Piano tuning and repair is the heart and soul of Grand Workshoppe Piano Co., Inc. Founded in 1979 by current owner Daniel Fusco, graduate of Perkins Institute of Piano Technology, Grand Workshoppe has been established as a leading piano service and rebuilding facility in Central New York State. As well, Grand Workshoppe is the parent entity of Three Rivers Music Products, a product line of American made high quality wooden music accessories with distribution throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

Background
   Piano Tuning and Repair as a profession is a blend of two distinctive fields - music and the manual arts. Since the age of five Daniel Fusco has been working in the trades and has possessed a strong affinity to music. The son of a highly skilled aviation tool and die maker Dan has worked hands on in the woodworking and metal arts. As well Dan has been involved with music from an early age playing woodwind instruments and piano. After a short stint in post high school traditional education Dan discovered the profession of piano tuning and repair. After graduating from the acclaimed Perkins Institute of Piano Technology in 1979 Dan spent three years traveling throughout the United States and Europe researching the art of piano building. During this period Grand Workshoppe Piano Co., Inc. was born. Back then piano rebuilding was not as well established as it is today. New instruments still sold for very affordable prices by todays standards and the old instruments of today were not really that old yet. Still Dan saw the growing need for a facility in Central, NY that was equipped and knowledgeable in the art of piano reconstruction. Taking what was learned from interns at various piano factories such as Chickering, Mason & Hamlin, Knabe, Steinway in NY as well as Steinway in Hamburg Germany, Renner in Stuttgart Germany and Pratt Reed action factories, as well as North Hudson Woodcraft, then a leading US manufacturer of piano hammer moldings and spruce soundboard panels as well as numerous other related industry sources for piano parts and supplies such as felts, leather, steel, and wood Dan designed original innovations for the applied trade of piano rebuilding. Many of these innovations are still employed today in the current facility and have been shared with other piano craftsmen through the USA.
   The client list has become vast ranging from world leading individual musicians such as Mistislav Rostropovich, Peter Gabriel, Ronnie Milsap, Kenny Rodgers, John Denver, Hank Jones, to name a few of the more famous, to leading university thought the country like Manhattan School of Music, Julliard School, Eastman School, and many many more. However Dan maintains to this day that his very most important client is the family with young children just beginning to explore music. Many of them have lower to moderate grade instruments that need to suffice on a budget. This is where the really art is applied, making this kind of instrument work, and work for a long time. A good piano technician has to role up his sleeves and get to work no matter who the client is or what kind of instrument they own. Dan says - "this is the challenge that keeps me going".
Pianos are amazing instruments that involve an eclectic array of industries like the forest industries, steel industries, felt, leather, ivory, plastic, chemical, and paint industries. Working in such a field is indeed something to be proud of.

Piano Care and Maintenance
   Once a piano is built it is never finished. This reality is true of every living thing. With continuous work and development people, animals, and plants will continue to improve. Well, your piano hangs with the same crowd. Pianos are living entities, responding to the environment around them and the care they receive. They sit patiently as generations pass before them absorbing the essence of Grand Parents, Children, Grand Children. They witness the best times of our lives and endure the hardship yet they remain faithful, enriched by the same passing of time as we ourselves are. This is why we love them so much. They are our living companions. They ask very little of us other than basic care and a good place to rest. What little we give to them is returned many times over.
   I can not think of a better investment than a quality piano. Challenged only by a good farm tractor, pianos return a value greater then the investment in them. The average lifespan of a piano is seventy years. However many one-hundred year old pianos are still in service offering yet another generation of children the chance to learn music. As well, a good quality instrument will generally maintain it's value and after a certain point appreciate.
   It has always been suggested by piano makers and technician that your piano be tune every six month. However the truth is that a piano will begin to go out of tune the moment the tuner puts away the tools. Piano tuning is not a finite science. There are many variables. Here's why. The average piano has approximately 38,000 to 40,000 pounds a tension collectively on it's structure. This is the aspect of torsional pull of all the strings. The other aspect is the downward pressure (or down bearing) on the soundboard equal to approximately 1000 pounds. Imagine an average size American Quarter Horse sitting in the center of your pianos soundboard for seventy years. Then add to the equation environmental changes in humidity and temperature. All this makes the piano a very heavy duty yet extremely sensitive living being.
   In Central NY we see indoor humidity variations ranging from 100 percent relative humidity to as low as 20 percent within the duration of our long heating season. The piano soundboard is a large thin panel of wood (preferably solid spruce) composed of edge glued fletches 4 and 6 inches wide and just about 3/8 of an inch thick supported by ribbing on the back side notched into the rim liner. This panel is highly responsive to humidity change. In conditions of 100 percent relative humidity the board swells to maximum crown. The opposite occurs when humidity reaches it's lowest point in a twelve month cycle. The key is to minimize this variation by controlling the relative humidity in the room where the piano is kept. It has been proved that 42 to 45 percent relative humidity is ideal for preserving most any organic substance whether it is the wood, felt, and leather of a musical instrument or the canvas and paint of great art work. In our region of the country this is best done by providing a source of moisture to the air during the heating season and removing moisture during the summer time. I am a strong advocate of treating an entire room in a homogeneous fashion and appose the installation of climate control systems directly to an instrument unless after careful study this is determined to be the only affective alternative. The very first step is to get a hydrometer and monitor the humidity conditions of your room. Once you know the conditions you are dealing with I suggest the following. Humidify during the heating season with a high capacity (5 to 6 gallons-a-day) room unit humidifier. Place the humidifier away from the piano allowing the moisture to blend with the rooms air before reaching the piano. In the case of a forced air heating system a furnace mount unit is an alternative. In any case monitor the hydrometer to gage the effectiveness of the treatment. Air condition to remove moisture during the humid summer season. Room unit dehumidifiers are not desirable within living space due to the emission of heat created from the compressor. Avoid placing the instrument near an open window or entry way which is frequently used. Do not place instrument in an area where at anytime during the day it will get hit by direct sunlight. Not only is this very damaging to the finish but it creates an unstable variation of temperature on a daily basis. Once again, monitor the hydrometer to gage the effectiveness of the treatment.
   All that being said I hope you can now see the importance of having your piano tuned every six month. Within this half year cycle your piano is at opposite extremes of the climate spectrum. By tuning every six month you will maintain stability with in the instrument's structure and maintain the proper pitch/tension level of the strings. If an instrument is not allowed to vary much from standard pitch than it will gain maximum stabilization and insure accurate, stable, longer lasting tuning. Time will become a friend to your piano instead of a foe.

I will continue to add to this discourse as time allows. There is much more I want to add, ie; tuning theory, more on how to care for your piano, how to buy/sell your piano, and much more. So please stay tuned...more to come!