Piano Technicians Guild
SCRC Regional Conference

For the first time in a long time, SCRC is offering three all-day-long classes on Thursday . These extra cost classes allow extended learning in three unique subject areas.

• Focus on You - with Tim Barnes
• Under the Lid: The Art and Craft of the Concert Piano Technician - with Steve Brady
• Polyester and Lacquer Repair - with Mike Ello

You will have to choose the one most important to you!

Check for updates periodically.

Focus on You - A Business Masterclass with Tim Barnes
All-Day-Thursday Class - Extra Cost

Tim Barnes

Every business has strengths and weaknesses. This engaging all day class is going to start off talking about broad topics related to building and managing a piano service business, but it will end on a highly personalized note. Instead of covering a bunch of broad topics which may or may not be what you need, we will be focusing this class on you. Every participant will be given a personal survey to complete before the class that identifies what will serve you the best and we will focus the class time on these topics in an engaging and interactive way. At the end of the class, you will have a personalized roadmap for the things you should focus on to build a better business over the next 12 months.

Under the Lid:
The Art and Craft of the Concert Piano Technician
All-Day-Thursday Class - Extra Cost

Steve Brady RPT

Preparing the Concert Piano--An Overview 90 minutes
A proven routine for working with concert pianists plus a pre-concert checklist that will help eliminate worry. Specific tips on tuning for concerts are included.

Regulating for the Artist 90 minutes
With material from the book, Under the Lid, this class covers the points of regulation that matter most to the concert artist.

The Art of Tone Regulation 90 minutes
With material from the book, Under the Lid, this class presents approaches to voicing both hard-pressed and soft-pressed hammers, with specific emphasis on concert work.

Zen and the Art of Concert Prep 90 minutes
Including material from the book, Under the Lid, this class explores the subtle psychological relationship between the technician and the concert artist from the perspective of the Zen artist. The human side of concert work.

Polyester and Lacquer Touch up
All-Day-Thursday Class - Extra Cost

Mike Ello RPT

High Gloss piano finishes have become very common in the United States. Why not learn how to repair scratches, chips, and dings in these pianos and make some extra money. There are still lacquer finished pianos out there also. Learn how to be one of the few that can perform touch up service on them. Mike Ello, RPT has been performing polyester and lacquer touch up service for over twenty years. He will be offering instruction from easy repairs to advanced. Finally, Mike will be sharing how to easily sell touch up work at every tuning appointment and thereby cultivating new income!

End of Extra Cost Thursday Class Descriptions

David Andersen

A lot of incredible career opportunities have come my way because I could tune a piano to sound better, more musical, than the last person. It’s opened many doors to me over a four-decade career. I have made it my business and pleasure to break down my protocol for a great tuning into super-simple, easily heard and understood parts, instantly useable no matter what tuning method you employ. Your ears are the final judge of a tuning. No question. I’ll show you ways to immediately increase your precision, focus, and “musicality.” I’ll show you a brand new way to look at tuning fourths and fifths, and how it could literally change your work life. I’ll show you a way to achieve those absolutely still, “bursting with sustain” unisons that thrill us when we hear them. Dead simple tools. NOT EASY; that's where the craft, the challenge comes in. Come and join me, out on the high-end edge, where the inspiration is, the fun is, the money is.

David Andersen

When a good piano technician with good skills JUST tunes, he or she loses tremendous opportunities.

Complete piano service —bringing a piano somewhere close to its maximum function, and keeping it there---is a road to personal and financial success in our business. I will give you powerful tools, internal and external, to make it easy and enjoyable to leverage the trust your clients have in you into repairs, regulation, and voicing on their piano.

I will show you and tell you how to move past your fear around this—the fear is the shadow, and you, the good technician and good human being, are the sun. Come join me for a lot of value and a lot of fun….

AND A BONUS: in the last part of the class, I will give you a 6-pack of what I call “$10,000 Tips”, tried and true piano protocols you can immediately use to raise your game…see ya there, my friends...

Christian Bolduc

Is having to pull the plate putting you off? Christian demonstrates an easy way to replace split bridge caps on uprights without using epoxy or other glues to fix bridge pin problems. Learn how to build a jig over the plate to remove the old cap and glue the new one on. This technique can also be applied to grand pianos. DVD of the class available.

Chris Brown RPT

The Grandwork Regulation Protocol guides grand regulating in a straight line from piano to bench to piano – eliminating circles of refinement and rework. The consistent and methodical success of this system promotes confidence and the enthusiasm to sell this work. Then moving to the TPR Tools booth in the Exhibit Hall, Chris will proceed with the following sequential topics:

• Short and Long Form Keyframe Bedding – 1.5 hrs
• Bedding and Strike Sampling in the Piano – 1.5 hrs
• Bedding and Strike Setup on the Bench – 1.5 hrs
• Vertical Parts Prep: Balance and Simplicity – 1.5 hrs
• Hang Hammers Vertically at Strike – 1.5 hrs
• Fast and Accurate Bench Regulating – 1.5 hrs
• Action Installation and String-to-Hammer Mating – 1.5 hrs

Each class has stand-alone merit, so please pick and choose what interests you most. Or attend the entire sequence for a more detailed presentation of how this method works – the Grandwork protocols and an outline of the classes may be downloaded from tprtools.com. Along the way, Chris will also note how this work may be executed on your bench, with your tools, and a little elbow grease. Thanks to Ray Kampermann, RPT, we will have use of a Hailun grand piano and his Regulation Station Deluxe!

