In addition to his notable music career, pianist & composer James Carney has become one of the most highly regarded piano technicians and piano rebuilders in New York City. He began tuning pianos in 1994, and over the next fifteen years he carefully studied & practiced the technical aspects of piano regulation, repairs, rebuilding, voicing, and troubleshooting. He turned professional in 2008, and quickly amassed a large roster of private clients and high-end recording studios in NYC, including The Bunker, Big Orange Sheep, Brooklyn Recording, The Bridge Studio, The Samurai Hotel, The Power Station at BerkleeNYC, Sear Sound, Human Music & Sound Design, The Magic Shop, Douglass Street Records, The Loove, Strange Weather, Studio G, Yamaha Artist Services NYC, Systems Two, Skillman Music Studio, Pulse Music Studio, Manhattan Beach Recording, Grand Street Recording, and many others.
Since July 2020, he has owned and operated James Carney PianoWorks in Industry City, Sunset Park, Brooklyn; a full-service rebuilding shop that routinely replaces soundboards, bridgecaps, pinblocks, and backactions. The shop also specializes in sales of high-end performance pianos, custom action modifications, and custom hammer replacements.