Every piano has a potential, my piano tuning/repair mentor Larry Keast is fond of saying, and that goes for even the most aged of instruments.
Well, some are hopeless, let’s be real. But, pianos are quite resilient and can remain (relatively) playable even as they get on in years.
Such is the case of the upright piano that sits in Camp Fire Central Coast’s Camp Fire Cabin at Buena Vista Park in Santa Maria. The building is one of the city’s historical sites of distinction, and was built in 1935. It was originally located on Santa Maria High School’s campus before it moved to Buena Vista to serve as headquarters for the Camp Fire Girls, which later welcomed boys as well.
The Camp Fire Cabin itself might be quite aged, but the piano has it beat. A Kingsbury model built by The Cable Company in Chicago a little more than a century ago, the poor thing has certainly seen better years.
I first became acquainted with the weathered instrument while covering an event that happened there, which included beautification of the building, grounds, and a supplement to the cabin’s outdoor school program. It’s also where I met Virginia Perry Souza, who volunteers for Camp Fire and the Buena Vista Beautifiers.
While there, I discovered her mother, Rena Perry, was also volunteering, and did so as a Camp Fire leader as well when Virginia was a little girl. Inspired by their spirit of volunteerism, I immediately offered to donate my skills as a piano tuner. The youngsters who learn and play there deserve an up-to-snuff instrument, in my estimation, and the giving and inclusive nature of the organization certainly inspired the sentiment as well.
Funnily enough, as often happens, both parties forgot about the offer for months and months. It was remembered, however, when Virginia asked me to perform for a recent holiday concert at the Camp Fire Cabin. Naturally, I didn’t want to play an out-of-tune instrument, so the offer was renewed and an appointment arranged.
Pianos are truly remarkable concatenations of simple machines, including numerous small wooden parts, pivoting pieces, and metallic parts as well. There wasn’t anything seriously wrong with the Camp Fire Cabin’s piano’s innards, save for a sticky key or two, so the focus was really on the tuning.
A good tuning takes time, more than an hour or two, and this piano hadn’t been tuned in quite some time. The aged strings—which might have been from when the piano was new—accepted their new tautness graciously; though we did lose a couple of the tarnished steal strings on the way.
The end result was heartening. Old pianos tend to get much brighter as time goes by. The felted hammers become more rigid and impacted from years and years of striking the same strings in exactly the same place. While some might find the sound obnoxious compared to newer pianos, it does give them a certain amount of character reminiscent of honky-tonks. It’s a sound that lends itself well to ragtime, old jazz, and other styles.
At the end of the day, my altruistic tuning was more than a little bit self-serving, I must admit. For one, I was going to play the piano days later, but secondly, my embarking on learning the trade itself comes from my desire to play all the pianos, old or new. It’s particularly edifying, though, when my interest connects me with an organization like Camp Fire, the generous volunteers there, and their rustically charming piano.
Arts Editor Joe Payne enjoyed tuning and performing on Camp Fire’s piano. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 14-21, 2016.