Notes from the Berkshires:Day 6

6/6, 9.17 p.m.

First things first: this is V’s birthday, so great wishes fly her direction. I hate not being with her today, and really hope we don’t have to spend any more of either of our birthdays apart. I managed to secrete a small token for her amusement at home before I left, so she’ll at least have something from me on the day.

This is the end of week one of eleven. Counting it like that makes it sound as if I’m looking forward to the end, but that isn’t the case; I’m actually amazed it’s disappeared as quickly as it has. I spent the entire day on a single piano, the A in the chamber music hall. This, I think, will be a rarity, to spend so much time on a single instrument, but I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts. Today I took it from its out-of-the-box state to a condition which I would call “middle regulation”. This is the state between rough (where it was, coming directly from the Company) and fine (ready for a performance). I had gotten most of the way there with the B in the Maple performance space, but I took it to the next level here, and felt pretty good about the results. I am starting to grasp the method to Scott’s madness, and am dialing in some of the skills necessary to preparing these pianos in the way he suggests. Not to say I’m doing it flawlessly yet, or even close, but still there is definite progress. We also had a session on voicing today, and I’m just at the beginning stages of that, having dumped what seemed like a pint of lacquer into the hammers as a last task of the day.

Left around 4.30, and found a backroads route home that avoids the traffic through Lenox and into Pittsfield. This will come in very handy when the crowds descend at the end of the month. Part of the route looked to be a decent running road, so I used that as the basis for my afternoon run, and it turned out to be a good choice: a circle (more of a triangle, actually) of around four miles, with very nice hills and scenery along the way. The only thing that kept it from being ideal was the traffic at the beginning and end, as I’m leaving and heading back into town, but that just means no headphones and no running that route after dark. Stretched, showered, fixed a simple dinner, and then walked downtown, where I found the local brewpub, which was very acceptable both in atmosphere and beer. No wi-fi, or it would be perfect. I’ll probably be spending some time there this summer.

It’s a beautiful night, and I’m enjoying some music (Mike Giles’ 3 X 5), and not thinking about pianos for a few hours. Tomorrow will be a day of laundry/groceriy/other stuff-that-needs-to-be-taken-care-of.