1/2 cent difference on unison

[A440A@aol.com]

Frank writes:
>I tune the first string as well as I can, and then I tune the other
>strings to the first.  The effect is not uniform, and I've decided that any
>attempt to compensate may actually result in greater error, if in fact
>there is error in the first place. 

     The country recording studios are a unison-conscious environment.  Not
only are the pianos extremely bright, but they are listened to, note by note
at times, by committees listening with microscopic ears.   Here is how I have
gotten the least amount of problems in the trichords: 
   I tune each of the outer strings to the SAT, then I tune the middle string
as a unison, aurally.  I have found that this keeps all three strings within
about  .2 cents of exact, but the phase relationships that Weinreich writes
about are more consistantly achieved this way.  The notes sound more uniform
than if I tune all three strings to the SAT, or al three by ear.   
     Also, I have noticed that if every unison is out by 1 cent, all in the
same direction,  the effect is more of a voicing change than an out of
tuneness.  I really believe that the ear notices an out of tune unison more if
it is the only one on the piano...........
Regards, 
Ed Foote