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Sikh Master Tuners of the Piano
Manoj Sharma
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Do you know of any Sikh who tunes the Piano? Do you know of any
family who has been musically inclined for the last 80 years?
The professional piano tuner Surinder Singh and his brothers
will pleasantly surprise you. |
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 They
say life is like a piano... what you get out of it depends on how
you play it. Like life, even the piano needs to be tuned sometimes.
And few know it
better than 51-year-old Surinder Singh. An average piano has about
12,000 parts and 200 strings that have a combined tension of about
20 tons — enough to lift your house off its foundation.
It’s Singh’s job
to ensure this complex cradle of melody doesn’t misbehave. We walk
to Singh’s workshop to discover more.
‘Shamsher Sons’
looks like any other nondescript shop lining the bustling Ram Nagar
Market in central Delhi’s Paharganj. But the scene inside is
singular, the sound singular too.
We are happy to
find Singh, the city’s most famous piano tuner, at work amidst a
haphazard crowd of pianos. His fingers reflect masterly compassion,
as they strike the keys softly.
One by one.
It’s a grand
piano and old. The notes sound tinny, like they were seeking the
master’s sanction. A slight nudge of the head. The note is not
perfect.
 The
piano he is working on is over 100 years old and requires ‘major
tuning’. The job, which involves bringing the instrument’s various
notes into proper musical proportion, will take him at least two
hours.
“I have to asses
the interaction between various notes and then make adjustments in
the tension in the strings to tune the instrument again,” Singh
says, his voice so soft and low you have to sit really close to hear
him.
But making these
adjustments to the string tension is quite a complicated task: it’s
part art, part physics, involving harmonic frequencies and energy.
A minute
variation in the string tension and the piano’s notes can go
haywire.
There are very
few piano tuners in the city — hardly a surprise — and Singh is the
most sought-after of them all. He looks after the grandest
instruments in the city, (including the ones at Rashtrapati Bhawan)
and also tunes pianos for major concerts in the Capital.
He has tuned
concert pianos for international pianists such as Richard Clayderman
and jazz legend Herbie Hancock. He’s also offered his services to
India’s most famous pianist Brian Silas.
“The tuner and
the pianist have to share a harmonious relationship; the pianist has
to have a lot of faith in the tuner,” he says.
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There are very few piano tuners in the city — hardly a surprise
— and Singh is the most sought-after of them all. He looks after
the grandest instruments in the city, (including the ones at
Rashtrapati Bhawan) and also tunes pianos for major concerts in
the Capital. He has tuned concert pianos for international
pianists such as Richard Clayderman and jazz legend Herbie
Hancock. He’s also offered his services to India’s most famous
pianist Brian Silas. |
Among the
several old pianos lying at his workshop waiting to be restored and
tuned is a Kemble Miny miniature piano.
“It’s almost a
100 years old and belonged to Raj Kapoor. It needs major
overhauling. I will soon start working on it.”
Singh likes the
historic. His own history is no less interesting.
“My grandfather
used to assemble and tune pianos in
Bombay
and Lahore during the British Raj,” he says.
His family has
been tuning the instrument for as long as 80 years, moving to Delhi
in 1950 after their workshop in hometown Shimla was destroyed in a
fire.
“Grandfather
passed on the art to my father Shamsher Singh from whom I started
learning the art at the age of 11. It takes at least 10 years to
learn piano tuning.”
He is helped in
his work by nephews Ravinder (39) and Gurdeep (41). While Ravinder
Singh is into restoring pianos, Gurinder Singh takes care of the
moving the instrument — an art in itself.
“Moving the
pianos is quite a task; so most pianos have to be tuned where they
are placed,” he says.
While piano
tuning is a dying art, the popularity of pianos is growing like
never before, Singh says.
There are about
14,000 pianos in the Capital, mostly in
South Delhi.
Many plush apartments in Gurgaon also boast of pianos.
“Several homes
in the city have as many as four pianos. Most of these people can
play the instrument very well. Lots of parents are now encouraging
their children to learn the instrument,” he says.
On an average,
he visits two homes everyday for tuning pianos. Singh credits famous
Indian pianist Brian Silas for popularising the instrument in the
country.
But can the ace
tuner play the piano himself?
No, is the
candid admission.
“I am just a
technician, not a musician,” he says.
But didn’t he
ever want to play?
“Yes, in the
early 70’s. I wanted to become a pianist and move to Canada. But my
piano teacher stopped coming after a few days; perhaps he was not
happy with the progress I was making,” he laughs.
His nephew
Gurdeep Singh — silent all this while — volunteers to play the piano
for us. He removes the cover from a recently-restored piano in the
workshop, and plays Jiya Dhadak Dhadak Jaye by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
We are left mesmerised.
Courtesy:
Hindustan Times
12
August 2009
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