Ron, It's good to hear from you. How many years has it been since we were both in Wichita? Oh my, where to begin... >1. When you're addressing the customer's apparent concern in the >above example, are you in fact tuning the instrument using the SA-T or >are you first tuning the instrument, then recording the resultant >tuning? Why does this matter? At this point, my tuning technique is hopelessly hybrid. I integrate aural and visual techniques to compliment each other; I don't do one or the other. >2. Does your SA-T take atmospheric conditions into account? >(Seasonal changes and what-not.) What if the piano were to be moved >into a different room between the time you tune/record the first time >and then return? Would you have to start from scratch? All tunings must be aurally verified/refined. >3. If your customer calls you the next day and expresses disapproval >with the tuning, would you hesitate to return, _sans_ SA-T, to give a >completely aural tuning? Would you consider this "backing down" or >merely satisfying the customer? What about subsequent tunings? Would >they be SA-T-assisted tunings in this customer's case? What if the >word spread from that customer that, when push came to shove, you >caved thereby giving some validation to the customer's contention that >aural is better than assisted? These are hypothetical questions, because this hasn't happened to me. My best work is done utilizing integrated aural/visual techniques. Why would someone want less than my best work? I haven't "backed down" nor does it seem likely I will be asked to. >4. Does using the SA-T *really* cut your tuning time down? Does it >*really* "free up your mind" when tuning? (What would it be free to >do? Run through the grocery list? No, not sarcasm, just wondering >what else one would want to think of while attending to this piano. >Personally, I might find the SA-T to be more of a distraction so I >don't understand how it can be such a mental strain to tune without an >SA-T. It would seem to me that one would be better able to consider >voicing and other action noise/ regulation problems to not have to be >concerned with fiddling with that device.) The only response I have to this is that I would not characterize my operating an SAT as "fiddling." >5. When I was very young, my piano was tuned by an old man (no >electronic gadgets). When he retired, my parents called on several >technicians from the PTG. One gentleman showed up and tuned the piano >with an A-T (not sure what brand it was but it had a circle of red >lights like the SA-T). I thought it was pretty neat, myself. But >when he left and I began practicing, I noticed a distinctly different >sound--sterile, cold, lifeless. My folks called him back and he >demonstrated that the piano was perfectly in tune. No amount of >convincing worked for me. It just didn't sound right. Note that I >had no prejudices against his use of the tuning device and as my >long-time technician had retired many years before, I was not >accustomed to a particular tuning or tuner. I'm sure that this >phenomenon can be explained away, but isn't it possible that some >pianists actually prefer *not* to hear equal temperament and >dead-perfect unisons? I suspect that this is the root cause of most >pianists' dislike of electronically-assisted tunings. I am unfamiliar with the phenomenon of pianists disliking electronically-assisted tunings. >Caveat: I think there are good uses for the SA-T. I don't dispute >that, in some cases, they may provide a better tuning than could >otherwise be provided--in cases like colds, ear infections, >medications that dull the auditory nerves, etc. My questions aren't >aimed at starting a flame war. These are questions/comments I've >heard among my customers, some of whom have called for my services >specifically because they didn't like their pianos tuned >electronically. The reverse is also true. I know of tuners (including myself) who have gotten calls from customers who specifically wanted electronically-assisted tunings. You left out that SAT's shine in noisy environments where aural tunings would be impossible. (There was this time I tuned through a Z Z Top sound check... ) >Ron Torrella, Head Piano Technician >School of Music >University of Illinois I have heard of thumb pianos, mouth organs, and even nose flutes, but what, exactly, is a "head piano"??!!! (Now <THAT> <<IS>> sarcasm... ) @8^)> Kent Swafford
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