CAUT

  • 1.  George Crumb piece

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-21-2017 17:14
    Can anyone tell me about " A Journey Beyond Time (American Songbook II), for voice, percussion quartet & amplified piano "  by George Crumb ??  I just found out yesterday that it will be performed here on 18 April. I'm starting to look at a Youtube video and see the pianist leaning over the piano, plucking and I can't tell what else.   Does it call for preparing the piano, and with what? 
    Sorry for the different font sizes, thanks for any help.

    ------------------------------
    Sheffey Gregory, RPT
    [
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: George Crumb piece

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-21-2017 23:18
    I remember our Staff pianist  asking me about the prepared piano aspect of a George Crumb piece just a few months ago. I remember showing her what to do and approving it, but have forgotten the details. I can get with her and ask her if this was the piece, etc if you would like. What is your time frame? 

    ------------------------------
    [Kevin] [Fortenberry] [RPT]
    [Staff Techician]
    [Texas Tech Univ]
    [Lubbock] [TX]
    [8067783962]
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: George Crumb piece

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-23-2017 11:07
    Performance is 18 April.  I have sent the CAUT guidelines to the series director, but have not heard back from her.  I will also be meeting with the faculty percussion instructor [ who is performing in this piece] and plan to give him a copy of the guidelines. Since I'm contract, not staff, I don't have a lot of input/control. All I can really hope for is that they respect the instrument enough to follow the guidelines.. If there is something really egregious, I would like to know about that and discuss it with the players.  Thanks,

    ------------------------------
    Sheffey Gregory, RPT
    [
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: George Crumb piece

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-22-2017 09:34
    Sheffey,
    I don't know the specific piece, but all the Crumb music I know is done with objects that are used during the performance, rather than set in place in the strings. A glass rod laid on a section, a length of light chain, fingers touching nodes, that sort of thing. The major prep aspect is marking strings (meaning usually putting stickies of some sort on specific dampers and agraffes). It would be a good idea to touch base with the pianist and especially talk about what kind of marking is acceptable and the need for it to be removed.

    ------------------------------
    Fred Sturm
    University of New Mexico
    fssturm@unm.edu
    http://fredsturm.net
    http://www.artoftuning.com
    "We either make ourselves happy or miserable. The amount of work is the same." - Carlos Casteneda
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: George Crumb piece

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-23-2017 11:14
    The one good thing is that the group doing the Crumb piece is top-flight: see stringtheorymusic.org/concerts/2016-2017/april-18-2017/
    [ I left off the http so that the entire page doesn't load into this message]. Hopefully they have a lot of experience with prepared piano and how to treat the piano correctly.

    ------------------------------
    Sheffey Gregory, RPT
    [
    ------------------------------

    Original Message