Re tuning instability

[Kenneth Sloane]

                      Subject:                              Time:  9:52 AM
  OFFICE MEMO         Re tuning instability                 Date:  2/6/96

John- If your humidity is stable, and pins are not loose, I would think you
should be able to achieve a solid tuning. I don't think plate fasteners,
bridge/string anomalies, etc. are your problem. Make sure that all people
tuning the piano are committed to strenuous test blows. Here at Oberlin, we
quantitate test blows on the "Strichter Scale" of one to five, with number
five test blows being necessary to stabililize a piano for a weekend Liszt
festival. On our concert pianos, our motto is, "If you aren't committed to
stabilizing it, don't change it." Also, if you haven't broken strings
occasionally with test blows, you haven't reached grade five on the "Strichter
Scale".

Ken Sloane, Oberlin Conservatory