Pitch Raising (was Otto Higel)

[Ron Nossaman]

At 04:26 AM 3/13/96 -0700, you wrote:

>:Ty Fairchild writes:
>:>Ummm.  I was hoping no one would ask. ;-) It is a cold stone fact that
>:>using this method results in less string breakage, but I have no clue
>:>as to why. Sorry. But if any one else knows, I, too, am all ears.  :-)
>:>
>:I have been doing research for some time on pitch raising with the
>:Accu-Tuner, and have to disagree strongly with Ty Fairchild.  My study
>:shows that the best method is simply to start at the lowest note on the
>:piano, and move up the piano chromatically, pulling the unisons up as you
>:go.
>:
>:Dr. Sanderson did some extensive research a number of years ago that
>:showed this to be true.  Pulling up the unisons as you go will actually
>:result in a _lower_ maximum overpull!  This of course lowers the chances
>:of string breakage.  My own experience of thousands of pitch raises here
>:in Michigan bears that out.  I switched to this method (chromatically
>:pulling up unisons) in 1990, and the number of broken strings went way
>:down after the switch.
>:
>:My experience, and that of many other RPT's indicates that raising the
>:center strings first, and then the left and right strings later results
>:in *LESS* tuning stability than if you just pulled up the unisons as you
>:go.  I have not researched the stability aspect with hard data though.
>:

>First of all, the technique I referred to can be applied both aurally
>*and* with the SAT, and if I remember correctly, that is exactly what
>they did during the demonstration class at the convention. George
>tuned by ear and Jim tuned with the machine.
>
>Second.  It is not my place, nor ever my intention to promote or
>defend any particular technique of pitch-raising, tuning, repair et
>al, nor would I denigrate, as others are wont to do, any singular
>methodology; if you P/R in a certain way by machine and the end
>results satisfy the customer well and good; I would encourage you to
>continue doing so.  I am familiar with the technique you described,
>but have always maintained that a technician should use that which
>he/she is comfortable with and go on from there as long as ultimately
>the customer is satisfied.
>
>Third.  The only reason I even bothered to present this information in
>the first place was  a.) to offer my experience to anyone who *might*
>benefit from it, not as a panacea for pitch-raising.
>
>Fourth. My sole purpose in posting anything is knowledge/experience
>dissemination.  *My* knowledge and experience.  If someone benefits
>from what I say -- great; if not, no problem.  I would at no time hold
>up myself or my methods as a guiding-light example for all to follow.
>Far from it.  I am just an ordinary person toiling in a profession
>that makes me glad to greet each new business day with its attendant
>challenges.  I am very happy for you to do your own thing.
>
>Fifth.   I contribute because it makes me feel good to know that
>perhaps someone, somewhere, may find what I say useful. I have no
>doubt that many will find what you say quite useful.   I have no axe
>to grind, no pianos to sell, and no equipment to flog.
>
>Ty Fairchild
>
>
>--
>           ==========================
>                 All Rights Reserved To Post Flame Email
>Ty
>     "Pain validates life."   Tudor Williams (1941 -   )
>
>

I'd like to make an observation here, if I may.

The term "stability" is tossed about here without defining the term.
Stability should, in my mind, refer to the long term probability of any
given note, or overall tuning, staying where you LEFT it when the tuning was
done. This is, as opposed to, an individual note or section drifting with
soundboard deflection as a bridge is loaded during a pitch raise. What
happens during the pitch raise has nothing to do with stability. It's a
clear cause and effect relationship. The experienced aural tuner will
anticipate more pitch drop in a Kimball console than a Yamaha studio, and
procede accordingly. We compensate the ANTICIPATED drop with overpull at the
beginning, and vary this overpull ratio (more in that nasty high tenor/low
trebel, tapering down in the high trebel) as we progress through the piano.
String breakage incidence goes up with the amount of overpull. The reason
overpull and resultant string breakage is higher when starting in the middle
is that this is the center of the board and will deflect further during the
pr than any other portion of the board. Starting at A1 and progressing
sequentially to C88 loads the board from the edge (which doesn't deflect as
much with a given load) to the center (which has already been forced down
somewhat by the already tensioned strings). The result is that the overpull
is less and string breakage goes down accordingly. From the center out, the
soundboard acts like a class two lever, for instance a wheelborrow. In this
analogy, the rim is the wheel, the center is where you grab the handle, and
the load goes in between. My guess is that the results of an "edge first,
center last" pitchraise procedure would be even better if you were to
alternate from both ends and work toward the center tuning the unisons as
you go. It would be pretty slow, but if any of you digitoids out there in
electronicland have ever tried, or would care to try it, I'd be curious to
know how it works. I'd try it myself, but I don't have access to the
hardware (it's tough to do with a fork <G>).

Also:    to Ty,

Too many here seem too ready to take offense at opinions differing from
their own, and too many others seem too ready to apologize for stating these
opinions in the first place. Isn't a diversity of opinions and experience
the reason we're here? I've been wrong in public often enough that I'm
getting used to it. The point is what information can be gotten for the
price. The price is cheap, SOME of the info is gold! Disagreement and
discussion are the only way to solve our problems. Let's not be so sensitive
about it! I've read thousands of words of apology, but haven't yet seen a
thing I would classify as a flame (if this doesn't prompt one). Keep smiling
... and posting!


"There are two kinds of people in the world, cynics, and those that just
aren't paying attention."      - Mark Twain -

 Ron Nossaman