Spring is a beautiful time to be tuning pianos on Vancouver Island.  As I travel around the Nanaimo area I constantly enjoy the changing vistas of ocean and far-off coastal mountains.  I tune pianos for clients in Parksville and Qualicum Beach, and I’m often greeted at their residences with beautiful flowering gardens.  When servicing pianos in the Cowichan Valley and Duncan area, I enjoy driving through farmland and vineyards.  However, it’s always fun to travel somewhere totally different to do my piano tuning work, so I look forward to my yearly visits to Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories.

In March 2014 I spent eight days in Yellowknife servicing pianos for private clients and arts organizations.  One of my main tasks was to carry out the initial after-sales servicing of a new Yamaha grand piano. The performance piano belongs to the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (NACC) and the chamber music ensemble “Table for Five”. The instrument is housed in the magnificent Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, where it is made available to the community for recitals and events.

The Yamaha C2-X is of the new generation of Yamaha grand pianos featuring a number of improvements over the previous pianos. Hammers are crucial for the tone and colour palette of the instrument. This new X series features a special hammer felt made in Germany. This new felt, called “Wurzen-A” is designated by the two thin dark felt layers visible in the low bass hammers. This hammer felt imbues the piano with a soulful voice capable of interpreting the most romantic music, while still allowing the piano to be pushed to a brilliant imposing sound when called for.

While in Yellowknife I was able to attend some community festivities, including the 19th annual Snow Castle and the Long John Jamboree, where people were enjoying themselves despite the minus thirty degree temperatures. Those Northerners don’t let the cold temperatures dampen their spirits, that is for sure.

Wurzen-A hammer felt