For me, the Accu-tuner is the single most important tool I have. Without it, I would have neither the time, or perhaps more importantly, the energy to do quality piano work. The reason is that the accu-tuner allows me to concentrate on the things that, in my experience, pianists (and critical audiences) are most concerned with: stability and voicing. I would venture to say that during a performance, no one (audience or performer) ever hears (or cares) about whether the thirds or tenths are in perfect ascending/descending order, but they WOULD (and do) hear (and object to) a unision falling out of tune. Secondly, the energy, concentration, and critical listening skills required to voice a piano is, in my opinion, better spent on just that -- VOICING. How many times have you gone to a performancnce where the piano is perfectly in tune, but still sounded terrible?? I think the comment, "Gee, the piano sounded GREAT!" has more to do with the way the instrument was voiced (leaving out, here, the variable of the pianists' "sound"), or the fact that the unisions stayed in tune, rather than that the piano was tuned "perfectly" "by ear". If you like tuning w/o an Accu-tuner, great. But using one -- whether as an "aid" or for setting whole temperaments -- can dramatically increase the quantity of work one can accomplish as well as improve the overall quality. For me, working regularly with an Accu-tuner SHARPENS my aural skills, not the other way around. Rolf von Walthausen University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
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