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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Moving A Piano Carefully

By Harold Brooke

How does one move a piano? Very carefully.

Okay, I'm being a tiny harsh, but moving a piano is a serious endeavor.

I am a gigantic disciple of hiring a professional mover to move a piano. Pianos are heavy and it is simple to damage a piano while moving it. I'm talking from experience. I own a Kimball piano my folks purchased new for me when I used to be a child. That piano was a big deal to me after having played on an old "clunker" of a piano for several years. I played that new piano every day.

When I got married it was time to move the piano to my personal home. My partner and his brothers moved it themselves. It wasn't an easy job even with the moving dolly they used (pianos weigh many hundred pounds - grand pianos can weigh 1,500 pounds). The beginner move of my piano ended in each of the piano legs being damaged ( a standard occurrence when people move a piano themselves ) and some unplanned internal work (some pins needed repair and a string broke ). I should have employed a piano mover. Then I wouldn't have had those issues, but my husband and I thought we might save money by doing it ourselves. It seemed to be a lesson I should have remembered, but I was foolish a 2nd time.

A few years ago my partner and I constructed a new house. When it came time to move the piano again, my partner was disinclined to hire someone to move it professionally because our pocketbook was feeling empty from the cost of building the house (he called our new house a "money-sucking black hole.") In his mind, moving it wasn't a big score. Our new house was less than 2 miles from our old one ; and he had a dolly, a trailer, and a brother who was ready to help him.

Everything went O.K till my partner turned into the driveway of our new home. The sharpness of the turn strained the ropes holding the piano on the trailer and they broke. The piano tipped over and sustained a lot of damage (the entire "guts" of the piano are ruined and the case is chipped and scratched ). I haven't had it fixed yet, but I have gotten an estimation. It should take plenty of time and cash fix the piano. It needs to be completely reconstructed. Due to the labor involved, it would be cheaper to buy a new piano than have it fixed, but the piano has plenty of soppy worth to me so I'm going to have it fixed. This is why I say, "Hire a professional!"

What does a professional piano mover do to ensure a safe and successful move? With upright pianos, they nearly always strap the piano on a skid called a piano board. They also cover the piano with blankets to help protect it. The complete bundle is then typically put on a dolly and brought to its destination. If steps are involved, the piano is taken off the dolly and slipped up or down the steps on the piano board.

Moving a grand piano is a bit more concerned. The lid, lid hinges, pedal lyre, and leg on the straight side of the piano are usually all removed. The piano is then put on the piano board, on its side, with the straight side down. The other legs of the piano are then removed. The piano is then covered with blankets, strapped to the board, and put on a dolly.

Some movers don't love to move a piano up or down stairs. If it's feasible, they like to hoist it to the acceptable floor via a window that is large enough to accommodate the piano.

So what do you do if you simply wish to move your piano from one part of a room to another? First, decide if it's really important to move it because there's always the chance of damaging a piano even with a short move. Piano legs are the most probable thing to get broken or broken.

Be very careful to avoid putting too much weight on the legs. Get a few strong folk to help if the piano is an upright ; and get at least 5 people if it is a grand piano. With an upright or spinet, tilt the piano back a little to take the pressure off the front legs, but take care not to tip it back too far and tip it over. With a grand piano, lift the piano up enough to get the pressure off the legs before you attempt to move it. It's not necessary (and not commended ) to lift the piano off the floor completely.

If you are going to move a piano frequently, consider having it fitted with special casters that will allow you to move the piano fairly easily. Or, have the piano placed on a piano van.

How you do you find a good piano mover if you've decided to not try and move it yourself? My suggestion is that you call your local piano store and ask them for recommendations. They should be able to offer you the name or names of credible movers in your neighborhood.

Okay, so you have decided you are really going to move your piano and you have selected a technique. Now you have to work out where you're going to put the piano. Where should it go?

