I started learning about harmonium repair recently from a friend. The harmonium is essentially a miniature pump organ, so not very similar to a piano at all, but a lot of the same repair techniques apply. Even though it is more of a wind instrument it is still an antiquated mechanical devise put together with wood, leather, felt and bits of metal.

This is a photo of the harmonium case (right) and removed keyboard (left) in the shop looking over Kootenay Lake with the mountains across the water hidden in clouds (as is the case for 90% of the winter, sadly).

After a number of days of heavy snowfall, I tuned a 1902 Melville Clark piano part way up the mountain on the east side of Creston Valley. It’s quite a change from riding my bike to clients homes on the plowed streets of Toronto.

I was in Vancouver last week tuning a few pianos. The most interesting one was at Radha Yoga and Eatery. It was a a German Dohnert upright with 85 keys. Apparently it had been through a fire, and the black layer covering the entire action proved it. But the piano worked and held a very good tune. I also enjoyed the excellent food and wine there. Highly recommended.

I have settled in the Kootenays for the winter and am starting to do some work on the east shore of Kootenay Lake. Today I tuned for Jacquelyne Wedge, a piano teacher in Crawford Bay. It was a beautiful old Bell from 1895. Sometimes I am surprised these old pianos with original parts still work after all these years.

After one year at Paul Hahn & Co. I have decided to move back home to British Columbia and start my own business as a Piano Technician there. Here is a photo of my going away party in the shop with my teacher and friend Nikolai Savir Svinarenko who is the head technician at Paul Hahn.

I have to admit, I had to keep up with the World Cup as I worked in the shop. My little TV sufficed for close up replays.

My short vacation at God’s Mountain included a tuning of their piano, which was only one piece of their large impressive collection of antiques. I would highly recommend staying here if you are passing through the Okanagan.

Tuning inside St. Pauls (on Bloor street near Church) was a very wild acoustic experience. In that giant room the the percussive whack of the hammer in the upper register notes resonated louder than the tone of the string.

Recently i was replacing the bass strings in the beautiful residence of the president of U of T.

We rebuilt some pianos from schools around Toronto over the summer, some of them complete with graffiti.