SAT in low bass

[David M. Porritt]

Ted:

The SAT in tuning B0 listenes to F#3 (the 6th partial).  When B0 was
actually sounding D1 it heard F#3 as the 5th partial and judged it to be
in tune.  As I tell my customers who ask about the SAT "you can't leave
your ears at home."

dave

Ted Simmons wrote:
>
> Hi list,
>    While we're on the thread of using SAT's for piano tuning, I'd like to
> relate an incident that happened recently.  I was called in to tune a
> spinet that I had never seen before.  I set up my SAT for this piano and
> began the tuning.  As I got into the lower bass the SAT indicated that the
> notes were very flat and had to be adjusted upwards.  When I got to the
> lowest B, however, the  SAT indicated that it was only slightly flat and so
> I merely tweaked it a little.  I was puzzled by the fact that among all of
> those "very flat" notes was one that was almost on pitch.  So I did some
> aural checks and, while striking the lowest B, I played notes up from it
> one at a time and discovered that this B was in unison with D1.  Instead of
> being flat, it was sharp by a great amount!  I love my SAT and it performs
> well for me, but it fooled me down in the low bass.  I've been leery of its
> bass capabilities ever since.  Can anyone explain why this happened and how
> the SAT can be used to home in on the correct pitch for these low notes?
>
> Ted Simmons, Merritt Island, FL (1 hour's drive from Orlando)

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David M. Porritt, RPT
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, Texas
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