Fork or Float

[BobDavis88@aol.com]

In a message dated 96-09-07 10:23:34 EDT, Steve Brady writes:

<< 	I think it's obvious that both the decision to "float" pitch vs.
 pitching to the fork every time out, as well as the decisions about *how*
 to float the pitch once you've made the first decision--all these things
 hinge on where you live, what kind of work you do, and what kind of
 musicians you work for or with. >>

Amen, but I'd place even greater emphasis on humidity control than most of
the correspondents have.

There is some concern about wearing a pinblock out by insistence on
maintaining 440. If we can't keep a piano pretty close to 440 without wearing
out the block, the humidity isn't stable enough. I have been tuning several
pianos every week or so for twenty to twenty-five years. I go over every pin
every time, and have to run over them an extra time to adjust the pitch (a
little) about four times a year. The block still feels great. I think the
secret is in stable humidity. Although it changes from day to day, and the
pitch does move with it, it stays within very narrow limits.

Although we have a very mild pitch swing here in my part of California, I see
a few pianos in unheated churches, that swing intolerably from season to
season, and I take rather a firm stand on humidity control. After all, we
expect to tune within a couple TENTHS of a cent, and a twenty-cent swing is a
hundred times that! Tuning under those circumstances is truly a waste of
their money. Not only does the piano always sound bad, its life is shortened
significantly. I let them know (in a respectful way) that the choice is
theirs.

I agree that the virtue of climate control is that it produces more
acceptable results rather than cutting down on the number of tunings. No
climate control system can keep a piano within the tolerances of a fresh
tuning.

Bob Davis, RPT
Stockton, CA