Email: frank@chemottipiano.com
I am currently employed at Classic Pianos in Bellevue, managing all technical work for the shop — preparation of retail pianos (new and used), rebuilding, maintenance of concert and artist rental pianos, and warranty service in the field. I am still operating my private service business, but on a more limited scale — focused primarily on existing clients.
Tuning — An accurate, stable, and musically pleasing tuning is the foundation of my service. Fine tuning establishes the overall pitch standard (typically A=440hz), proper balance of all musical intervals, appropriate octave stretch, and clean unisons.
Regulation — The mechanism of the piano has thousands of parts which all must be adjusted for proper function and playability. A well-regulated piano will have touch that is easily controlled and consistent among all notes, allowing predictable response.
Voicing — The tone quality of the piano is affected by hammer shape, hammer density, and the interface of the hammer and strings. A good voicing adjusts these properties to allow a full range of dynamics and expression.
Repair — A broken string, broken hammer, sticking key, unwanted noise, or other malfunction can be diagnosed and fixed.
A standard 2-hour service which includes tuning and small repairs, adjustments, or cleaning is $200. Additional work is $80 per hour. If your piano has not been serviced recently, it may require some extra work before a fine tuning can be completed.
I am based in Southeast Seattle, servicing Seattle, Bellevue, Mercer Island, Issaquah, and Sammamish.
The piano is an endlessly fascinating puzzle of a musical instrument, and I am pleased to be able to build a career around its study and service. I am a Registered Piano Technician, and membership in the Piano Technicians Guild allows me to continually improve my skills and knowledge at local, regional, and national gatherings. My professional experience includes regular work (field service, fine regulation and voicing, action rebuilding) for Classic Pianos Bellevue, a season tuning at Aspen Music Festival, training at Yamaha's American headquarters, and work for private clients around Seattle. I began my career with an apprenticeship with Steve Brady, studying traditional aural tuning techniques, rebuilding, and all other aspects of the piano craft. My background also includes many years of piano lessons, study of mathematics (BS, Davidson College; MS, University of Oregon), a short teaching career, and probably too many hobbies.