CAUT

  • 1.  reference check as reality-check opportunity for music administrators re: piano maintenance program

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 08-12-2022 15:35
    Greetings,

    I recently spoke with a music administrator from a major university about a trainee of mine who is applying for the piano technicians position. He stated by explaining that they had 70 acoustic keyboards, including harpsichords and fortepianos, and that it is a half-time position. I couldn't help myself: "Who thinks that THAT is realistic?" I blurted out. The response I received from him, fortunately for both of us, was, "Not me!"

    I went on to explain that the recommended ratio is 30 or so pianos per full-time tech (FTE). The administrator took careful notes as I explained that for a viable piano maintenance program, in addition to a reasonable pianos-per-tech ratio, support budget is needed for parts, supplies, tools, subcontracted piano work, refinishing, continuing education, etc. He thanked me. (YMMV)

    So if you are called upon to act as a reference for a former trainee/employee applying for work at a music school, please consider seizing the opportunity to take your interrogator by the hand and educate him/her as to what is professionally recommended and realistic where piano maintenance is concerned. If this ship can be turned, it will likely happen one degree at a time.

    Best,

    Alan

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    Alan Eder, RPT
    Herb Alpert School of Music
    California Institute of the Arts
    Valencia, CA
    661.904.6483
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  • 2.  RE: reference check as reality-check opportunity for music administrators re: piano maintenance program

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 08-12-2022 17:03
    Alan,

    Good post. Some newer technicians may have developed their skills enough to think that a university gig could be considered. But, as you rightly point out, they need to do some real soul searching and go into any interview with eyes wide open. I certainly had more than 30 pianos to take care of at Nebraska. How about 100? But i had a fairly substantial allotment of money to pay for some limited rebuilding and hiring local technicians for tuning mostly. I think I kept ahead of things fairly well. Concert pianos first, then piano faculty, then regular faculty, then classrooms, then practie room grands and uprights. Fortepiano and harpsichord use was manageable once I learned how to replace those strings that have smooth tapered pins without a becket hole (Among Nebraska's early instruments is their pedal clavichord, basically a custom-built instrument that consists of putting three clavichords together in one case, including a bass clavichord with pedals. Now there's a "fun" instrument to take care of.)

    At one point in my long NE service, I applied to another university position and was offered the job, at LESS money. The administrator smiled and told me how much the university job meant for getting outside work. I told her that I expect to make a good wage working the 40 hours that the university was going to pay me for. And what was going to happen in scheduling conflicts when I could make more money working private jobs? She was shocked when I turned the job down.

    Why is our work so under appreciated? Newbies don't seem to know what it takes to work at the highest level. And so they get suckered into university work, often at low pay and with high-stress concert work. But, it would all be worth it to get more high quality clients. Sounds good, doesn't it, Alan.

    The college and university guidelines booklet is for technicians first. Any technician needs to read that and lay it on the line with colleges who often may appreciate the importance of what we do, but aren't aware of how much money it should take to manage a multi-million dollar inventory and provide concert-level services.

    I end this email with a PTG related question. Is PTG going to be able to meet the training needs that will create capable technicians who can do justice to university employment? You certainly are doing your part where you work. Colleges and universities have great potential for training. And there are a few other shining lights on the hill (North Bennett, for example). Manufacturers may have to step up with more training. 

    PTG????????? It's struggling to find its way. The covid pandemic laid bare some issues that PTG is still dealing with.

    Richard West 





  • 3.  RE: reference check as reality-check opportunity for music administrators re: piano maintenance program

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 08-12-2022 18:02
    Richard said:
    At one point in my long NE service, I applied to another university position and was offered the job, at LESS money. The administrator smiled and told me how much the university job meant for getting outside work. I told her that I expect to make a good wage working the 40 hours that the university was going to pay me for. And what was going to happen in scheduling conflicts when I could make more money working private jobs? She was shocked when I turned the job down.

    I applied for another University job, too, which was for less money, but closer to our son. The director told me the same thing Richard just explained. So I flat out asked, "so what is your second job to support your position?"  End of conversation. 

