CAUT

  • 1.  keyboard loans to students due corona virus shutdowns

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-23-2020 17:04
    Hello,

    I am receiving inquiries from a faculty member regarding loaning our electronic keyboards to piano majors during the corona virus shut downs.  We are not shut down as of today, but who knows.  Most students are not coming to school right now.

    Is your school doing this, or do you know anyone that is?  I am curious how the logistics of moving, pre-sanitizing, cost, and insurance are handled. Roll of toilet paper for the best responses:)

    Thanks

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    Rick Florence
    Gilbert AZ
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  • 2.  RE: keyboard loans to students due corona virus shutdowns

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-23-2020 17:33
    That issue just came up here, and is moving ahead. Our college instituted a ban on students in the building as of tomorrow, so they will no longer have access to acoustic pianos. 

    I'm afraid we haven't entirely worked out details. We will check them out in the same way we check out various bits of equipment, on a standard form that gives the following terms:

    TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF LOAN
    1.      The borrower shall:
    a.      return the loan item(s) in like condition as received from Lender, normal wear and tear excepted, and free of contamination, on or before the expiration date, unless the loan period is formally extended or the loan is terminated before the due date;
    b.      in case of loss or damage of the property loaned, reimburse the Lender at the current price of replacement or repair;
    c.      assume all costs involved in preparation, handling, loaning, disconnecting, and transportation from and to the Lender;
    d.      agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Lender against any and all liability, loss, damages, claims and costs incidental hereto as a result of Borrower's use or possession of the loaned property; and
    e.      use the loan property only for the purposes specified in this loan agreement.
    2.      The above property shall not be modified, loaned, or transferred to a third party without the written permission of the Lender.
    3.      The Borrower shall account for, or permit inspection of, the loaned property by the Lender after proper notification.
    This is the University of New Mexico Property. Title to the property is vested in and will remain with UNM and the property shall be used only for official purposes.

    In practical terms, though we haven't got there yet I assume I or a couple of us will take the instrument to the loading dock to meet the student who is borrowing it, and they will be responsible for transport. I don't see the need for special sanitizing, as the room they are in has had nobody in it for a week and a half, long enough for any virus to lose viability. It might make sense for us to wear gloves and perhaps masks when moving them to assure against us contaminating them (not that we are likely carriers, but one never knows). 

    I am sure we wouldn't be charging for them, as it is a stop gap for not giving them customary access to acoustic instruments. The university is committed to allowing students to complete the semester with full credit, though there will be no more in person classes of any kind.

    Regards,
    Fred Sturm
    "Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it." Brecht






  • 3.  RE: keyboard loans to students due corona virus shutdowns

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-24-2020 11:24
    Rick and Fred- we too at SMU received a few requests as our building is essentially closed to students for practice and rehearsal. A few international students had no instrument, so a local dealer agreed to provide digitals to a few. We have none outside of lab pianos. One of our practice room  DS 5.5 keyboard verticals was moved into a student apartment. Most internationals have returned to their home country. I am currently working remotely and our administration is wrestling with what to do regarding recitals, juries etc. 
    I 'm including a link to UNT that describes what has been done there.

    https://music.unt.edu/alert-information

    Everyone be safe. We will get through this and hope it never repeats itself.



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    David Brown
    Garland TX
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  • 4.  RE: keyboard loans to students due corona virus shutdowns

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-24-2020 14:05
    We are closed down for two weeks as of today, due to our governor's order, so no loan of instruments will happen until then. The ones we have are mostly in the group piano lab, so those will be the ones - if it happens. It was very close, but got cut off a couple days before implementation.

    As for recitals and juries, that remains to be seen. The plan up to now was to stage them without audience, just a couple recital hall staff to set up, and recording engineer to set up and run mics and video, with the idea of video streaming. But nothing is set in stone. I am now "working remotely," meaning doing yard work :-)  I don't have any computer work that needs doing, though I respond to emails as needed.






  • 5.  RE: keyboard loans to students due corona virus shutdowns

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 03-24-2020 14:59
    Hi, all,

    Here’s another take on the loaning of keyboards or any other instruments. David’s school, Pomona College, is a small private college, part of a larger consortium of small connected colleges in that city. Their classes went all on-line weeks ago, and their 1500 dorm students were sent home, including back to other countries. About 100 of them had no other place to go and were moved into a single dorm for ease of security, food service and so on. The dorm and the music students who went there asked to have a grand piano sent from the Music Department, since they were mostly sitting unused in classrooms. The President of the Consortium intervened, asking whether they planned to provide instruments to all who have been displaced, or only those few. The answer was obvious, and there will be no special treatment for a small percentage of students. It’s just another idea in play during this complicated time.

    At Pomona, and also at my old situation at CSU Long Beach, all classes including private lessons are being done on any one of several platforms that work for that. Spring Break time was extended an extra week for faculty to get set up and experiment with the systems. Only a couple of pianos are being tuned, for use by faculty in rooms for on-line teaching, when they have no other option. Our shop work can carry on, even if it means bringing actions home for hammer filing, key bushings, cleaning and such work.

    Also, in that same vein, our local PTG chapters have stopped meeting in person. Kayoko Forrest at LA Chapter has opened a chapter ZoomPro account, which can host up to 100 people at once, to “broadcast” meetings. The first experimental one is tomorrow night, Wednesday 3/25/20 at 5pm, and she sent an invitation to chapter officers here so they can try it out and get up to speed. LA Chapter will share the account for use by other local chapters, since the 7 local chapters from San Diego to Santa Barbara all meet on different nights. She went to an earlier time so that the meeting can be finished before dinner locally, and people across the country can tune in if they want to.

    If you are interested in how it works, you can check with Kay, ask for an invitation (you need to register before the meeting and get the link) to an upcoming meeting.

    Good luck everyone, this is trying our patience and our ingenuity and our faith in our communities. Stay safe and stay well,

    Kathy




  • 6.  RE: keyboard loans to students due corona virus shutdowns

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-01-2020 09:23
    We implemented this last week. Our piano faculty took a survey of students still in town who would not have access to a piano if the campus were to fully shut down. It turned out to be only 7 students. Each signed a contract (the specifics of which escape me at the moment, but I'm sure it's the typical CYA clauses for the university and stipulations that this is university property and students are responsible for the cost of any damages). There is no cost to the students, and we worked with a local moving company to do the moves at $75/piano. We have two piano labs on campus, one with new digital pianos and one with older (~10 years or so) instruments - we opted to go with the older instruments. I went through and sanitized each instrument prior to the move - students were encouraged to sanitize once the piano had been delivered as well.

    The overall process was pretty easy on my end.

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    Adam Schulte-Bukowinski, RPT
    Piano Technician
    Glenn Korff School of Music
    University of Nebraska at Lincoln
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  • 7.  RE: keyboard loans to students due corona virus shutdowns

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-01-2020 09:30
    At UMKC, the number 1 piano lab was mostly emptied and distributed to piano majors.

    There was considerable skepticism that the digitals would be good enough for piano majors, but one does what one can with the resources available:





    Sent from my iPad