“It’s sitting above 440, because we’ve entered the more humid months, so the pitch floats upward,” Busse said.
“I don’t know what ‘440’ means,” Woodall said.
“It’s the standard pitch.”
“Right,” Woodall said. “And I had two technicians who never told me that.” He’d started prepping for the role months before filming began, with help from the movie’s piano consultant, the tuner Peter White.
“The first lesson Peter taught me was the wah-wah-wah-wah,” Woodall said.
“The beats?” Busse asked.
Woodall lit up. “Beats! That’s what I would try to listen for.”
Busse, who wore a black polo, got to work tuning, pulling the lever ever so slightly on an A.
“How often is it just this, compared with taking out the keys?” Woodall said.
“A lot of your work should be regulating,” Busse said, playing two notes together. “The thing with piano tuning is you need to go fast.” In the film, Niki tells a client that a session could take more than two hours. “If I took two to three hours, I’d never get paid,” Busse said.
“There’s at least one sequence in the film where I completely take it apart,” Woodall said. In the scene, Niki is trying to save the piano of his love interest, Ruthie, from water damage. He dismantles the instrument and borrows Ruthie’s hair dryer to get rid of the moisture.
“Don’t say that, don’t say that,” Busse said, shaking his head. “That would certainly change the tuning.”
“In the movie, we get asked to fix toilets,” Woodall said. “Have you ever been asked?”
“Maybe not plumbing, but fixing someone’s internet,” Busse said. “I try to stay in my lane.”
The film starts as a buddy comedy, with Niki helping out his elderly mentor, Harry, played by Dustin Hoffman, on tuning gigs. During a solo house job, Niki gets roped into using his hyperacusis to help a group of criminals break into a safe. He can hear the clicks.
“I’ve never had any luck cracking safes,” Busse said. “But I’ve picked the lock to my own house, because I needed to get in. That’s more of a mechanical skill.”
Busse pointed to red felt strips and protruding metal loops: “That’s for the temperament area, from which you tune the rest of the piano. ”
Woodall nodded. “I remember using the felts to numb either side of each string, or whatever,” he said. He stood to look over Busse’s shoulder. “It still fascinates me how each key has three strings.” (Some have one or two.)
Busse started tuning a low B-flat.
“Do you have perfect pitch?” Woodall asked.
“When it comes to saxophones,” Busse replied.
“That’s amazing.”
Woodall stepped away to examine Busse’s tools again. “I’m looking for the needle one,” he said. He picked up a wooden stick with a prickly end.
“That’s for voicing,” Busse said.
“Yeah, we did a bit of that,” Woodall said. “Take it apart, flip it upside down, and just really get in there.” ♦