tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66680937201113876732012-01-02T13:49:23.737-05:00Thank you for visiting my little blog of ramblings about my life as a piano technician. Enjoy.Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comBlogger351100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-84441792964656301632009-08-12T16:19:00.008-04:002009-08-12T18:09:45.548-04:00

Hi all! It's hard to believe that not only has it been a year since I made a post here, but also it's been a year since I returned from Colorado and started my business. The good news is I have been way too busy to do any writing.So what's happened? Well a lot of great experiences and important lessons in the first year, that's for sure. Overall I would say that I'm very happy with my results so

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-79188095913030476532008-08-23T09:00:00.001-04:002008-08-23T09:02:33.406-04:00

Hello friends, family and colleaguesI am pleased to announce the launch of Paul Clement Piano Services.As many of you know I have been away for a year studying at the University of Western Ontario and the Aspen Music Festival and School and am now open for business.Paul Clement Piano Services provides a complete range of services including tuning, general repairs and maintenance, appraisals, and

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-37291131132344216432008-07-20T11:41:00.002-04:002008-07-20T11:44:00.596-04:00

Check out my website when you get a moment:Paul Clement Piano Services - www.clementpiano.comI won't really be in business until September but as I've learned, most of the search engines need several weeks to list your site so I'm trying to get a jump on that.Cheers!

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-7341972333677736412008-06-19T22:31:00.003-04:002008-06-19T22:42:46.174-04:00

I made it to Colorado without a hitch a couple of weeks back and have been running around quite a bit since.Random thoughts and observations:It's really beautiful here. I think heaven should be like this.Who turned off the air? Snowmass Village is at elevation 7,914 feet and the air is quite thin up here. It's taken me a couple of weeks to adjust and not huff and puff after climbing even small

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-29508805289972252932008-05-20T21:57:00.005-04:002008-05-20T22:12:45.117-04:00

It's been a big day.I got my Visa paperwork in the courier today, so everything is go for heading down to Aspen. This was a little scary for me with the last minute change to my sponsor company due to some screw ups and I honestly thought at one point last week I wasn't going to make it and would have to cancel the whole thing. This picture you see here is my actual route in Yahoo Maps - I'm

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-47018897903414228922008-04-25T14:08:00.007-04:002008-04-25T15:52:31.934-04:00

OK, so I'm the poster boy for blog-neglect. Report me.I see that I have been away for quite a while now but between Spring (hell, Summer) arriving and closing off the main part of my course my time has been at a premium.So, yes, the main part of the course is finished now; I wrote finals last week and I am told by my instructors that I will graduate "with distinction", and I do have just one more

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-36639992051153690332008-03-25T19:32:00.003-04:002008-03-25T19:33:06.540-04:00

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-32059537790609211332008-03-10T21:14:00.001-04:002008-03-10T21:15:27.119-04:00

Happy to let you all know that I have won the internship in Aspen and will be spending ten weeks of my summer in the Rocky Mountains! Sweet.Details to follow.

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-71515347173963783872008-03-04T20:37:00.001-05:002008-03-04T20:42:21.579-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH3GSrCmzC8

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-90449229909938491062008-03-01T20:58:00.004-05:002008-03-01T21:06:37.417-05:00

Just a quick update.Things went pretty well in my first paying gig this Thursday. It's pretty cheesy but as I was getting ready at home that morning I heard a bird singing outside - first time in 2008 I heard one - and took it as a good omen. The job went well and Mrs. X asked me back again this week to do some more work. While I was there I got a call from Merriam music and I went by there in

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-29896625318269307042008-02-22T21:29:00.004-05:002008-02-22T22:07:06.622-05:00

At the moment I'm enjoying a well deserved cocktail on Friday night after a busy week (thanks for the housewarming gift Nav), and I'm about to go off on another break from school for reading week, more popularly known as 'slack week'.There's a fair bit to update on at the moment and some pretty cool stuff coming up, but despite it all, and despite the fact that it's an old fashioned cold, snowy

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-77111453881678859532008-02-03T01:21:00.000-05:002008-02-10T20:52:39.141-05:00

I'm writing to you from the lounge of the fabulous Festival Inn in Stratford Ontario. I was here doing some work on pianos at the Stratford Festival complex and due to some seriously strong winds and blowing snow, all the roads out of town are closed. In a way I'm relieved because I was driving out of town this afternoon and was really very nervous about the road conditions and poor visibility

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-36589220283842903162008-01-20T20:24:00.000-05:002008-01-20T20:28:45.031-05:00

Here's Joan showing off on Betty. It's kinda hard to tell on my crappy camera but you can sort of hear that the tone of this piano is a little nasty.

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-18610501354074008222008-01-18T18:16:00.000-05:002008-01-18T18:17:49.576-05:00

http://www.metasonix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=67

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-1170508536660325282008-01-17T22:29:00.000-05:002008-01-18T18:23:41.935-05:00

It's here! We've got a sweet 1906 Heintzman 6 foot grand piano as our 2nd term refurb project. 'We' is Joan and I - who will be my bench partner for this term - pictured here with 'Betty', so named after the fussy little old lady music teacher who owns her. Yes, it's a little old lady piano. Joan is a real hard worker and lots of fun to hang around with so I have high hopes for a successful

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-38934388519988493792008-01-09T19:05:00.000-05:002008-01-09T19:14:11.419-05:00

Just like that.It's all over. Our project piano for term 1, B2063943, was gone when I got into the shop this morning. I worked my ass off on that thing.It didn't even leave a note.I feel so cheap.Tomorrow we await the arrival of 7 grand pianos in our little workshop - 4 rickety old Heintzman's (also here) and 3 Yamahas.Giddy up!By the way, marks are in for term 1 and I'm pretty pleased overall,

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-82300804935132773622007-12-14T14:22:00.000-05:002007-12-14T14:45:16.203-05:00

Here I am at the end of the first term, and I really feel as though the final week of class, including exams, couldn't have gone any better so I'm feeling really good heading into a 3 week break for Christmas.I did have a laugh today as I reassembled our project piano for evaluation by Anne and contemplated taking an 'after' picture to go with the 'before' picture already on Facebook, but I'm

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-78700059164633083042007-12-09T20:02:00.000-05:002007-12-11T19:09:47.541-05:00

It's Sunday evening, and I'm sprawled out across the dining room table in London studying for the physics final exam, and enjoying a glass of well deserved wine. Funny but I've been off the booze pretty much since I started school which is the opposite of what I expected. Kind of hard to justify spending money on the stuff when Dale is at home clipping coupons...The week is going to be pretty

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-24528943237529814922007-11-26T20:58:00.000-05:002007-11-26T21:29:39.176-05:00

It's hard to believe that there are just a few weeks left in the term; before I know it the whole thing will be over and I'll be out there trying to make a living at this, but I'm not going to let that scare me. Yet.There have been a few ups and downs in recent days:We finished the refurb part of our project pianos and now we are putting them back together to see if the damn things will actually

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-30462880754127431302007-11-23T22:04:00.001-05:002007-11-23T22:08:20.732-05:00

Here's my boy Mike's (see my post about him below) former band in Scotland. Of course he's moved on now, but enjoy the tunes anyway.

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-25585970082035901412007-11-23T21:59:00.000-05:002007-11-23T22:08:37.198-05:00

Timely little Steinway item here

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-1574882131294765012007-11-23T21:43:00.000-05:002007-11-23T22:08:44.250-05:00

I have been keeping a bunch of photos from school on Facebook but I know some of you aren’t on Facebook so here are a few links if you’re interested in the photos. If you like the pictures keep checking the albums as I will be adding to them all the time. Odds and ends: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17941&l=865c7&id=552376559 First couple of weeks:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-53500018486316013802007-11-21T18:03:00.000-05:002007-11-23T22:08:51.348-05:00

I bought a flat Diminished responsibilityYou’re de ninth person to seeTo be suspended in a seventhMajor catastropheIt’s a minor point but gee Augmented by the sharpness of your See what I’m going throughEh to be with youIn a flat by the sea

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-22339496495971659872007-11-17T22:02:00.000-05:002007-11-23T22:08:57.395-05:00

OK I'll stop now. Just GO

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-64123622272716064382007-11-14T22:00:00.000-05:002007-11-23T22:09:03.601-05:00

