speed tuning

[Horace Greeley]

Les,

Please check the snips and comments:

At 11:37 PM 2/12/97 -0500, you wrote:

>I failed to get a piano tuned well,

Well, I'm sure you're the first person who's ever done that...

> and the customer called the tuner she
>had used years before.

Good move on her part.  Even a Whitny spinet is a big investment for some
folks.

  I called him, and asked what I did wrong.  He
>said, "not much", and indicated it was a difficult piano. But he said,
>"Your problem is going too slowly.  Better get close, then strip it again
>and go through it again quickly.  He indicated he can to through a piano
>twice in the time most do it once, and, in the end, get a better tuning.

This is, in my experience, particularly true of pianos you either do not
see often, or things like the Three Bs, which require special attention
anyway.

>There is some inner trust required to go at it this way,

See, you, as well as Eliot have the answer.  You just have to trust
yourself.  Not an easy job.

 but the times I
>have forced myself to accept "close' on the first run through, I have
>found the second time through going much quicker, and I get done in less
>time than when I attempt to spend multiple minutes on each note, and the
>tuning is more solid.

What you are doing, over time, is developing the reasonable limits of your
own "standard of tolerance".  What works today, may be completely
unacceptable tomorrow.  This is the point of practice;  Gilels did not
learn how to play Beethoven overnight.

>  I also made a "bonker" out of two hammers.  I tune
>my temperament, then "bonk" each note. Then I bonk each note after I've
>done my octaves.  Then I use the bonker to do unisons.  Actually, that
>allows me to stand when tuning a studio piano, giving less arm strain,
>and with the sharper blows of the bonker, I think my tunings stabilize
>better.
>

You may want to consider finding someone with whom to "mentor", if not
study from time to time.  It sounds to me as if you could benefit from
someone who is well-practiced working with you on hammer and "bonker"
technique.  I tend to beat pianos up pretty well.  Other methods work well
for others.  You will need to explore what different folks do and then
figure out what works best for you and your clientele.

>Now I haven't been at this for decades, so I may be crazy!
>

Sorry.  I think you have it backwards.

Best.

Horace

Horace Greeley

"Great ideas have always encountered violent opposition from
	mediocre minds."

		Albert Einstein

Stanford University
email: hgreeley@leland.stanford.edu
voice mail: 415.725.9062
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