Try to put your piano in an area of a room where there are little or no drafts, where it's out of direct daylight, and where the temperature and humidity are stable. The reason is because pianos are sensitive to humidity and temperature. Lots of temperature and humidity swings set off a piano to go out of tune quicker than ordinary, can damage the wood case, and if they are serious they can even eventually cause structural failure.

Don't place your piano over or next to a heat vent and duck placing it close to a fireplace. Don't put in front of a window because that is sometimes a drafty place as well as one with direct sunlight. Try to discover a room in your home or flat which has doggedly stable temperature and humidity. That is the best room for your piano.

If you cannot find a place in your flat or home that is out of direct daylight, freed from drafts, and does not have giant temperature swings, you may want to consider having a climate control system installed in your piano.

Moving and placing your piano correctly will help ensure you have a beautiful instrument to play for ages rather than having what I now own - an oversized paperweight that should be dusted. - 18762

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Choosing A Guitar Amp

By Frank Frederics

Everybody likes music and if you are a guitar player you want that the sound that is produced that your electric or acoustic guitar have the quality you want. The sound of the quality is determined in first place by the quality of the instrument and in second place by the amplification equipment you have.

For this purpose, you need a good guitar amp. Choosing a guitar amp is not a difficult task, and the only thing you need to know are some basic tips that will help you to get the perfect guitar amp.

There are several types of guitar amps and all of them have different level of power, equalization and other important features that will help you to produce a different and more powerful, less powerful sound.

If you have a simple electric acoustic guitar and you are going to play your guitar indoor in a place that don't require a large place, you can use a small guitar amp that can cost about $100 or less. There are different brands but I don't want to talk about brands. For choosing a guitar amp the most important thing is select a good brand and test your instrument in the shop you purchase your guitar amp.

There are a couple of options you can test in the same place you are attempting to purchase the guitar amp. Also there is a special guitar amp of bass guitars. Bass guitar require a stronger guitar amp in capacity and you never should connect a bass guitar in a simple guitar amp because it could cause problem to your equipment.

I highly recommend that you ask to the seller the guitar amps that are specially designed for electric guitars in the case you have an electric guitar. - 18762

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Download MP3s to Ipod Touch Without The Hassle

By Davion Wong

Ipod users looking to download Mp3s to Ipod Touch are often concerned with the expenses involved in making such downloads. Itunes, the website from Apple which allows Ipod users to make downloads online, typically charges a per-download fee. While getting quality music for your Ipod Touch is guaranteed through the Itunes store, the expenses can quickly add up to a few hundreds.

The Ipod Touch no doubt is one of the most sophisticated music players sold nowadays, allowing you to store music, games, TV show episodes, and movies all in one sleek and portable package. However, you will need to download the music or movies yourself, which means you should be willing to pay for every download you make.

Though free sites where you can have MP3 downloads for iPod Touch abound on the internet, they do not make a better option. These sites cannot boast of high quality graphics and sounds, and fast downloading time. Worse, downloading from these sites can get viruses, spyware and malware applications into your system, damaging not just your PC but your iPod, too.

If you are worried about busting your budget on Ipod Touch MP3 downloads alone, there are less expensive options for you. There are now paid downloading sites dedicated to Ipod and Ipod Touch users. While these sites do not offer free downloads, the prices are highly reasonable. All you need to pay is an affordable membership fee, in exchange for unlimited downloading.

Downloading MP3s to Ipod Touch can be done in sites for iPod users and iPod Touch users. Try to look for one that offers browsing, downloading, and file conversion tools so you can be certain that your downloading experience is hassle-free.

One of the best things about these paid sites is the money-back guarantee. This means that you can have your money back after a certain period of time if you feel that the site has not fully satisfied your expectations.

Regardless of your iPod model, it is always a good idea to go for paid sites. These days, you can easily and safely download MP3s to iPod Touch without having to spend so much money.

Visit my site and discover more hassle-free ways you can download MP3s to iPod Touch. - 18762

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MP4 Downloads - Where To Get Them

By Dana Goldberg

With this short guide to free mp4 downloads, you will find that the many benefits of the mp4 format will allow you to store compressed video media just as the mp3 format allows storing compressed music and audio media. The format has become a big hit with users of portable media players by allowing them to store a huge number of video files on their portable players which occupies much less space than when compared to traditional formats such as AVI or MPEG.

Downloading a few favorite movies in mp4 format and storing them on your portable media player can alleviate the boredom you experience during a long journey. You could watch these movies with as much clarity as a DVD can provide. The number of movies you can store on your player depends on the memory capacity of your player. The first step though is to find a suitable source to download these mp4 media.

Mp4 format files, both audio and video can be downloaded for free from hundreds of sites on the internet and stored onto your computer. You can then transfer these files onto the memory on your portable media player. Most of these sites lets you search for the content in their data base or provides download links to the media that is hosted on an online file sharing website such as rapidshare or megaupload.

The only problem is that most often than not the files you download from the database on these websites could be infected by viruses, spyware or Trojans that could harm both your computer as well as you IPod or PSP. On the other hand if the file is downloaded from the above mentioned popular online file hosting websites, then the possibility of them being infected is much less.

The other option is to register with one of the many sites that let you have access to their Mp4 content for a monthly fee or a onetime joining fee. The database is bound to be much larger and more refined and ordered and the search facility on these sites would also be top notch. There need not be any fear of downloading infected files either from these premium websites.

If you are looking for a budget option that allows you to download for free without paying anything, then opting to download from a file sharing or peer to peer network would be another option. Though the files found on most file sharing networks are usually infected, there is also quality content that can be found so long as you are able to differentiate.

The last option available is to use a torrent client and download the media you want as a torrent file. Torrent websites allow you to search for media and download torrent files from them. Always go for a reliable torrent site that showcases virus free verified content. - 18762

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Download Terrific Movies With Merely One Click

By Wanda P Patterson

Never before has it been so great to be a motion picture aficionado. Back in the day the only way that you could even see a film was to visit the theater. Later on, videos came out and you could get a videotape at the store but the movie that you wanted may have been out-of-stock and you still had to wait. You also needed to make sure that you avoided any late fees by making sure that you got the motion picture back to the store on time. Now you can get the films by mail, but it is still a waiting game.

The reason why it is so good to be a movie buff these days is because now you can download unabridged, premium movies without delay to your computer. Just find the movie click the button and you are geared up to download.

There are a couple of diverse options that you can use to download. There are essentially free sites that are offering bootleg versions. The troubles with these sites are manifold and if you decide to download from them you should know that you do it at your own jeopardy.

Bootleg movies from the free sites are breaking copyright laws. They are putting themselves at risk but the fact is that if you use them as a purchaser you are also putting yourself at your own peril. There have been normal and unwary customers that have been convicted of copyright violations because they downloaded free music. Films are the same and if you defy copyright it can catch up with you. And bootleggers actually hurt everyone, including regular consumers, because it affects the financial system because the artists, the production company and everyone else concerned do not get paid for their important work.

Generally the sites that need a fee also have special software that can gauge the quantity of royalties that are owed to the copyright owner. These sites are above-board and they are also the sites that offer you the most security when you download. They usually have a good assortment and these are the sites that will continue to offer superior service in the future.

Downloading anything from your computer could put your processor at peril for viruses and adware. Be suspicious and make sure that you only download from trustworthy sites. Viruses can be injurious and end up costing you a ton of money and you could also lose all of your priceless information. Adware and malware should also be a fear.

Check out a assortment of sites before you start to download movies. Check to validate that they have all of the things that you want. If you would rather to burn the film to a CD so you can watch if on your Television, make sure that you can do that. Check out their assortment and check for download times for the film.

It takes some time to download a movie. As you might assume, it takes quite a bit longer to download a show than it does to download a song so it may be helpful to set the movie up to download while you are not using your computer, either before bed or before you leave to go to work. - 18762

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