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Giving credit where credit due

  • 1.  Giving credit where credit due

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-02-2021 07:32
    List
    Just watched a fantastic movie " Nomadsland" the other evening.  Probably the most enchanting part of the movie was not the script and acting (although excellent), was the music. Specifically, much of the music featured one of the most cleanly tuned and voiced pianos I've heard in a long time.  Anyone on this list responsible for that work? Kudos!  My guess is it was a Bosendorfer grand. At any rate, I always like to check the credits, especially if the music was fantastic.  The thorn in the side is no mention at all as to who the musicians were, and to my point, who the piano technician was.  For a project where the piano really stole the show, you would think some credit was due.
    I'm always sadden that our industry continually gets overshadowed by the 3rd and  4th secondary hairdressers, and just about everyone else associated with the film production. But the music production side of it, forget about it!  The music production director usually get a mention, but that usually about it. 
    How has this practice of not giving credit to those musicians (and piano technicians) who poured the heart and soul into a project, and not get any credit.  Is it because we are not unionized, and the screen actors guild is?
    Anyhow, just ranting.  The last time my blood boiled over was when the "Kings Speech" came out. Again, a beautifully tune and voiced piano stole the show. And again, no mention to the source of the beauty.
    Tom Servinsky

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    Tom Servinsky
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  • 2.  RE: Giving credit where credit due

    Posted 05-02-2021 10:39
    Could be that, with the exception of musicians, many folks seem to experience music as wallpaper...as inspired by the mind numbing ubiquitousness of elevator music. Its everywhere. However, though that may be the experience of many, especially with music on screen, take away the music and see what's left on the screen.  Along those lines... I can't watch monster movies...too upsetting. However, turn off the sound, and I have no problem...well actually, the whole thing looks pretty silly. The music is essential, but curiously invisible to many.


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    Jim Ialeggio
    grandpianosolutions.com
    Shirley, MA
    978 425-9026
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  • 3.  RE: Giving credit where credit due

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-02-2021 12:33

    Jim,

    I share your interesting observation about music and media. I have observed a somewhat opposite reaction to music in the public view. I am an audiophile and often take my high-end sound system deep into the mountain forests to connect (mostly) classic music to nature. I have found that people (even non-classical music enthusiast) react very positively to music we classical enthusiast wound normally consider to be overexposed "war horses", and even more positive to off-center musically attractive pieces.

    Roger



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    Roger Gable
    Gable Piano
    Everett WA
    425-252-5000
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  • 4.  RE: Giving credit where credit due

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-02-2021 15:01
    Tom - 
    Thanks for the heads-up vis a vis Nomad - I watched some of it but maybe after too long of a day.  I notice pianos in media all the time and have had the same desire to know more of the specifics of what and who.  You are most probably correct about the union thing, but it's interesting to consider that it might actually be more complicated... like, how many other support personnel are also excluded from credit? what might the legal and fiduciary ramifications be for giving credit? what if it turns out that it's all just ONE GUY... you know?
    This would definitely be an interesting project to research, not for the least of reasons of what impediments might be encountered.
    I'll see if it's still on Netflix.

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    David Skolnik [RPT]
    Hastings-on-Hudson NY
    917-589-2625
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  • 5.  RE: Giving credit where credit due

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-02-2021 23:13
    FWIW The Score for Nomadland was recorded by Ludovico Einaudi. Einaudi is a Steinway artist. It wasn't eligible for a best score Oscar because the music wasn't written specifically for the film. Director Chloé Zhao chose the music to use in the film. The tracks used in Nomadland come from several different Einaudi albums recorded at his home in Italy, AIR studios in London, Schloss Elmau in Germany and one or three or five more places. Getting an album credit as a piano technician is pretty rare but does happen occasionally.

