DUTTON MUSIC SERVICES

There is a long tradition of horn players sidelining with other duties.  In my case, I also work on pianos.  My friend and mentor in this endeavor is Caesar LaMonaca.  Caesar tuned pianos concurrently with his career as a professional horn player in the Houston Symphony.  Caesar was not alone in this endeavor as Tom Newell also tuned pianos.  Caesar even had the pleasure (!) of tuning a piano for Stravinsky while he was in the next room....no pressure.  I find piano tuning to be an excellent exercise in honing my aural skills and as long as I don't make myself deaf in the process is a nice supplement to the horn. 

 

A well maintained piano is tuned regularly.  How often this actually is required is determined by humidity swings, how much the instrument is played (and how hard!), and how fastidious one is regarding the intonation.  I am also by request regularly tuning historical temperaments which gives completely revelatory impressions of period music.  Victorian well temperaments are pretty mild and Baroque mean-tone temperaments get kind of wild.  It just depends on one's tastes.

 

 

 

 

 

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