Carl Radford at his 5'10", 1927 Steinway L (Lucky the Wonder Piano)

Registered Piano Technician
* Independent Piano Technician in Chicagoland for 25 years
* Registered Piano Technician with the Piano Technician's Guild
* North Shore Piano Technicians Guild President
* Expert on Historical Tunings
* Piano Life Saver Certified Installer






Performer
*Accomplished Pianist
* Performed as a "hoofer" in musicals at Candlelight, Opryland, Marriott Lincolnshire, Drury Lane
* Appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show playing the original piano from the movie 'Casablanca' (My Date with Oprah)




Teacher
* Independent Piano Teacher for over twenty years
* Lecturer at Piano Technicians Guild conventions
* Lecturer on Historical Tunings

Education
* BS in Piano and Theater from Eastern Michigan University
* Studied Piano during exchange student program in Hamburg, Germany

Awards
* Award of Excellence-North Shore Chapter PTG
* Outstanding PTG Chapter Award while chapter president
* Outstanding Newsletter Award while chapter president
* Horizons-Jon Jost Community Service Award

Other Interests
* Tennis and Watercolor
* Fluent in German and Spanish




Beginning
I became interested in piano tuning as a side job to get through the lean times during my acting career. I apprenticed with a university technician while performing in West Side Story in Minneapolis. When I came back to Chicago, I couldn't find anyone who would take me on as an apprentice, until I latched on to a group on the North Shore: a welcoming chapter of The Piano Technicians Guild. They steered me in the right directions and gave me a lot of inspiration, until I was able to pass the all required exams to become a Registered Piano Technician and eventually become chapter president.

Exams and Teaching
It took me about three years to become accomplished enough to pass the three exams required to become a Registered Piano Technician. Each exam is grueling and long, but the perseverance paid off and I have been an RPT for over fifteen years now.

Recently, I taught piano tuning and regulation at the Chicago School for Piano Technology, a new school with a year long curriculum for aspiring piano technicians. I was also asked to teach at the Piano Technicians Guild national convention; both have been quite an honor and a thrill for me.

Well Temperament
This is a very complicated subject, and one that I am very passionate about. There is more than one way to tune a piano; in fact there are hundreds, but we got stuck in a rut in the last century with just one (Standard Equal Temperament).

Well Temperament is a type of tuning that all of the great composers from Bach to Rachmaninoff composed on. It had been all but forgotten, until just a few years ago when it was resurrected by one of my mentors from Michigan State University.

Without getting into too much detail, what Well Temperament does is make the music come alive in a way that is really unbelievable. The major keys sound happier, more pure and the minor keys sound sadder, more tragic, more melancholy. And each key is different and unique unto itself. The music sounds the way the composers meant, and when I hear it that way, I am constantly astounded at the brilliance of some of the composers usage of this tuning in their compositions. It is hard for me to believe that anyone would tune a piano any other way. I think all the classical concerts should be tuned in Well Temperament, and some day I believe they will be again.

In order to shine a light on the subject for others, I have enjoyed doing lectures in which I tune three similar pianos to three different historical tunings and play the same pieces of music on them to explore the differences in the tunings. People, even those with no musical training, are amazed at the differences.



Why
I enjoy tuning and repairing pianos. What sounds to 'plink, plink, plink' to most people, is a complicated organization of counting string vibrations to me. Tuning a piano is somewhat like organizing a closet, only more artistic; you have to get all the vibrations in a specific order to make it sound the most beautiful you can in the time allotted. There's no greater thrill than playing the piano after I'm done tuning it, and melting inside from the beauty of the instrument and the results. It is a nice combination of a technical and artistic profession.

Services
Here is a list services you can expect from Radford Piano Services, Inc.

Letters From Clients
"Your tuning, regulation and voicing of my piano bring joy each day. What artistry! Thanks again. Best Regards," Dr. D.S.

"The piano sounds and feels wonderful - It now has the sound that I am used to hearing when I play a fine piano.

Thanks for all you have done.

Various people who play the piano [at the church] are telling me that they think we got it right this time. It does have that wonderful vibrant sound that I have heard so many times in concerts and at recitals. And the touch...

When I play the piano now I hear that almost mysterious sound that seems like it is coming from everywhere except the piano itself. I don't know what this is called, but I know that I have experienced it before, but not often. I remember going into the old Studebaker showroom on South Michigan Avenue and finding a performance hall with two big Steinways grand pianos nestled toegether. I played both of them and had the same experience. Another fella heard me and came in and we started playing Gershwin together, improvising as we went. The sound had a levitating effect on me.

Anyway, enough of this foolishness, you have the piano "singing" as you said you would. Thanks so much." S.C.

"Nice job on the instruments today; you're a genius of voicing. They are both a joy to play now. I have been really dreading both pianos for the last month or so, and you've made them a pleasure once again" B.B., Director of Music

"I'm TRULY thrilled about how my piano sounds after yesterday. Thanks for making it sound better than ever. It's a pretty nice instrument, but you make it GREAT!" J.J.

"The piano sounds awesome. Thanks, Carl. I'm lovin' it." M.G.

More Letters from clients...
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Keep in Tune!