David C. Brown RPT

I will take a full service grand appointment and break it down from start to finish. My concentration will be on reducing friction and unwanted noises in the action cavity, easing action removal and replacement and eliminating complications from the pedals up. Common sense ideas for eliminating lyre / pedal/ trap work problems and a cohesive approach to solving many issues quickly and completely in the home. Correct parts usage and proper lubricants will also be covered. Maximize your income potential by collaborating with existing clients to improve this all too often overlooked aspect of grand service.

Charles Ball RPT

In this class we will explore together ways that we can expand a routine tuning or repair call into a full maintenance service call or program, focusing especially upon grand piano reconditioning. Along these lines, we will discuss piano owner education; full range service, maintenance and care, including tuning, repair, regulation, voicing, cleaning, finish repair and restoration, and rebuilding; and additional products and services, such as humidity control, dollies, covers, caster cups and service contracts. Finally, we will look at how we can sell auxiliary services and products, not only to private clients, but also to educational institutions, piano dealers, and arts organizations, drawing upon the sales knowledge and experience of class participants.

Tim Barnes RPT - Charlotte, NC

How do you successfully market your company in today's world? More importantly, where do you focus your time and energy? Few piano technicians have a marketing department so where do you focus your marketing resources and how do you maximize its impact? In this class we will discuss strategies for building a marketing presence that works. We will cover Websites, Facebook, Online Reviews, Social Media, Youtube, Blogs, and all things digital.

Tim Barnes RPT - Charlotte, NC

If you are trying to making a living as a piano technician, you need Gazelle. The Gazelle Network is a new software that enables you to manage your business on the go. Gazelle will save time and increase your revenue. Spend less time in the office, less time in the car, as you automatically remind clients their piano(s) are due for service and watch as they self schedule their own appointments using Gazelle's SMART Scheduler. Managing clients, pianos, and calendars for one or more technicians is what Gazelle does best. This class will be focused on showing you how Gazelle can transform your life by helping you focus on the things you love. Gazelle will enable you to spend your time servicing pianos and caring for people rather than playing phone tag and doing office work.

Steve Brady RPT

IInterested in adding more income from your existing clientele? Interested in making more money while tuning less? Here are five simple services you can provide that your customers will love you for.

Melanie Brooks

What areas of your business do you need to "cultivate"? Focusing on technical skills, we often lose sight of the costs of doing business. Join us in a group discussion as we define what your time is really worth and how to build a road map to a successful business plan. Defining practical strategies to make savvy business decisions will help you realize your goals.

Melanie Brooks and Darren Speir, RPT

As independent technicians we have the unique ability to create and control the scope of our business. Outsourcing and add-ons allow us to provide a portfolio of "full service" technical support.

Join us in a collaborative discussion to create our own "portfolio". How do you identify and educate your client about the needs of their piano? How do you support the sale of services and products while meeting the needs of the pianist, the piano and the platform in which it is played. How can you expand your portfolio into a "full service" technician.

Jim Geiger RPT

The Great bulk of American pianos built between 1940 and 2000 were spinets and consoles. With the influx of good pianos at reasonable prices from foreign countries, these pianos have a very limited value, but they are still in use and need repair. This class centers on how to do these repairs and services at an affordable cost to the client, and still make money for the technician. A 90 minute class and 90 good ideas – – there will be no sleeping in this class!

Kelly Hollifield & Charles Rempel

Enrich your understanding of what Humidity is and how it affects pianos. Learn how to effectively communicate these topics with your customer. When they grasp the significance of these issues, their appreciation and value of your work with their instrument grows. Become your customer’s trusted resource for mitigating issues caused by humidity fluctuations and extremes.

Stephen J. Hopp RPT

Learn comprehensive ways to diagnose problems all customer pianos present when we come for the standard tuning visit. Go beyond sticking key repair and learn to explain problems customers may or may not be aware of. Stay within your comfort zone or branch out into areas of piano work that may be new to your skill set. Come away with the most important sales tool you have - YOU!

David Reed RPT

This is not a demonstration, but an overview of what the Japanese MPAs do when they come work on each Shigeru piano in the customer''s home (one appointment is provided by Kawai for each piano), and how each of us can continue this high-level servicing by offering full service appointments to our customers. David speaks about prioritizing your work, planning to spend time on the areas that will have the most impact on performance, regulation, tuning, and voicing, with some useful tips that can help any piano perform and sound better. This class will challenge you to raise the level of service you provide, and provide a lot of useful tips for making heavily used newer pianos perform at their best.

Priscilla Rappaport RPT

Pianos need quality piano service by competent and knowledgeable technicians. This class will cover topics that include aural tuning, basics in action regulation, repairs and customer relations. Good skills and a thorough knowledge of your work will blend together to develop a strong business and a sound reputation. There is a secret to that!

Nate Reyburn RPT, Dean Reyburn, RPT

Mastering speed and artistry together opens new doors for working with customers and their pianos. We’ll cover CyberTuner’s basics in this class, but you’ll also get a chance to see how CyberTuner is amazing at quick, accurate pitch raises, how to converge the ear’s aural preferences with the machine’s digital decision making, and why everyone says the pure 12ths tuning style makes pianos so happy.

Nate Reyburn RPT, Dean Reyburn, RPT

This class introduces ways to cause stress on your body using our most common tools like impact hammers and rigid levers. We’ll look at lots of exciting ways we loose income by shortening our careers, causing pain, and limiting our finesse every day! Seriously though, using the right tools (including our bodies) the right way is crucial whether you're just starting out or have been tuning for years. We'll cover the basics as well as some advanced tips, then offer hands-on instruction.