The Yakima Symphony Orchestra

Posted by Luisa Sura on November 24th, 2018

One of the most versatile musical instruments there is the piano. The one reason is that this one instrument can contribute to many different types of music. It could be classical; jazz or pop and piano can find its place. It is also that one instrument that can fit any scenario. Be it a classroom or a concert hall, the piano just fits. In fact, you might also come across pianos in hotel lobbies. Such is the beauty of this instrument that has been creating music for centuries now.

Pianos are of course big. But that’s what makes it grand. Literally. At first, when you look at a piano, it might either be one huge piece of wood or a shiny object. But when you raise the key lid, you are introduced to 88 beautiful black and white keys. These keys are attached to the ‘harp’ of the piano that has almost 220 strings. They combine together to produce music that is always sweeter to the ears. In fact, some pianos require as much as 7,000 parts to be made.

The Yakima Symphony Orchestra is one of the popular orchestras in North America and takes place in the city of Washington. The beautiful orchestra that’s been happening for years now is unique because of the presence of two grand pianos in them. These two pianos are one of the key reasons why many attend the event. The Capitol Theatre lights up with the sound that’s generated from these pianos. Hence, the pianos are given special attention.

Dennis Franz is the person who is tasked with the job of keeping the piano in shape. He is the official piano tuner for the orchestra. The job of the tuner is to ensure that the piano produces sound perfectly. Since there are a lot of keys and a lot of strings, the tuner must ensure that the keys and strings are attached and the sound is produced at the right frequency. If the sound isn’t produced at the right frequency, the music won’t be right. Hence, the tuner must ensure that the piano is tuned well before the event.

For Dennis Franz, tuning a piano isn’t a big task. He has over 42 years in tuning the pianos. In fact, he’s tasked with tuning a minimum of 500 pianos every year. When computed, he’s tuned over 21,000 pianos over his life. So, it’s a task that he finishes in no time. He first tunes the piano for over a period of an hour. Then, he calls a piano soloist to play the piano to see if the tuning is done perfectly. If not, he again works on it until the piano is ready for the big concert. Once he’s done with the tuning, he starts working on the outlook of the piano by cleaning it and lubricating it.

Piano tuning is important to keep the piano great. It’s like a car service. Only then, will the piano work well. Talk with good agencies who tune the pianos. Some great agencies are in the Tampa Bay region.