The Piano Tuner 1

A New York Times Notable Book A San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, and Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year “A gripping and resonant novel. . . . It immerses the reader in a distant world with startling immediacy and ardor. . . . Riveting.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times In 1886 a shy, middle-aged piano tuner named Edgar Drake receives an unusual commission from the British War Office: to travel to the remote jungles of northeast Burma and there repair a rare piano belonging to an eccentric army surgeon who has proven mysteriously indispensable to the imperial design. From this irresistible beginning, The Piano Tuner launches readers into a world of seductive, vibrantly rendered characters, and enmeshes them in an unbreakable spell of storytelling.

In The Piano Tuner, Peter Meinke writes of the foreignness that awaits us when we go abroad and when we answer our own front door to admit a stranger, that confronts us in unfamiliar cities and villages and in the equally disquieting surroundings of our memories and regrets. Often in these stories, what seems a safe, comfortable environment turns suddenly threatening. In the title story, a writer's quiet existence amid his antiques and books is dismantled, piece by piece, by a demonic, beer-bellied piano tuner. In "The Ponoes," a man recalls how, as a young boy living in Brooklyn during World War II, he became a collaborationist in the brutal pranks of two Irish bullies. In "The Twisted River," the sedate collegiality of a Polish university is disrupted when an American on a Fulbright grant attempts to blackmail two faculty members. And in "The Bracelet," a young anthropology student doing field work in Africa finds herself drawn further and further into the role of a priestess of Oshun, into a life dictated by the configuration of cowry shells cast upon the floor. Meinke writes of a world where our control over our lives seldom exists across a border, and often extends no further than our fingertips. Attempts to bridge two cultures, two lives are sometimes successful, as when an actor finds love in the arms of a tough-talking barmaid, but more usually lead to disillusionment, as when a hard-drinking salesman's career is shattered after he is drunk under the table one night by a Polish engineer, or when an English father struggles to find common ground with his American son. Riveting, almost terrifying, the stories in The Piano Tuner tell of decent men and women caught in events that they could never have predicted, would never have chosen.

Provides all the information needed for restoring and maintaining pianos, both for professionals and amateurs.

Welcome to the humourous and adult world of Mr. D'elia, the Piano Tuner, as it leaps from the imagination of creator Ignacio Noe.

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The subject of this book is tuning theory and the integration of aural and electronic tuning techniques. All of the information presented will be analyzed from both aural and electronic perspectives, so that every technique used aurally will have an electronic equivalent, and every technique used electronically will have its aural test. The information is equally helpful for those who tune strictly by ear or exclusively with an electronic aid, and provides a firm understanding of the equivalent tests and procedures from both worlds for the growing number of tuners that use both their ears and an electronic aid.

Pianos Inside Out takes an in-depth look at the history, design, and maintenance of the piano, and provides practical guidance to anyone who wants to learn how to improve action performance, or tune, repair, regulate, voice, or rebuild pianos. Covering a wide range of topics, from introductory to advanced, the book puts between two covers all the advancements and understanding gained by the piano industry over the last 30 years, to provide a unified and coherent view of that much-needed information, from coincident partial tuning and interval inharmonicity, to touchweight analysis, string leveling, and the different types of modern lubricants. Although written for hobbyists, students, and piano technicians, Pianos Inside Out will also help pianists and owners of pianos to better understand their instruments and to communicate more effectively with their technicians. The book is full of clear, concise, step-by-step instructions, and more than 700 illustrations and diagrams.

“The natural tone of Nicky Gentil’s richly anecdotal narrative will delight not only pianists and jazz enthusiasts but anyone who just happens to like pianos in general.” - Cadence Info Magazine A collection of humorous, touching, unputdownable stories set in Paris, The Jazz-Girl, the Piano, and the Dedicated Tuner transports you into a feel-good world of jazz, pianos and the little-known art of piano tuning. An entertaining slice of life, regardless of whether or not you play a musical instrument, this book explores the world of Nina Somerville, an Englishwoman who - while others are going through a mid-life crisis - discovers by complete chance her true calling: jazz improvisation. In a bid to enjoy that passion to the full, she purchases the piano of her dreams - a Steinway baby grand - leading her to make yet another discovery: the intricate mysteries of the fascinating piano tuning profession. Against the backdrop of the Eiffel tower and the Champs-Élysées, from the quest for the perfect sound to an unexpected chance to perform in public, music takes Nina on a journey which is at times improbable and hilarious, but equally moving, not to mention extremely informative. Previously published in France, The Jazz-Girl has been greatly received, and has the interesting addition of being musically illustrated on the author’s YouTube channel with some characters playing pieces alluded to in the stories.

The new edition of the leading textbook and most comprehensive source available for both practicing piano tuners and academic researchers, on the theory and practice of piano tuning. By the former Royal National College lecturer in Piano Technology and Tuning Theory. 680 pages, with over 300 illustrations and tables. The book covers in-depth theory and practice from elementary to advanced level. It answers common questions raised by students of piano tuning about the actual soundscapes and behaviour of piano tone that are encountered in tuning practice. It is suitable for both students and professionals of piano tuning, general readers, and academics with interdisciplinary interests in the subject. Includes: Why we need skilled piano tuners Intonation and tone The distance between theory and the art Theory of sound Temperament theory Elementary "traditional" tuning and beat rate theory What contemporary acoustics reveals What attenuation is, and why it is so important Beyond the 19th century model - How "beating" and "beat rates" really work Beyond the 19th century model - How tempered intervals really behave in fine tuning False beat phenomenon and its influence The effects of bridge coupling How real tone- envelopes behave in fine tuning Inharmonicity and small piano syndrome What octave stretching is, why, and how it works Setting the pin - the theory behind it and how to practice it Scale plasticity, logic, and tuning technique Psychoacoustics and how to listen Contents: Acknowledgments Piano tuning and this book Part 1 - Background Theory The invisible art and science The essential ideas Sound Temperament Theory "Traditional" piano tuning theory and elementary practice The soundscape, spectrum and tone Partial decay patterns Part 2 - Fine Tuning Practice Unison Tuning Tuning the Scale Octave tuning Setting the Pin Setting the pitch Small piano syndrome Hearing The Kirk Experiment Part 3 - Advanced Theory The single piano string in one plane The Weinreich Model Two strings, two planes The Trichord Further comments on false partials Inharmonicity Glossary of key concepts Select bibliography