Edward de Foote, How long does it take you to tune a piano using this method ?? And, aren't you tuning just "concert grands" on a stage this way for a concert/recital ? Not everything, everyday this way, huh ?? Surely, you don't tune all your studios, classrooms, and private customer's pianos this way, do you ?? The whole piano ... ?? jus wondering. You should not confuse those who don't know how to tune (rock solid) aurally first, even before understanding that an ETD is an aid, not a crutch. This is how I've been tuning the top octave & 1/2 for several years, now, when using a SAT III on a number of console pianos. Maybe the last octave on mid - large grands (if I have the time). I can (and do) aurally tune first, then "check it" with the machine "if" I hear problems. I love the temperment you taught us at a chapter meeting one year. I still pull it out and use it at times on a number of the studio Steinway grands I tune here (often). Might be something good to share, if you so desire. Thanks for all your help (past and present ... and future. ) PS: what's a " culpa " ?? Thanks, Ed. My best to Steve Kelly, James, Jay, Charles, David, and ALL the other great guys (Ya'll are) in the Nashville Chapter. Dan Tassin, RPT Piano Technician Michigan State Univ. E. Lansing, MI tassin@msu.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A440A@aol.com writes: > Bob writes: > > << Ed Foote wrote about tuning unisions by tuning the > outside strings by ETD then dropping in the center > string aurally. > > My question is do you have a way of muting the center > string only so you can listen to the two outside > strings alone before tuning the center string? >> > > Greetings, > This ain't the first time I haven't been very clear about what I was > doing! mea culpa > In tuning a trichord unison, I tune the bass side string to stop the lights on a SAT while I have a wedge mute between the center and treble side strings. > Then I move the mute to be between the center and bass side string and tune the treble side to the SAT. THEN, before completely withdrawing the mute, I keep it against the untuned middle string and listen to the pair, (bass and treble side) strings. > I want to hear a totally dead unison between the two. If they are, I then take the mute all the way out and pull the center string sharp before letting it down to a point where the unison sounds clear and full. > If they aren't, I recheck them against the SAT. If they still stop the > lights, I will go ahead with the center string, trying to merge all the phasing together. There are three different relationships involved in the trichord, ie, left/center, right/center, left/right. Putting them together in a consistant fashion is what makes the sound I am looking for. > If I use the SAT for all three strings, the majority of the unisons will be fine, but there will be a certain percentage of them that sound > differently. This will make those few stand out. By letting my ear make the final overall decision on each note, I feel that I can leave a set of unisons that are more consistant, and consistancy is what the pianist reacts to. As an example, > I once tuned an entire piano with 1 cent purposefully left in the unisons, all on the sharp side. Each one had a slight, but noticeable "movement" in there, but the overall impression to the customer was that the piano was beautifully in tune! However, he remarked later that the tuning didn't seem to "last as long". I ascribe this to the fact that the unisons were already at their > limit of tolerance and it didnt' take them long to move into objectionable territory. > I might add that I tune with a lot of tension in the top string, and on checking up on my work, (many of these pianos are tuned numerous times a year) I find that a string that does move will just as likely go sharp as flat. So, it is to my benefit that I start the unisons off as close to together as possible. > Hope this helps, > Regards, > Ed Foote RPT > http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html > www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html > > _______________________________________________ > caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives >
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC