By SAVANNAH BARR

s.barr@bradfordera.com

For Daniel Sadowsky, playing the piano is more than a hobby, it is a way of life.

For him, a properly tuned piano represents an opportunity for anyone to make music. His passion has led him to create Tuna Valley Piano Service to help others keep their instruments in prime condition.

Sadowsky has lived in the area for the last seven years. His relatives are locals; he currently resides in a house that has been in their family for five generations. He grew up playing music and studied classical piano as a music major in college.

His love of music gave him a desire to learn how to tune pianos — not just play them.

‘I did an online correspondence course but I also have a lot of hands-on training,’ said Piano… page A-10

Daniel Sadowsky’s passion for the piano has led him to create Tuna Valley Piano Service to help others keep their instruments in prime condition.

Photo provided Sadowsky. “I have some pianos I started tuning and taking apart, regulating them and repairing them.”

He says his best education has been through restoration work. He is currently restoring two grand pianos that he got relatively cheaply because they were not functional.

“I am slowly taking them apart and fixing them; I replace things as necessary,” said Sadowsky. “I get a lot of satisfaction bringing these old classics back to life.”

But how, exactly, does one tune a piano?

Sadowsky said there is a certain finesse to it and a lot more math involved than someone might expect.

“There is a set of tuning pins and you are changing the tension on each pin as you go along,” said Sadowsky.

“Piano strings are sort of not in tune with themselves so you don’t tune a piano the way you would tune a guitar; you tune the octaves differently.”

Once he became proficient in the field, he realized that there were many people who needed his help. He started going out and doing service calls.

“It took a little while but I am beginning to get pretty busy,” Sadowsky said. “I started getting customer referrals and more people are starting to seek out my business.” He offers both tuning and restoration services and works on all types of pianos, from uprights to grands.

“Right now I travel to calls within an hour or so but I have even gone up to Buffalo for calls before,” Sadowsky said.

He recommends getting a piano tuned once or twice a year, as needed.

“I mean, I tune my pianos probably five or six times a year but I don’t have to call to have someone else do it for me,” he laughed.

One of his best tips for keeping a piano in good shape is to run a humidifier in the home, especially over the winter months.

“Humidity makes the biggest difference in how easy it is to make your piano tunable,” Sadowsky said.

“Temperature is also very important because you don’t want to dry it out too much.”

For those looking to get their first piano, Sadowsky says to check online for locals looking to get rid of theirs.

“There are lots of pretty high-quality pianos available for free because people have pianos that they don’t want and they will basically give it away to someone who is willing to come and get it,” he said.

Sadowsky encourages anyone who is thinking of following that course to get a hold of him.

“I am happy to steer people towards pianos that I think are worth their time and the space in their house,” he said.

“Some pianos have a reputation for being more reliable and tough than others.”

Sadowsky has a special place in his heart for older American-made pianos. There are many good pianos out there that aren’t being made any more but still have potential, he explained.

“It is a pleasure to get them back into good working condition,” Sadowsky said. “Many have a particular sound that makes them very special, in my opinion.

Those who are interested in hiring Sadowsky can contact him through tunavalleypiano.com