Conservative Octaves & tune-off

[Jim]

Dear Robert:

Thank you for your unbiased comments about the TuneOff.  I agree with
you that in certain selections I liked Virgils tuning better than mine.
His tuning in the morning seemed to have a more round sound if that term
is a good one.  Whenever the selections were more in the middle or Bass
part of the piano, I usually voted for his piano.  However, in the evening
where he had tuned the piano which I had previously tuned, his tuning did
not seem to have that advantage.  It perhaps sounded better in some areas
than mine did in the morning on the same piano, but I didn't think in
general that it sounded better than my PM tuning of the other piano.
I was surprised in the evening that his tuning on my morning piano sounded
better to me than my tuning on that same piano, so I asked him if he had
done any voicing on that piano when he came back early.  He said "no." I
guess the better voicing he had done on his first piano was to my advantage
when I tuned it in the second round.  If I remember correctly, there was
more difference in the voting during the second round of playing.  I
would credit that to his excellent voicing on that piano.

It just occurred to me that in the future, we could have other competitions
in complete concert preparation, which would include tuning, voicing, and
other prep.  I'm sure there are others who could take up the challenge.  I
would like to see something like this take place each year at our annual
conventions.

Jim Coleman, Sr.



On Thu, 31 Oct 1996, Robert S. Bussell wrote:

> At 10:30 AM 10/24/96 -0700, you wrote:
> >Bob, since you were there, I would be interested in your reaction to
> >both of our tunings in regard to our octaves (try to disregard our few
> >less-than-perfect unisons).
> >
> >Jim Coleman, Sr.
> >
> >
> Jim, Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. My family has a new puppy. I
> have been very busy.
>
>    First let my say how grateful I am that you and Virgil put yourselves to
> this task.  I have always respected you both very much and that respect has
> only increased.  Congratulations, you both did an excellent job.
>
> A few beginning remarks:
>
>     I never did have an opportunity to sit down and listen to just intervals
> of any of the tunings.  Therefore, I must make my evaluations solely on the
> subjective musical reactions that I experienced.  My comments are  vague and
> subjective too!!!
>
>     There seemed to be a greater difference between the two sets of tunings
> in the morning than in the evening.  I did not sit in the same place in the
> room and that may account for some of the difference.  I thought I heard a
> different amount of stretch between you and Virgil in the morning tunings.
> The evening tunings sounded much closer, though I still thought Virgils
> treble still sounded a little extreme even for my taste.
>
>      Did the pianos have different stretch numbers? In the morning your
> first piano, the left one, sounded as if it had tighter octaves,
> particularly in the bass. In this instance I thought both were good
> stretches in the bass but I preferred Virgils bass.   I will say this about
> Virgils morning tuning, It had a fullness or richness of tone that I really
> liked.  One of the best ways I can to describe Virgils morning tuning is to
> say it had a wildness (this can be a good thing) to it that made me think of
> a Steinway (explain that feeling?). It was more than just unisons. The
> evening tunings seemed much less different in the bass and I liked them both
> equally.   In the treble, I preferred your pianos both times or I would vote
> indifferent. Your treble had a clean sound that I preferred.
>
>     All tunings were excellent. When the music being performed used very
> tight intervals I preferred your tunings.  When the music being performed
> called for jumps all over the keyboard I preferred  Virgils
>
> I hope this helps.
> Bob,
>
>
> Robert S. Bussell   Registered Piano Technician P.T.G.
> Indianapolis In.
> rbussell@iquest.net
>
>