>On Wed, 3 Jul 1996, Mark Graham wrote: >> This time of year I encounter a lot of Steinways and other pianos which >> are very sharp. I can do pitch raises competently, but lowering the pitch >> of a severly sharp piano and putting it in good tune takes me longer than >> I would like. Any tips? Things seem to drift back up again, particularly >> in the treble and particularly in Steinways. >> Mark Graham, Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory >Mark: >Unless the pitch is _very_ high, leave it up. Since my Winter goal is >440, having the piano go to 443 in the Summer is no big deal (Sopranos >might hate it but...). Both of our "Ds" in our main recital hall are >about 442 right now, and that room has pretty good humidity control. > >I've found that if I bring them down in the Summer and back up in the >Winter, they never feel stable. If I let them go where they want to, >they behave pretty well. Our double reed players like me in the >Summer, and the Sopranos are happier in the Winter! > >David M. Porritt, RPT >Dallas, Texas I agree with Dave. Unless there is a concert to be played with fixed pitch instruments (loose term), I leave it there. It would only have to be brought back up in a few months. All that wrenching around of the pins can take its toll. In fact, tuning just before summer; if it's flat, I'll leave it a little flat. Schools (ugh) are always sharp at the end of the summer but come down with the heat. So rather than lower pitch & tune in Sept. & raise pitch & tune in Dec.; tuning sharp in Sept. allows fewer tunings. This saves me time/fatigue (20 pianos in one school) and them $$. Pianos are more stable, pins stay tighter longer. One voice teacher likes to keep them sharp, but unfortunately her Grotrian has a wider humidity sound board flex range than her Ibach. Perhaps Dampp-chaser willl work here since room conditioning is not in the cards. As far as tips on lowering pitch; just as pulling sharp of 440 in raising pitch, lower pitch a few beats on first tuning. Always do *speed tuning* on pitch raising/lowering. Lowering pitch IS more difficult than raising. Stay Sharp, Jon Page Cape Cod. Mass ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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