In a message dated 5/30/98 9:57:32 PM Central Daylight Time, fish@communique.net writes: << Another problem I have is in the bass bichords. I used to put a strip between each two bichords, tune the left string of the first bichord and the right string of the second. Then I would pull the strip and tune the other two strings. This works great until you put your lever on the wrong tuning pin or you recheck the section and find that something has slipped. Then figuring out which string is tuned to the SAT is awkward. If I use a rubber wedge in that section, then the reference-tuned string is always the left one and the right string was tuned to it. If you have a better way to use a strip in this section, I would surely like to hear it! >> Again, my technique was taught by Jim Coleman 19 years ago at the Annual Convention in Minneapolis. I've been going to PTG seminars and Conventions ever since and I recommend that anyone who tunes pianos for a living do the same or you are really missing the boat! The trick is to learn to tune in whole steps. If I am raising the pitch inthe bass section, I do not need my SAT. I pull the bass up to make rough octaves with what I have tuned in the midrange which is still muted off. The amount of tuning sharp I need to do is automatic because that section has been tuned slightly sharp but its unisons have not been tuned yet. So, to simply pull the wound strings up to a roughly beatless octave is sufficient. The beats are clearly heard so to use the SAT here for me, would be a waste of time and energy. In a typically designed bass section, strip muting it will leave the outside string open. If you tune down in whole steps, the pin to put your hammer on is always in a straight line, all the way to the bottom. When you pull the strip out, the pin to put your hammer on will be to the inside, also in a straight line. If you still wish to tune chromatically, you simply need to remember that with the strip in, the pin to put your hammer on is on the outside, with the strip out, the pin to put you hammer on is on the inside. There are some unusual designs where the pins are in sets of three and you'd better believe I hate those! However there is still a pattern to followbut it is more difficult to describe and without having one to look at, I won't bother doing it right now. They are very rare. There are also some in which the layout is the reverse of the typical, Kohler & Campbell is the one that comes to mind. I find those annoying too but you just reverse your usual pattern. You just have to deal with it. If you wish to use the SAT while tuning wholesteps,you simply linger on the Down button slightly longer while it shifts to the next note. With a foot or thumb switch (which I never use, too much encumbering, unnecessary extra things for me to even bother with), you simply click twice. When you reach the bottom of the bichords, you push Octave up and the note button to the desired note. You will usually be within a few notes from your next one to tune. To insert the muting strip in the treble section of a vertical, you place the strip in normally where the dampers are and all across the section. At this point, the strip will block the hammers. Using the index finger of your right hand, you lift the damper and with your left hand, tuck the strip down under it. You can easily learn to do this two at a time. In most pianos, the dampers will lift high enough for you to do this easily. In some pianos, there is not much clearance so tucking the strip might be a little more difficult. Many Yamaha and Kawai pianos have damper felt material which tears very easily and there is not much clearance to lift the dampers. You have to be very careful or else opt not to strip this part of the treble section. When tuning the unisons of the middle and treble sections of both grands and verticals, start at the right (treble) end and pull the strip out one note at a time. Tune the right string only. When you get to the end, you will have only the left side of the unisions to tune and you will need no mute. I choose to tune these left hand unison strings up and back in whole steps the way I learned from Jim Coleman. Again, the right pin to put your hammer on is easy to find, it is always in a straight line. Since I am partially visually impaired, I have practiced doing it with my eyes closed with the idea that someday when I get older, I might lose my sight entirely. I have been able to find the right pin most of the time without even looking! I have often said that as a technician,you need to find what works for you. If you are comfortable with a single mute, I see nothing wrong with that. I do however, often hear people say that using a strip mute produces an inferior tuning. This is not so and so I do have a problem with people saying that. There is no need to compensate for the coupled strings effect if you tune your unisons in the right order. If you use a single mute, you do have to make this compensation. As far as the time it takes to strip mute, you should be able to mute an entire piano in two minutes or less. If it takes you longer, you are not using material that you can work with easily. As I said in a previous post, I use action cloth. To insert it, I use my regular long screwdriver and nothing else. I always try to use as few tools possible. You do not need anything but a long, thin screwdriver to insert a strip mute. You have to consider that it takes time to insert a rubber mute as well. It also takes time to remove it and move it to the next string. Let's say that it only takes you one second to do this for each note. There are about 80 unisons for which you will have to insert the mute. If an experienced strip muter can insert the strip in about one minute, is there really much difference in the total time spent? Again, you have to find which ever method works best for you. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin
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