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    Karl Roeder
    Pompano Beach FL
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  • 6.  RE: Giving credit where credit due

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-02-2021 23:51
    FWIW Indeed!  
    You know, maybe we have this wrong. Somehow, we're envisioning one guy who built the piano, chipped it, did the exquisite damper installation, regulated & voiced it, moved it, and tuned the session.  If not, those other guys  deserve credit as well.  Oh, and if the tuner happened to employ a ETD, the manufacturer of that item should also get a credit.   
    We , as a craft, have already achieved the pinnacle of broad cultural acknowledgement:

    This entourage is getting way too big. We're one day away from an omelet chef and a piano tuner.
    Amy
    VEEP S3 Ep6 

    The rest is icing.

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    David Skolnik [RPT]
    Hastings-on-Hudson NY
    917-589-2625
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  • 7.  RE: Giving credit where credit due

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-03-2021 10:24
    Getting credit for the piano technician is long overdue. I work in a large recording studio and have managed to get album credit on 4 albums out of the hundreds I have worked on. I got those credits through the “production coordinator”. I have a relationship with her because she handles all of this producer’s projects. We only get credits if we negotiate for it with the performance venues that we service. Facilities are tighter with allocating credits than they are spending money;-)

    I have lobbied Jaxsta, the company that is organizing production sheets for recording studios to create a line for the “piano technician” just as they now have lines for first and second engineers. It is an uphill struggle, but is something that the Home Office should be working on. This should be a higher priority than many of the other tasks that their time is committed to. It would enhance the reputation of our profession.


    Sent from my iPad
    CarlPianoTech.com




  • 8.  RE: Giving credit where credit due

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-03-2021 11:46
    Carl is right. However, this is something that needs to be asked for. If one doesn't ask the answer is always no.

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    Larry Messerly, RPT
    Bringing Harmony to Homes
    www.lacrossepianotuning.com
    ljmesserly@gmail.com
    928-899-7292
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  • 9.  RE: Giving credit where credit due

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-03-2021 13:30
    Carl -
    I was being flip (though I still treasure the quote), but am wondering if you could get any more specific as to the types of and reasons for the resistance.  It might also help to clarify any unique situations you have or differences in your own recording experience that might make certain circumstance more likely to credit than others. 
    Realistically, while theoretically logical, I don't think there's currently any leverage or appetite for the Organization to weigh in on this.  It's your negotiation.

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    David Skolnik [RPT]
    Hastings-on-Hudson NY
    917-589-2625
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  • 10.  RE: Giving credit where credit due

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-04-2021 05:36

    The important elements we bring to the live performance is vital to the performance and should not be overlooked. Just witnessing the concerns from the heads of many venues and recording studios as to who does their work. They totally get the importance of what we bring to their projects. And this is not an ego issue, but more of basic fairness. The venues get it, as do the touring artists who go from one venue to another.  If your work measures up, by all means, you've earned the right to be credited for your work.

    I have a standing verbal agreement with my concert venues and recording studios.  I get a mention for the exclusive recordings when a full CD is being recorded, and/or if the piano is being used as a solo, I get a mention in the program. I'm not looking for royalties, just some basic recognition of my involvement in this performance/recording.  The main recording studio that I work at has a very nice Yamaha C7 that I've groomed to an incredible level. The piano is the reason why so many jazz artists, as well as notable like Celine Dion,  have decided to make that studio their home studio. The shear revenue that studio has enjoyed is largely due to that particular piano.

    And to the comments about our former PTG boards not seeing the wisdom in promoting our profession in this matter is beyond practical common sense.  Talk about shooting one's self in the foot...   Maybe this is where the conversation needs to be addressed.

     

     

    Tom Servinsky 

    Registered Piano Technician

    Concert Artist Piano Technician

    Director/Conductor- Academy Orchestra

    Assist. Conductor-Treasure Coast Youth Symphony

    Clarinetist-Atlantic Classical Orchestra

    tompiano@tomservinsky.com

    Website: tomservinsy.com

    772 221 1011 office

    772 260 7110 cell

     






  • 11.  RE: Giving credit where credit due

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-05-2021 11:01
    Not sure if everyone knows about this search engine to look up credits on recordings:

    https://www.allmusic.com/artist/carl-lieberman-mn0003170491

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    John Minor
    The Piano Shop Inc
    Champaign IL
    thepianoshopcu@gmail.com
    www.thepianoshopcu.com
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