Helping make heavenly tones

There are a lot of talented pianists in the Grand Falls-Windsor area - but only one piano tuner.

He's Ralph Angel, and he's been tuning pianos for more than 35 years.

While he's the one that schools, churches and residents call on when they need their piano tuned - unlike a guitar or other stringed instrument, the piano is not something you can just "do at home" unless you're a piano tuner. Mr. Angel is also the one that organizers of the Central Newfoundland Kiwanis Music Festival call on when they need the pianos serviced that will be used at the various events.

Of course, that includes the concert grand piano at the Gordon Pinsent Centre for the Arts.

He first got into tuning pianos through a friend he went to school with who was a musician. The two tinkered with his friend's piano "a little bit" and in the early 1970s, the friend started a music business in St. John's.

To learn the ins and outs, or more appropriately, the sharps and flats of tuning a piano, the friends obtained some books and learned the process.

"I guess I'm 90 per cent self-taught," said Mr. Angel.

He used to work at the paper mill but retired five years ago.

Mr. Angel has tuned pianos for visiting musicians, as well, including some who have come to play at the Salmon Festival. For example, he was tuning a piano for the Barenaked Ladies to use; while he was doing that, he looked up to find one of the Ladies behind him.

He's been tuning the festival pianos for several years. He usually carries out a preliminary tuning for the instruments about two weeks before the start of the festival. Then just before the start of the festival, he checks the tuning on the pianos.

When it comes to pianos, every instrument is different. Some pianos may not be as "stable" as others in terms of their tuning; others haven't been tuned at all for a while and can be more difficult for the piano tuner.

Grand pianos come in different sizes, from the smaller ones, often nicknamed "baby grands," to straightforward grand pianos that are larger. Then there's the concert grand, bigger than a regular grand piano. That's the model in use at the Gordon Pinsent Centre for the Arts.

They're also easier, for the most part, to tune than upright pianos. The structure of a grand, with the hinged top that lets a person easily view the strings, is easier for a tuner to get at.

"With the grand piano, you don't have to compromise on the sound."

As for his own keyboarding skills? He can play a bit, but not a lot. His instrument is the guitar. But as for piano playing skills?"

"I'm like a mechanic who's a lousy driver," he laughed.