[CAUT] Sacrifice (was tuners- technology)

[Fred Sturm]

On 3/1/05 6:58 PM, "David Ilvedson" <ilvey@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> That's a lot more than my stretch...maybe +40 for C8....
> 
> David I.

    Just to clarify a bit, I used a stretch that generally was around C8 =
45 cents for many years. It was, generally, a good 8:1 triple octave tuning.
Five years ago, when our current piano dept head first came, he asked me to
do more stretch on his studio B's. I was frankly rather skeptical. Thought
he probably really wanted some voicing changes. But I did it, just bumping
up numbers in a consistently progressing manner. And he was happy, and,
playing the piano (as opposed to listening to intervals like a tuner), I
liked it, too.
    So I decided to experiment with the D's. I had noticed long ago that my
standard (aural and later electronic) tunings on D's actually produced 16:1
quadruple octaves that were nearly beatless from A0 to C6. I decided to try
expanding those 16:1 quads up to the top. And, again, I liked the results.
It is closer to how a musician listens, IMO. I think those high notes are
perceived by musicians in relationship to higher partials in the lower
notes, subconsciously. At any rate, there's no question that if one plays,
say, C4, waits a few seconds, then plays C8 and decides "musically" where
the pitch ought to be, a 16:1 will be closer to that perception than 8:1 to
C5. And far, far closer than 4:1 to C6. (For reference, "standard FAC" on
SAT produces, pretty reliably, just slightly wide 4:1 doubles).
    So that's where I am at the moment. Certainly not claiming to have all
the answers, or that my current answer is best for all occasions. But I
thought it would be useful for people to know where "the extremes" were.
There may be some who stretch more than I do. In fact, I know there are some
local aural-only tuners who do 100 cents plus from about F6 up. But that's
another story.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico