音乐学院 student piano techs collaborate to bring 雅典 County Public 库 baby grand piano back to life

今年春天, 俄亥俄州钢琴技师克里斯·珀迪's students had a unique opportunity to rebuild a piano that challenged their skills, benefited the community and will support the sustainability of a much loved local concert series all at once.

故事开始于Covid-19大流行之前, when the 雅典 County Public 库 (ACPL) had fostered a concert series arranged by Art in the 图书馆 Coordinator Todd Bastin. He explains the series featured OHIO 音乐学院 graduate students devoted to musical outreach to the general public and that it had been going strong until a planned 250th celebration of Beethoven’s birthday was cancelled in March of 2020.

大流行后的, 在捐赠了一架小型三角钢琴之后, 巴斯汀联系了音乐学院的一位教员 高速菲尔普斯 探索恢复这个系列. Enthusiastically she embraced a collaborative concert series with ACPL, but after inspecting the piano realized it needed repairs before the concert series could restart.

幸运的是，俄亥俄州有得天独厚的条件提供帮助. A plan was formed together with Purdy that if the library could pay for the materials, his student piano techs would use this as a learning exercise and provide the labor free of charge. ACPL同意, and an anonymous donor even paid for the transport of the baby grand to Purdy’s workshop in Glidden Hall. 

A mix of paid and volunteer work is available for students interested in learning the trade of piano tuning and repair, a unique opportunity within most university programs as these skills normally are obtained through both formal and informal apprenticeships in the industry. Purdy目前有11名学生和他一起工作, and with 116 pianos on campus they get plenty of opportunities to test their skills.

Purdy’s piano repair studio is equal parts classroom and elvish workshop. Everywhere there are strange and unique tools for piano repair, some clearly custom built by Purdy himself for the particular needs of a job.

Music student Allison Rollins works diligently at all the small mechanical needs of a hundred-year-old instrument surrounded by bits and pieces of the innards of what makes a piano sing along with the noises of tinkering hands bringing them back to life.

“我想学图书馆学, 所以两面我都喜欢, 我真的很兴奋这是给图书馆的,”罗林斯, 2024年谁将毕业, 说.

The ACPL’s baby grand piano suffered from a general need to recalibrate many of the small working hinges (known as flanges) which require adjustment to very particular specs and torque ratings to work properly, 所有新字符串, 以及其他需要注意的小病. 除了, there was also the more serious issue of the need to completely replace a cracked soundboard.

Purdy解释道, while a big portion of the interior of a piano is cast iron, capable of holding many tons of pressure cause by string tension, the wooden soundboard is susceptible to environmental damage.

“随着年龄的增长，胶水接头可能会受到损害, back then they used almost exclusively animal hide glues which are soluble in water or heat… so if the piano gets wet or extreme humidity fluctuations, 那些胶水接头可能会失效,珀迪说.

在这种情况下, 湿气把音板弄裂了, so students had the opportunity to nearly fully rebuild the piano over the course of the semester and for the benefit of the library patrons for many decades into the future.

Parts for such a unique instrument are often the first barrier to overcome. 弗朗西斯Zengle, 音乐表演专业的研究生, 解释说:“我们等了一段时间的零件, 所以(最初)我们能做的只有这么多.”

Zengle explains that parts for vintage pianos can come from commercial sources, 从废弃的钢琴上捡来的, 或者自己制作, 他们利用了“所有这些中的一点点”.”

While in the process of leveling the pianos back checks (these catch the piano hammer after a strike), 他宣, Ph值.D. 文科候选人, says she really appreciates this opportunity to learn from Purdy, explaining that her research includes a contemporary Chinese composer technique of generating sound inside the piano. She initially came to Purdy for help understanding this technique and “got very inspired and wanted to get my hands on how the inside (of a piano) works,导致他继续在调音车间学习.

类似的, 钢琴技术的同学威尔·凯勒, 市场营销和钢琴专业, expresses that this gives him a chance to explore the piano from a new angle.

“It’s so cool to learn about the instrument I play on all the time and get a better knowledge of what I’m doing,凯勒说.

Zengle, who already has an interview lined up with a Columbus area piano dealer and has applied to Steinway’s apprenticeship program as a result of her work with Purdy concurs.

“这是一个很酷的项目，”她补充说. “我很幸运能做这件事, 获得这种培训太难了, especially something as comprehensive as what we do here. I’d like to continue to do this work… there is always more to learn!”

Purdy encourages other OHIO students to consider his independent study. His students have gone on to careers in piano tuning and repair for universities, 制造商, 经销商和独立技术人员.

“这非常复杂, 但我开玩笑说这是一样的, 连续88次,珀迪说.

Bastin rounds out the discussion with a reminder of the community aspect of this partnership.

“Public libraries like to support uplifting experiences, and it’s great for our sense of mission if there can be an educational component, 而俄亥俄音乐学院提供了大量的音乐,他说.

To hear how successful the students were in their restoration, be sure to stay in touch with the 雅典 County Public 库 for more information on upcoming events on their calendar at myacpl.org.