    WIm



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  • 4.  RE: reference check as reality-check opportunity for music administrators re: piano maintenance program

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 08-13-2022 08:19

    Hi all, I'm enjoying reading your thoughts, as this topic has been on my mind for quite awhile. When I came to Northern Illinois University ( Wim's Alma Mater!) in 1983, I came to a full time position with over 120 pianos ( no one actually knew how many) paying an hourly rate of I think $15.35 an hour, plus benefits. After almost 15 years, I was up to $17/ hr, with a young family, working outside the university nearly as much as inside, and quite sick. I left, only to be called back 6 weeks later to a part time position, pay rate 3x previous ( but no benefits) and I chose which 1/3rd of the pianos I wanted to care for. By this time I had moved all of the Wurlitzer studios ( Hey, it is in Dekalb) off to non profits, so the inventory was down to 95 pianos. I was working about 35-40% FTE, but now I had help, all rebuilding work was outsourced except action replacement, and I could live with the combined income from NIU and other work. I still probably worked close to 60 hours a week, but I think that is genetic.  

    Over time, the other guys left, but my hours and hourly rate gradually went up, I got to be super efficient, and helpfully for me the school was going through other issues so the faculty weee just grateful for whatever I could do. In such a situation it is easy to get complacent, and I did. However, I did get woken up from that by a director who knew his stuff and knew I could do better. 

    I've now been there 39 years  as of 9/3. I recently helped write the NASM review portion relating to pianos, and in it I wrote that by the time I am ready to be done, within the next ten years, the position needs to go back to being a full time position. I have started pushing up the hours on the contract, which together with some donor money means that they now pay about 75% of my hourly outside rate, and for about 60% FTE hours, plus the school has started a one per year annual rebuilding program with outside rebuilders. Due to donations that came in during Covid, the inventory is now back to 120 pianos, and donor money is paying for me to do action replacement work at the rate of several per year, so it is a pretty healthy inventory. It helps that I know the pianos really well, but even I will slow down over the next 5-6 years. 

    my goal is to push the hours up to about 65-70% FTE  and 80% of outside rate. That will allow the school to make the case that they have the funds to bring in a new tech with some experience to take over Full time, to take the pianos on into the future. I thought about trying to get several SoMs to join together and bring North Bennet students to Illinois to work for a year at each of several universities, haven't come up with funding for that yet. It would bring in well trained additions to the talent pool. We'll see. In any case, I will gratefully accept any advice from those who have done things like this. I have now successfully handed off a number of large long term profession positions like Lyric Opera, now done after 40 seasons, but this is different, or feels different, to me. Your thoughts? Sorry for the long post.



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    David Graham,RPT
    Graham Piano Service, Inc
    Sycamore IL 60178
    815-353-5450
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  • 5.  RE: reference check as reality-check opportunity for music administrators re: piano maintenance program

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 08-13-2022 11:46
    David,
    I think that we are at the point where finding a piano technician with the skills needed for a university is becoming an emergency from the point of view of music departments. Positions are being advertised and getting no applicants. It would make sense for NASM to get involved in facilitating training programs, along the lines of apprenticeships. This could be structured in such a way that the schools got the benefit of extra work being done on their pianos, something like the Steinway at Oberlin program. 

    Funding and salaries are separate but equally important issues. I think the most practical solution is self-generated funding for pianos (both purchase and maintenance), via student fees of one sort or another. It has worked well at the University of New Mexico. 

    It is very difficult to find funding for ongoing maintenance from central admin or from donors. Purchasing brand new instruments is a much easier sell. But then where are you even only a few years down the road? And did you have someone with the skills to prep those new instruments to start with? 

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




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  • 6.  RE: reference check as reality-check opportunity for music administrators re: piano maintenance program

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 08-13-2022 17:57
    Hi, Fred, Kevin, David, Alan, et al,

    This post gets long, even for me. If you want major points, they are these:

    1. ...there were times when I had to admit to myself that I needed help to work at a higher level, and then I had to go find that help.
    2. The pattern I'm seeing seems to indicate that there are inflection points that can make or break a technician or a university position. Is CAUT/PTG doing enough to help technicians improve and have success?
    3.  University work isn't for everyone and some universities have poor programs.
    4. I have had a reluctant journey with PTG, but it has been worth it. It can make all the difference.