I'm just home in Mississauga for the weekend and stocking up on a few items I hadn't bothered to bring down to London, especially a snow brush for the car - we got a couple of inches of 'lake effect' snow on Friday - and winter boots and so on. I'm also going to take some nicer clothes down; now that I know what I'm in for every day I think I can get away with dressing a little nicer. You never

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-4089224289827594632007-11-07T21:58:00.000-05:002007-11-23T22:09:10.059-05:00

If you don't already love Radiohead for their music (and dammit, you should) you gotta love them for this. Their new CD - which is really good by the way - is available only from their website and you pay whatever you want to for it. I downloaded it the other day and paid £6.00 which I guess is about $CDN12, and apparently most people have been shelling out about $10. Here are some guys that are

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-71044556696333741372007-11-01T21:56:00.000-04:002007-11-23T22:09:20.206-05:00

We just got some pretty cool news about some travel plans related to school that we’ll be making in March of next year. We’ll be renting a big old bus and heading off to the US to visit Steinway & Sons in New York and Mason & Hamlin near Boston. These are two of the very few remaining companies still making pianos on North America - they’ve managed to soldier on somehow. Right now I’m reading

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-86524918489800116442007-10-31T21:56:00.000-04:002007-11-23T22:09:25.865-05:00

My enthusiasm grows each week as we get deeper and deeper into our little piano world, but also my nervousness does. Everyone’s encouragement up to this point has been very nice and I do feel as if I have taken a step in a good new direction, but this is the easy part, being in school. Everyone should congratulate me when I have got through my first year after school and not starved to death;

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-35056546688230665542007-10-30T21:55:00.001-04:002007-11-23T22:09:32.230-05:00

At some point I want to out a little blurb about each of my classmates on here and give a little bit of their story. Mike Laffan is a nice lad from Limerick, Ireland by way of Glasgow and North Carolina. He sounds like a Newfie so I liked him instantly. Mike was a music major over in Ireland (like nearly everyone else in class he can play way better than me the bastard) and spent a bit of time

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-49664098039930142232007-10-30T21:55:00.000-04:002007-11-23T22:09:38.721-05:00

Oh sure, they look all friendly and jaunty, lined up like nice little soldiers.HA! I now know what evil lurks within their little red felt heads.“Try little man to Bend us to your feeble will We will never tune”

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-54813624137019573312007-10-30T21:53:00.000-04:002007-11-23T22:09:50.803-05:00

My Newcombe piano at home Another Facebook photo album you might enjoy. I mentioned this is an earlier post.

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-19487509380813786472007-10-12T21:51:00.000-04:002007-11-23T22:10:03.007-05:00

The party’s over in a way,or maybe a different party is starting. Yeah that’s it.Up to now it’s been fun steaming along, meeting new people and learning new things, but this week I had a physics test (yes, my elective this term is the ‘Physics of Music and Sound’ - it’s interesting but I hate algebra), we got our project pianos which will comprise most of our practical marks for this term, and we

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-14286014740785795212007-09-28T21:50:00.000-04:002007-11-23T22:08:00.379-05:00

In which I become a wiggly worm. Did you detect a slight tone of confidence in my earlier words? Pluck? Spirit? Hubris even? Gone. Dead. Pining for the fjords. Learning to tune a piano is possibly the hardest thing I have ever tried. See, you don’t actually tune a piano, you put it out of tune in a very specific way so that it sounds good in a way we have become accustomed to. Are you a guitar

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-6603407778842203752007-09-19T21:49:00.000-04:002007-11-23T22:10:08.662-05:00

Things will never be quite the same again. It’s my ears. I suppose this is pretty arcane to anyone who never sat down and tried to tune a piano but I am hearing things I never heard before. As you can imagine you have to listen really intently to what’s going on with the piano while tuning it, and most people can understand that if you hear beats or waves when two strings are sounding they are

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668093720111387673.post-920172816575202712007-09-13T21:47:00.000-04:002007-11-23T22:10:14.086-05:00

Week 1 of school has been quite a trip but I’m loving every minute of it so far, and in fact after spending a few minutes on the phone this week with my successor at work I am more convinced than ever that I waited too long to leave my old job. And as well the course itself has met my expectations. Certainly I have found the experience of being on a university campus at my age to be quite

Paul Clementhttps://profiles.google.com/114366749233245738036noreply@blogger.com