George really is the sweetest thing. My dad thinks it's annoying that someone so bratty ended up with someone like George. I see where he's coming from; the truth is I never had to learn all the things he thought I would, like how to be nice.
On Sundays this month, I play for a church service in the morning and then take a 50 minute drive into Wimberley to play for the pre-show of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. The day started with George driving me to the church even though he didn't need to be out. While I played, he went to Central Market to buy me all the fruits I had been talking about: peaches, apples, pears, and cherries. He came to pick me up bringing a breakfast taco from my favorite place. Even so, he came in for the potluck luncheon at my request and dropped a donation in the bucket for the both of us. I ate two heaping plates to the amusement of those around me.
As George drove me into Wimberley, I talked his ear off about the cravings I had been dreaming about during the sermon, like macaroni and cheese, lasagne, queso, and pizza. Always supportive, he sat backstage next to the piano at the playhouse. While he listened, he secretly ordered tickets for us to see the only movie I'm interested in, Brave, at the Alamo Drafthouse that evening. On our way back into Austin, he surprised me by pulling into the frozen yogurt stand I had been wanting to try. After that, he took me to Barton Springs for a refreshing swim, even though he had to wear a shirt in the water to protect his healing tattoo from the sun. Then he told me how beautiful he thinks I am (maybe a thousand times) and took me out to the movies. And what did he order for us? Fries with queso and green chile mac & cheese.
24 June 2012
13 June 2012
Our House
Madness' Our House was the 5th UK single when I was 3 months old.
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...Our mum, she's so house proud,
Nothing ever slows her down,
And a mess is not allowed,
Our house, in the middle of our street,
Our house, in the middle of our,
Our house, in the middle of our street,
Our house, in the middle of our...
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(We moved from 3809 S Congress Ave, Apt 124 78704)
09 June 2012
177448 (8/9)
Friday, 4 May 12
It was another day with hide glue. After I re-polished the damper wires, I attached the damper felts to the damper heads. The felts are so pretty. Celeste and I think they look like candy, and we want to eat them.
Friday, 11 May 12
I did another leveling of the keys and glue-sized the glide bolt holes. Glide bolts lessen the friction between the key frame and the keybed, so they're really important. "Glue-size" means to saturate a hole with diluted glue for a tighter fit.
Much of the day was spent finishing and re-installing the trapwork, which I started on Sep 16th (Part II). At that time, I had replaced the felt punchings and cleaned up the wood, screws, springs, and pins. This time, I glued new leather to the levers, lubricated the springs, and used a forstner bit in the drill press to cut a hole for the sostenuto rod. I think forstner bits are beautiful.
The picture below shows the levers mounted onto the underside of the piano. The three tan shapes are thick pieces of leather that will touch the pedal rods. If you look closely, you can see that I shaped these with a sharp chisel. The most circular one on the left is for the left pedal, also known as the una corda pedal. The middle pedal is the sostenuto, and the right pedal is the damper. If you don't play the piano, there's a small lecture for you under the picture.
Friday, 18 May 12
I "roughed in" the let-off and drop, which means I adjusted these two things in an unrefined manner. I'm not even sure they were "working" on all 88 keys. The let-off is the point in the action where the hammer no longer touches the wippen jack, and flies freely into the string. Because this should happen close to the strings, we used the metal bar shown in the picture below to approximate string height. The let-off distance is controlled by the height of the let-off buttons, which is adjusted by let-off screws. These are the metal hook-like circles protruding above the rail, and the longer tool with the clover head grabs them.
The drop, on the other hand, is the distance the hammers fall after gravity and the strings push them downwards. This is controlled by a very small drop screw on the top of the hammers, and the tiny screwdriver with the bead adjusts those. It's pretty neat.
Friday, 25 May 12
Jack worked on my hammers!
Friday, 1 Jun 12
I came into the shop both Wednesday and Friday to do cosmetic things off the clock. Mostly, I polished up the lid. Pictured below is the hinge that allows the lid to fold over. It's called the continuous hinge, and has eleven panels that hold six screws each. The screw holes are stripped out, so I have been plugging them with glue and strips of ecsaine, which is a material like leather.
Friday, 8 Jun 12
I did more cosmetic things on Wednesday and Friday, like replacing belly felt, music desk felt, and fallboard felt. I don't like replacing felt because I'm no good at it. I also polished The Volkert, and doth she glisten! Nathan glistens, as well.
It was another day with hide glue. After I re-polished the damper wires, I attached the damper felts to the damper heads. The felts are so pretty. Celeste and I think they look like candy, and we want to eat them.
Friday, 11 May 12
I did another leveling of the keys and glue-sized the glide bolt holes. Glide bolts lessen the friction between the key frame and the keybed, so they're really important. "Glue-size" means to saturate a hole with diluted glue for a tighter fit.
Much of the day was spent finishing and re-installing the trapwork, which I started on Sep 16th (Part II). At that time, I had replaced the felt punchings and cleaned up the wood, screws, springs, and pins. This time, I glued new leather to the levers, lubricated the springs, and used a forstner bit in the drill press to cut a hole for the sostenuto rod. I think forstner bits are beautiful.
The picture below shows the levers mounted onto the underside of the piano. The three tan shapes are thick pieces of leather that will touch the pedal rods. If you look closely, you can see that I shaped these with a sharp chisel. The most circular one on the left is for the left pedal, also known as the una corda pedal. The middle pedal is the sostenuto, and the right pedal is the damper. If you don't play the piano, there's a small lecture for you under the picture.
You should play the piano. Also, the damper (right) is the most commonly used pedal, and its job is to sustain sound by raising the dampers which otherwise stop the vibrations of the strings. The una corda (left) is the next most commonly used pedal, and it shifts the action towards the treble so that the hammers strike fewer strings. The sostenuto (middle) is similar to the damper, but sustains only selected pitches by raising selected dampers.
I "roughed in" the let-off and drop, which means I adjusted these two things in an unrefined manner. I'm not even sure they were "working" on all 88 keys. The let-off is the point in the action where the hammer no longer touches the wippen jack, and flies freely into the string. Because this should happen close to the strings, we used the metal bar shown in the picture below to approximate string height. The let-off distance is controlled by the height of the let-off buttons, which is adjusted by let-off screws. These are the metal hook-like circles protruding above the rail, and the longer tool with the clover head grabs them.
The drop, on the other hand, is the distance the hammers fall after gravity and the strings push them downwards. This is controlled by a very small drop screw on the top of the hammers, and the tiny screwdriver with the bead adjusts those. It's pretty neat.
Jack worked on my hammers!
I came into the shop both Wednesday and Friday to do cosmetic things off the clock. Mostly, I polished up the lid. Pictured below is the hinge that allows the lid to fold over. It's called the continuous hinge, and has eleven panels that hold six screws each. The screw holes are stripped out, so I have been plugging them with glue and strips of ecsaine, which is a material like leather.
I did more cosmetic things on Wednesday and Friday, like replacing belly felt, music desk felt, and fallboard felt. I don't like replacing felt because I'm no good at it. I also polished The Volkert, and doth she glisten! Nathan glistens, as well.
END PART VIII
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