"Voicing the Grand Piano"  DVD

   There's nothing like a good tuning to improve the way the piano sounds. But, if you really want to make the piano exciting to play, you need to know how to regulate the voice the piano. If the piano is too bright, you will need to understand how to soften the tone. If it's too soft, you need to brighten the tone. What about if the tone is uneven, or the tone just doesn't project or sing? How much do you think you could benefit by watching an experienced technician voice a piano from start to finish?

$49.00

"Aural Tuning"  DVD

   This DVD is nearly 2 hours long. From setting the first note with the tuning fork to tuning the final unison, you'll see how the information in the book is actually applied. You'll hear the "beats" while watching which notes and intervals are being played. I explain each step in the process. If your preparing to take your exam for the Piano Technicians Guild, or just interested to see how a piano is tuned, you will find this video very educational.  Watch, listen and learn!

$49.00

"Your Shop can make Keys"  DVD

   I’ve observed the piano business grow quite a bit over the last 35 years.  I remember the time when it was very unusual, when restoring a piano, to have a soundboard replaced. There were less than a handful of places outside of a piano factory that were capable of doing such work.

Today, there are any number of us that replace soundboards in their own rebuilding shops. I replaced my first soundboard in 1978, almost 30 years ago.

However, when it comes to restoring pianos; the keys, and sometimes the keyboard, has become the weak link in the chain. Many rebuilders are sending their keys and keyframes to those who specialize in making custom keys and keyframes. And I applaud that.

 As it has become more common for rebuilding shops to replace their own soundboards, I would venture to say we’ll see a time when it becomes more common to see these same rebuilding shops making their own sets of new keys and keyframes.

The DVD will briefly discuss grand action geometry, and how to make a side view drawing of a grand piano. It will even show you how to do this on a grand piano that is missing an action.

With the drawing in hand, you have a blueprint for building a set of keys for your piano.

You'll watch how I used common shop tools and some home made jigs to build a new set of keys for a piano in my shop. The principles and procedures that will be demonstrated are simple and relatively easy to follow. 

$36.00