Journal Article, Accu-Tuners

[k.swafford@genie.geis.com]

      "There can be no answers without questions first.  So which is
 more important -- correct answers or intelligent questions?"

      I believe I may have failed to give credit where credit was due.
 In the dark ages before this list-serve was set up (that is, a few
 months ago when the college and university technicians still had to
 send their E-mail messages to each member individually), Phil Sloffer
 of Indiana University posted a list of questions concerning the
 Accu-Tuner which I used as the starting point for my Journal article,
 Frequently Asked Accu-Tuner Questions.  I'm sorry if I should have
 given credit.

      I wish I had had the benefit of the recent Accu-Tuner discussions
 when I was writing the article.

      It has been six or seven years since I had an overt negative
 reaction from a customer to my Accu-Tuner.  Even so, any customer who
 gives even a passing glance to my Accu-Tuner gets a version of the
 following:

      "The world is changing and piano tuning is no exception.  When I
 originally learned piano tuning, I learned how to do it with just a
 tuning fork and my ears.  But times change and in order to keep up to
 date, I have had to learn how to use this computerized tuning device.
 By using this device in addition to the skills that I still have 'in
 my ears,' I will be able yo come up with an almost perfect tuning for
 THIS piano.  Believe it or not, every piano must be tuned slightly
 differently from every other one, and the tuning I come up with today
 for your piano will be saved in the memory of this device, and
 backed-up on my personal computer when I get home.  The next time I am
 here, I'll just call up the custom tuning for this piano from the
 memory and I'll be ready to tune your piano again."




                                             Kent Swafford