"pounding"

[Susan Kline]

At 06:04 PM 10/31/1999 -0800, Jason wrote:

>One direct, sharp blow is sufficient. While gently manipulating the tuning
>pin, you are pulling the short distance between pressure bar and tuning pin
>into much higher tension than the tension on the speaking distance of the
>string. The purpose of the hard blow is to equalize these two tensions. If
>they are not equalized at the time of tuning, they will equalize more slowly
>(and the piano will go out of tune rapidly).

Theoretically, I don't see how this would work out. Maybe some wiser heads
will inform me of what's really happening. Picture: the part of the string
up near the tuning pin is too tight. So you give a good sharp blow to
"equalize" it. The good sharp blow raises tension in the speaking length,
and presumably pulls even harder at the length near the tuning pin.

Personally, I pull the hammer a little in either direction, listening for
the changes in pitch, and I feel more secure when the final pitch seems to
be exactly in the center of these changes. And while I use just a blow or
two, and not killer blows, for a lot of private tunings, for the concert
work I really lay into the thing, with multiple hard blows. It may be that
some know how to use the hammer to do some of this, but I find that my
results are a lot better if I "overdo" the test blows.

As far as ear damage is concerned, I don't feel that the middle section and
bass, in a largish hall, are any particular problem. If my ears are freaking
out in the high treble and I still need to use the hard blows, I'll put in
my musician's plugs for the first pass, then take out the left one (the ear
turned away from the piano) to evaluate what I got, using soft blows.

When people say that loud sounds "hurt", do they mean physical pain? I feel
very uncomfortable around loud sounds, and I don't like the distortion and 
buzz
from them, but I've never felt physical pain from them. Does anyone feel 
stabbing
pains in the ears from loud sounds? When some of you say that after a day 
of hard
tuning your ears are "worn out", what form does this wearing out take? Is it
specific to your hearing, or is it general fatigue and difficulty 
concentrating?

Susan