without going to extremes to avoid losing their rooms.  

    If you convey an awareness of their experience, and make a genuine effort to accommodate it, you are much more likely to be able to establish a culture that respects the pianos, especially if you get faculty, admin, and public relations behind you.  And don't forget humor.  Find out who peer leaders are.  Make a (genuinely) funny video, using a trashable piano, to demonstrate the behavior you're looking to curtail.  If you don't have the resources for such a venture, another CAUT venue might, or perhaps the home office, but it would probably be most effective with your own students, and subtle elements of the particular culture there.  

    What's that? Oh, don't be silly.  Of course you have the time.

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    David Skolnik
    Hastings-on-Hudson NY
    914-231-7565