    Part i-the pattern:
    I'm seeing a pattern in this discussion. I would venture to say that few technicians are fully qualified to do university work, especially at the concert level. It seems that mid-level technicians reach a point that taking on university work would seem beneficial to all parties. As is often the case, pay is less because the possibility for better (higher paying) outside customers seems promising. Working in academia gives a technician some status. Unfortunately that status and the hoped-for customer base is too often a carrot that universities take advantage of and technicians are all too eager to fall for. I was lucky at NE; the salary was adequate by itself. I rarely took outside work And I had university money to spend on pianos. But there were times when I had to admit to myself that I needed help to work at a higher level, and then I had to go find that help.

    So, I have questions. How can CAUT improve its reach to help mid-level technicians reach higher? We literally have "practice room" pianos at our disposal to practice on. How can PTG help beginners to see how important it is to just get through the exams to even call themselves "mid-level technicians." (Here, I have to put in a plug for aural tuning. It's absolutely necessary for our work at any level) . The pattern I'm seeing seems to indicate that there are inflection points that can make or break a technician or a university position. Is CAUT/PTG doing enough to reach out and guide technicians when they hit a wall?

    Part II of my personal story
    So we take the job and promptly discover that our technical skills and experience might be lacking, or that our organizational/management skills might fall short. I started at NE with one year of piano tech schooling and a few years of private work in association with a music store. But, I have to say that my first five years at Nebraska were definitely stressful. One case in point was I put on a new set of hammers on a Steinway B that really needed something to give it boost. The new hammers were soft and I hadn't had enough experience to make it right. The piano was better, but I was expecting a bigger difference. The piano faculty seemed happy, so there was that. 

    Also, in that 5-year period I had to learn harpsichord maintenance. PTG classes were very helpful, but just being forced to deal with the requirements of the job was probably the biggest teacher and push that expanded my skills. But setting your sights higher doesn't automatically mean you'll get there quickly. At one point I actually worked myself up to an anxiety attack and went to the emergency room thinking I was having a heart attack. I wasn't, but I was just totally stressed.

    That changed my life. The first couple of years my work was apparent and appreciated, but it was hard for me to accept that, until I gave myself permission to relax and, yes, keep working to meet the standards I set for myself. Any new job comes with anxiety. But I finally had to say to myself, I'm busting my butt for these guys. If I'm not doing good enough work, they can fire me. That gave me breathing space for the next 25 years of employment at NE. It was a great gig. 

    I see a similar pattern with other CAUT techs. University work isn't for everyone and some universities have poor programs. But, if it is your niche, and you have reasonable support as a colleague, manager, and competent technician, there's a lot to recommend that niche. Sometimes I had to admit that I needed help and I had to go and get it. Improvement was important, but not at the expense of my health.

    PTG played a part in helping me improve. it wasn't a major part especially at first. We had many chapter meetings in my shop and we had regionals; I got involved mostly to fulfill my university obligation for service to the "community." Interacting with each other and with visiting technicians turned out to be invaluable. Folks took time to mentor me. I not only improved, but made a lot of good friends along the way. I have had a reluctant journey with PTG, but it has been worth it. It can make all the difference.

    Richard West





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  • 7.  RE: reference check as reality-check opportunity for music administrators re: piano maintenance program

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 08-13-2022 08:55

    Good for you Alan! Thanks for being upfront and a little "bold". This is what is needed. We must all keep trying to do all we can to help educate & spread the realistic truth. 

    Richard, great discussion. Texas Tech also had 100 pianos, AND two "extra" recital halls…the University theatre in the next building over hosted several gigs such as Jazz groups coming in from up north, etc, etc.-Steinway D.  The second was an off-campus venue..an old Presb Church downtown converted to a nice recital hall with another Steinway D. 

    I never really could keep up with all the needs/requests/practice grands, etc. We hired an older tech who was not an RPT but was actually a pretty good tuner. We had him do 15 to 20 tunings at the beginning of each semester-climate control in the building was Abysmal. I became increasingly miserable as the years went by…never received a raise more than about a buck fifty an hour total during my 10 years there. I have no regrets but it was an incredible "education" in more ways than one. I'm working at another small university here in East Texas, all contract work…mostly regulations, voicing and a bit of finish touch-up. It's a "dream" really…don't think I can ever go back.  



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    Kevin Fortenberry
    Registered Piano Technician
    Longview, TX 75602
    806-778-3962
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